Season’s Greetings from LMU
DJ Stout and team at Pentagram Austin create a holiday card for their longstanding client Loyola Marymount University.
Continuing their longstanding relationship with Loyola Marymount University, DJ Stout and Stu Taylor in the Austin office recently wrapped up production on LMU’s 2020 holiday card. The Pentagram team worked closely with LMU's marketing and communications guru, Maureen Pacino, to come up with the perfect way to close the book on 2020 and celebrate new beginnings in 2021. The card is a double-sided six-panel accordion fold that features a Christmas message on one side and a New Year’s message on the other. An animated version of the card with additional New Year’s messages was also produced.
For the Christmas message, Pentagram tapped the illustration talents of Mary Kate McDevitt to bring the iconic LMU Christmas tree lighting ceremony to life. Covid-19 prevented the LMU family from gathering for the ceremony this year, so it was important for Pacino to bring a little piece of the ceremony directly to their homes. McDevitt created the scene using iconic landmarks from the LMU campus as well as a few familiar characters like LMU President Timothy Law Snyder, his wife Carol Costello and their dog Jackson. The reverse side of the card features custom typographic illustrations also by McDevitt that hope for a new year filled with blessings of Joy, Love, Peace and Justice along with a personal message from the President.
McDevitt’s illustrations were whimsically animated by Kyle Jones for the video. A gliding ribbon guides you through the Christmas scene past moving figures, twinkling stars, and swaying trees. The video also incorporates an additional set of New Year’s words to take advantage of the digital medium. Pentagram, McDevitt and Jones collaborated closely together to give each word a unique personality both in looks and in animation. The President himself composed an electronic score, “Twenty Over Twenty,” to accompany the animation.
