The last few months have been really hectic for the TP1 elves: plenty of new projects, a move to the Castle Building in October, and a huge office-warming party to “generate new numbers” in November. So to keep the team perky through the Christmas season, I thought… a do-it-yourself project!
I have a reputation for coming up with wildly ambitious concepts that are almost always impossible to finish in time. To remain true to my image, and having been inspired by a project we’re currently working on, I proposed a bold idea for our holiday card.
What I love about this idea, is that it required all of our super powers: brand identity, typography, creative concepts, print design, silk screening, animation design, interactive design, e-commerce and programming. Let’s open these little boxes one at a time…
Brand identity and “TP1 Black”
Some of you may remember that TP1 refreshed its brand image in 2010, and that it included a new logo featuring the agency’s letters set in three simple circles. The design team had originally wanted to create a font based on these characters, but the project kept getting pushed back. The new “TP1 Black” font was finally unveiled this fall, thanks to the efforts of the very talented Élisa-Maude Tremblay.
The question was launched: How can we share these new characters with friends and clients?
Magnetic Scrabble letters and icons
Everyone loves Scrabble, right? So we created a magnetic letraset with letters, numbers and other fun icons. The letrasets were printed in record time by Minimédia and the finished product was delivered in the early evening during our holiday party this past Friday. Let me tell you – the magnets are great fun to play with, especially after some wining and dining.
The icons include a pair of briefs (like those worn by Adviso’s Jean-Sébastien Chouinard during our 5th anniversary party), “two periods resting” (the bizarre punctuation mark invented by Issam) and a Like icon, which, in my opinion, should be added to the standard keyboard.
May your wishes be granted… to the letter
The next step was finding the right words for the greeting. We knew that finding a message to fit our concept wouldn’t be easy – but we had St. Sann, Adriana Palanca and Amélie on our side.
What do you wish for in 2012? Whether it’s a night out with friends or spinning the wheel with Pat Sajak, TP1 hopes that your every wish is granted… to the letter!
Silk screening, animation design and a microsite on the side
A gift is great, but even better with the right wrapping. So we had the letraset letters, spelling out the words “Joyeuses fêtes, Happy holidays” in a vibrant red, silkscreened on 250 envelopes. Thanks to the amazing Simon Laliberté for doing that job… by hand!
Fun magnets. Check! Beautiful envelopes. Check! What else? Oh, right… Amélie Tourangeau created a lovely stop-motion video for the electronic version of the holiday card, with music by Erick Gendron. And because TP1 also makes websites (now and again), Bruno, Élisa-Maude and Jacob created a holiday microsite where friends and clients can order their own magnets. Rudolph et al. will be delivering them shortly, of course.
Now the only thing left to do is to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy 2012!
[vimeo 34039899 w=860&h=658]
