The Indiana Historical Society’s Festival of Trees is an annual tradition where local organizations decorate and display Christmas trees that show off their passions, missions, colors, or whatever they dream up. The revenue-driving attraction encourages visitors to come back each year to see new decor, including a custom-designed “big tree” with a coordinating archway signage designed for the perfect photo op.
Although planning for the next year’s event starts in January, coordination of more than 100 tree sponsor and tree auction signs as well as other sponsor-dependent material happens on a tight deadline before the event. Collateral for the event includes tickets, rack cards, and a folded program that maps all trees across four floors in the building. I was able to redesign the number and location of folds in the program, saving approximately a third of print costs for the piece while making it easier for visitors to open.
Each year both the inside and outside of the building are transformed for the event, building excitement for visitors. Marketing items for Festival of Trees often need to do double duty, not only creating a sense of place but also temporarily covering up museum exhibit walls. Design of new items such as window clings and hanging fabric of winter scenes are created with an emphasis on multi-year use for cost effectiveness.
In conjunction with Festival of Trees, Indiana Historical Society also holds a Holiday Author Fair where approximately 70 national and local authors gather to sign and sell books while meeting readers. I redesigned the logo to better match the Festival of Trees color palette and promote book buying as part of holiday shopping—even hiding the pages of a book inside the logo’s bow.