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How we do it  |
Thinking inside the box For Hall & Company’s 2005 Christmas card, I proposed to Mike Hall a major change. Instead of putting the main image on the front of the card, as we did with the first three cards, we would put the main image on the inside, where we would have twice as much space for the ever-increasing number of employees. The change would necessitate excluding the traditional signatures, and employee names would have to be added to the main image, but Mike was agreeable, especially since I had found a great idea for this year’s card. While browsing at a bookstore, I had noticed a clever photo montage on the cover of Better Homes & Gardens (see right). Each person photographed was an interior decorator, displaying a suggestion for Christmas decor. I immediately realized this would be a great concept for a Hall & Company card, since Mike Hall’s original motivation for commissioning these Christmas cards was to help acquaint far-away clients with his employees. And what better way, than by photographing each employee in a box, personalized with Christmas decorations of their choosing? After seeing the example in the magazine, Mike quickly approved the concept.
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Better Homes & Gardens, UK Edition |
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As usual, there was some work to do long before the first photograph was taken. I coordinated with all the employees as they decided what their decorations would be, trying to avoid similar ideas and encouraging variety. I also built a sturdy four-foot plywood cube and covered the interior with shelf paper. The photography session, which took place in a large meeting room at Hall & Company, lasted about four hours, somewhat more than expected, since we had to decorate and undecorate for each employee. |
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In stark contrast to the previous year, the computer work for this card was quite complicated and extremely time-consuming. Anything that intersected or crossed over a box boundary required special care. Cutting out items such as garland was pure tedium. Many individuals required added elements, such as the racing photo, the huge wreath (a stock photo), and the melting snow in the hiker’s box (pure Photoshop). Items that hung below a box, such as the Seahawks blanket and the knitted scarf, required piecing together multiple photos, since the box was actually resting on the floor during photography. The combination of Mike & Becky Hall, with Becky reaching across to yank Mike’s beard, was tricky to photograph and composite, since we had only one box. A bigger challenge was the fact that Hall & Company now employed two people in other states. Instead of flying them in to take photos “in the box,” I sent the two women instructions for taking photos of themselves, with their husbands as cameramen, and it worked out just fine. |
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I used a stock photo of wood to construct the frame between the boxes, and used a stock photo of a snowflake to fill the empty box in the lower-left. By the time I finished the compositing, it all looked so good I hated to clutter it with names, but it had to be done. Below is the completed composite. Can you tell which two women were actually photographed on their living room floors, instead of in a box? (Don’t try; even I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t done it myself.) |
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Lastly, I worked on the front of the card. I had in mind a “teaser” — a clue to build anticipation about the inside. Because I knew so many people were eagerly awaiting the latest wacky card from Hall & Company, I decided to surprise them with a very generic image — a stock photo of Christmas tree decorations, not an employee in sight. I don’t know how well the surprise worked, but I like to think at least a few recipients were completely bewildered at their first sight of the card. 
When the finished cards were sent out, the reaction from Hall & Company’s clients was overwhelming. “I’ve never seen anything like it!” “So creative!” “It must be a great company to work for!” “I’m showing this to everyone I know!” “How on earth did they climb up to the top row of boxes?” (Honestly, someone asked that.) It was an exhausting effort, and it didn’t help that I immediately began worrying about the next year’s card: “How will we ever top this?”
NEXT PAGE: On-the-Job “Training” |
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