Catholic Social Services Christmas Ad
Finding Originality in a Commercialized Season
On special occasions, Catholic Social Services (CSS) will send a message to its supporters through targeted publications. For Christmas, they asked us to design an ad that would commemorate the season and spread a message of hope and joy. Christmas cards and messages are so plentiful that it can seem like it’s all been done. Effective advertising and communications often depends on creating something unique and so we challenged ourselves to conceive something that would stand out. CSS wanted us to include a Bible verse, so instead of drawing something from the typical nativity/Christmas narrative, we looked elsewhere and found a great excerpt from one of Paul’s letters. Creative Director, Brian Holds worth notes:
“One of my favourite qualities in religion is when it defies the platitudes and truisms that we are all too familiar with. Every now and then, you’ll come across something, like a teaching or saying, that seems so extraordinary and perplexing, that the sense that it’s a message from another world becomes really strong. When the Bible speaks of the ‘Fullness of time’, I get that exact impression. It makes me pause and wonder because I don’t quite understand it. It’s an encounter with mystery that elevates the mind and soul to something greater than ourselves.”
In the context of Christmas, this seemed like a great way of portraying the event in a way that transcended the manger sets and decorations. It introduced the larger picture of what was going on; that God had a plan and that all of it’s energy was materialized at that point in time.
Msgr William Irwin Folders
Doing Justice to the Memory of a Massive Figure
Msgr William Irwin (Fr. Bill) was the founder of the largest social service agency in Canada, Catholic Social Services (CSS). In honour of his work, CSS established a memorial fund to remember him by. They turned to Holds Worth Design to create a logo and print materials for the memorial fund that would honour his memory and produce an appropriate visual impression.
The logo was designed to encourage associations with memorial monuments which are often elevated on steps and feature torches or flames. We used that precedent throughout the successive visual materials by including hints of flame as a texture in the structural elements of the design. We also illustrated a portrait of Fr. Bill to be used in place of a photograph as we thought that extra effort enhanced the sentiment of his memory.
The presentations folders can now be used for fundraising materials which will ensure that Fr. Bill’s legacy lives on through the profound work that CSS does for those in need.