Holiday Illustration · Animated Greetings · Portraits · Print · Email · Social Media
Bespoke Illustrated & Animated Holiday Cards for Companies
I create original illustrated holiday cards and seasonal greetings for companies, organisations and agencies — with artwork that can be adapted for print, animation, email, websites and social media from one coordinated visual concept.
The artwork can incorporate products, places, company branding, characters and even recognisable illustrated portraits of real people based on supplied photographs.
A holiday greeting created for the sender
A bespoke seasonal card starts with the organisation rather than with an existing Christmas image.
The illustration can incorporate a company’s products, location, architecture, people, mascot, logo, colours or details that clients and employees will immediately recognise.
The tone can be elegant, warm, humorous, understated or deliberately playful. The objective is not simply to place a logo on a festive picture, but to develop an image that belongs naturally to the company sending it.
Recognisable portraits from supplied photographs
I frequently incorporate recognisable illustrated likenesses based on photographs supplied by the client.
That might mean company founders, directors, employees, a complete team, a retiring colleague or someone whose presence makes the greeting immediately personal.
The treatment can range from a relatively natural portrait to a much more exaggerated caricature or character interpretation. It depends on the person, the occasion and the tone of the communication.
This can work particularly well for company anniversaries, retirement cards, internal celebrations, personalised client greetings and team Christmas cards, where a recognisable face makes the image specific to the people receiving it.
One card — or a complete illustrated series
A seasonal commission does not have to stop at one image.
For recurring client communication, several related illustrations can be developed within the same visual world. Characters, colours and stylistic details create continuity while each card has its own composition and idea.
This is particularly useful when a company wants to communicate throughout December and New Year, or across several markets, without repeating exactly the same artwork every time.
From printed card to digital e-card
Seasonal illustration can be designed specifically for digital communication as well as traditional print.
For email platforms such as GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com, I created character-led animated greetings designed as compact digital experiences rather than simply reproducing a printed card on screen.
Animation allows small narrative moments — a character arriving, a present appearing, fireworks beginning or snow falling — to turn a static greeting into a short visual story.
From illustration to animation
Animation does not need to become a separate production with an unrelated visual concept.
The original artwork can be planned so that characters, drawing stages, text or individual graphic elements can later move, appear or transform.
This gives the illustration a second life while keeping the campaign visually consistent across static and moving formats.
A timelapse greeting
For my own 2023 Christmas illustration, I recorded the drawing process and used it as the basis for an animated greeting.
The viewer watches the scene emerge gradually before arriving at the completed image. It is a simple animation principle, but particularly well suited to illustration because the act of drawing becomes part of the presentation.
One visual concept, multiple uses
A company can commission one central idea and adapt it intelligently across the different places where the seasonal message needs to appear.
- printed Christmas or New Year cards
- digital greetings for email and newsletters
- animated posts for LinkedIn and other social platforms
- short GIFs for lightweight digital communication
- video versions for websites, presentations and screens
- static campaign visuals derived from the master illustration
The composition and format can change while the campaign retains one recognisable visual identity.
From simple character cards to complete illustrated scenes
The visual treatment can vary considerably according to the brief.
A compact character-led greeting may be exactly right for an email campaign. Another company may want a detailed scene incorporating its building, products or team. A third may need several related illustrations for different markets or moments in the season.
Recognisable portraits can also be combined with these approaches — from one featured person to an entire group — so the project can be as personal or as corporate as the occasion requires.
From concept to finished seasonal campaign
I can handle the complete visual process within one project:
- creative concept and visual direction
- initial sketches
- character design
- recognisable illustrated portraits from supplied photographs
- finished bespoke illustration
- company branding and logo integration
- timelapse or illustrated animation
- greeting and typography integration
- print-ready artwork
- email and social-media adaptations
- GIF and video exports
The commission may be one illustrated card or a coordinated group of seasonal assets developed around the same idea.
Not only Christmas
The same approach works for many other moments in a company or organisation’s calendar:
- New Year greetings
- company anniversaries
- retirements and farewell cards
- milestone birthdays
- client thank-you messages
- seasonal campaigns
- event invitations
- employee communications
- launches and milestones
- personalised gifts and client greetings
What matters is having a visual idea specific enough to feel connected to the people, organisation and occasion behind it.
Illustration & production in one workflow
I work digitally with a Wacom Cintiq, while retaining a hand-drawn approach to line, character and composition.
Depending on the project, the artwork may be developed as vector illustration or raster artwork and prepared specifically for the required print and digital formats.
If animation is planned from the start, characters, graphic elements and drawing stages can be structured so they can be separated and timed efficiently for motion.
For portrait-based work, the client supplies suitable photographic references and I develop the likeness within the chosen illustration style rather than simply inserting the original photograph into the design.
A commissioned example: AN2V
For the French professional association AN2V, I developed a bespoke winter illustration and animated greeting suitable for both printed and digital communication.
The organisation’s visual identity was integrated directly into the scene, allowing the same concept to work as a printed card, static communication piece and short animation.
Related illustration & animation services
Commissioned Illustration & Campaign Visuals →
Hand-Drawn Explainer Videos & Animation →
Planning a company holiday or personalised seasonal greeting?
Send me a brief outline of the occasion, your organisation, the tone you have in mind and the formats you need. If people are part of the concept, you can also supply photographic references for recognisable illustrated portraits. I can then develop one original visual idea and adapt it for print, animation, email and social media.
