November 24, 2012

White Dog convened a family meeting to discuss this year's Christmas card. It was my year to design it and the White Dog Army and Steve are a tough group to pitch ideas at (much tougher than most of the corporate clients I had in way back prehistoric times as a Creative Director). They nixed a single group photo ("too hard to get the OTHERS to sit still and look at the camera," White Dog complained). They wanted a "homesy" feel (Puff's word) but were NOT willing to get dressed up (the entire WDA held firm on no antlers or Santa Hats or Elf boots). "Make it feature all of us. Make it poignant. Make it sweet. And try to be green about it..." were my directives.

When Steve got home from work, I called everyone together again and unveiled my concept (crossing my fingers and holding my breath). I did not have a #2 that I liked anywhere near as much so I hoped that the White Ones would see the elegant simplicity in my design.

The White Dog Army gathered around Steve and peered at the page. "It looks nice and clean layout-wise," Steve began positively (as a Miesian trained architect that is a BIG compliment). "It features us," Oso pointed out after counting heads both on the card and in the room. "We look like precious Angels," Nuka said. "Not easy for some of you," WD added. "We all like the sentiment and the fact that the card is in tablet form rather than fold-over," YoYoMa spoke for the group.

A show of paws and hands granted approval of the design and so production begins. First up, Steve and White Dog need to be photographed. And then we have assembly work to do. We think the 2012 card is going to be one of our best ever. It will be a dream come true for little Oso the Fearless as this is his first appearance on a card...you will be seeing the results soon.