St Paul's Cathedral
services: christmas card design
software: adobe illustrator, photoshop
Industry: tourism, retail
In 2019, I was asked to create the official Christmas card for St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It was a great privilege to illustrate such an iconic and well known building not just in the UK but also worldwide. The Christmas card is currently for sale on the St Paul’s Shop and all proceeds go towards the upkeep and restoration of the great building.
the design
St Paul’s Cathedral wanted my illustration of be reminiscent of my other Cathedral card I had created for Exeter Cathedral. The initial style involved outlining and illustrating all the details of the building. The next step included the lighting and the snow scene. The cathedral then wanted me to add some characters onto the scene including the nativity scene, because at the end of the day that is the real meaning of Christmas. A London skyline was also added as a nod to the location of St Paul’s and as a way to show how the building was the Spiritual centre of London.
the application
The design has been put to great use by the staff of the cathedral. It has been used to good effect as the official Christmas card of the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. This means the card is not only to be sold in the shop, but will also be sent to the great and good of London and the whole country this Christmas.
It was also a great surprise and joy to see my design being used on the Christmas events flyer for the cathedral. This flyer will be seen by thousands of people throughout the Christmas period and point people towards the events they might be interested in.
final thoughts
This is why I love my job. To have an opportunity to illustrate a Christmas card for Britain’s national cathedral and landmark is brilliant. To know that hundreds if not thousands will be seeing my designs this year over the festive period is great to know! I’m looking forward to sending out my cards to friends and family, and I hope others will too.