I squirrel away sealed greeting cards that people give me
so I can open them later when I’m having a bad day.
[Emily Procter]
Since my day job is graphic design and illustration, I’m fascinated by everything from antique posters to modern electronic renderings. Typography fascinates me. Animation fascinates me. And applying new technology to old traditions fascinates me (among other things).
Last Advent season, a friend gave me a Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar. It’s festive beauty captivated me. The new one is ready for orders. That is why I encourage you to check out Jacquie Lawson’s greeting cards. To make it easier, I have added a widget to the navigation at the right so that you can preview her cards of the month.
The following is quoted from her website:
Back in the year 2000, Jacquie Lawson, an English artist living in the picturesque village of Lurgashall in Southern England, created an animated Christmas card featuring her dog and cats, and her 15th-century cottage, and sent it to a few friends for their amusement. Those friends sent the e-card to others, and within weeks Jacquie was inundated with requests from all over the world to design more e-cards. In February 2002 she teamed up with a few friends and family members to create jacquielawson.com.
Over the years the collection has grown to a current total of 224 e-cards, each one showing a degree of artistry and attention to detail rarely seen in the medium of e-cards. Even the music is composed and arranged specially for each card! We now have a range of birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, and so on, featuring dogs, cats, teddy bears, flowers, and many other subjects.
Each card we make takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months to complete. Many of the elements of the animation are actually painted by hand (using real paint, brushes and paper!) because the textures and colours achieved that way are so much more attractive than the electronic equivalent. These paintings are then scanned into electronic form, and the laborious process of animation starts. Finally, the music is created to accent or complement the animation.
I have no connection with the Jacquie Lawson business or website nor do I benefit from this review. I just wanted to share things that I like with you folks.
