A few years ago, de Novo received a Halloween card from a company that shall remain nameless. At first I thought, "Great idea! We aren't into the holiday season yet, way to get out there with this now!"

Then I opened it.

On one hand, it was a mess. Apart from the poor font choice on the cover, there was clip art AND stock photography on the inside, several competing fonts and a lack of centering. We passed it around the office and let our staff have at it.

On the other hand, it had a lot more personality than the traditional office card stuffed with photocopied names. So we thought we'd reach into the de Novo archives for a few of our favorite client holiday card projects and share a couple ideas for something memorable. Something that will get passed around the office because it's different and fun—not because it uses Comic Sans.

Holiday Gifts & Cards Your Clients Can Appreciate

Our friends at Crestone Capital Advisors were always open to interesting folds and die cuts. Here are two samples:

The first is a holiday card full of energy, texture and dimension. While the pop-up inside is undoubtedly the centerpiece, the die-cut front is equally intriguing and memorable.

The second is an invite to a holiday party, with the champagne flute "filling" as you pull the insert up. de Novo took home a Gold Addy Award for its design.

(Psst—Want to get really crazy with pop-ups? Check out the pop-up book we created for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.)

New Ideas for Reaching Out in 2021

1. A folded card that opens to an activity page with a holiday themed image for "adult coloring." Or even a puzzle with clever industry terms. If you've ever seen our "Marketing Activity Book," you can take some inspiration from that. 

2. Die cut madness: how about a die cut Santa beard that folds into a holiday party invitation? Or a paper doll version of your CEO with four ugly sweater choices? Or. . . (We could do this all day, just call us.)

3. A holiday video to end all holiday videos. Here's ours from a few years ago:

4. How about a custom holiday song, sung one stanza at a time by different members of your team?

5. Client gifts: no one wants a plastic tchotchke. Consider partnering with a local artist or business to create something simple yet unique that you can share with your best clients. One year, we commissioned our neighbors at Iowa Ceramics Center to create custom bowls that we still see in our clients' offices to this day.

You also can't go wrong with food—especially the local kind. For our 2018 client holiday gift, we put together gift boxes with fresh bread from Rustic Hearth Bakery and apple butter from Wilson's Orchard. To personalize our gift even further, we created a de Novo branded tag and thank you note.

The Holidays Are Right Around the Corner—Time to Get Rolling

Whatever you do, make it memorable and make it unique to your company. It tells your clients that they are important to you and is much less likely to be mocked when it makes its way around their office.

Need help planning something memorable? Get in touch!