Nevada 12 Days of Christmas

Client: Prospector’s Club

The holiday season is here – the merriest and busiest time of the year! (Rhyme intended). For most, the holidays begin as you wrap presents, prepare holiday recipes and celebrate from one party to the next. For us in the Creative Department, this is the time of year we get to switch up our routine and execute some one-of-a-kind projects for those clients who are really feeling the holiday spirit.

Prospectors’ Club, one of Reno’s oldest social clubs, has planned a grand holiday party for it’s members. Muse Group was commissioned to create illustrations for a Nevada-themed “Twelve Days of Christmas” party. Each number was assigned a Nevada-related animal, scene or cultural symbol. The illustrations were done in watercolor and pen and then scanned and enlarged to 2 feet tall. Prospectors’ Club, in partnership with Red Carpet Events, envisioned the final illustrations to be hung on the wall, each surrounded by a giant holiday wreath measuring 6 feet in diameter, to signify different food stations throughout the party.

Process and Execution

The process consisted of researching, drafting, cutting, tracing, drawing, coloring and, of course, listening to some holiday music to stay on point. First, each number was printed, cut and traced in the middle of a 9×12 in. watercolor paper. By doing this, I was able to easily set each number right in the middle of the composition and maintain consistency. From there, I could work around the number to build its partner graphic. One challenge that repeatedly came up was finding balance between the two elements; we didn’t want the numbers to stand out more than the graphic and visa versa. Because of this, the graphic positioning and color scheme was critical to the process. Some of the numbers took several versions to get that balance just right.

Here is an inside look of how these illustrations were executed. I hope to share the final results in physical form and function soon!