Client
Museum of Illusions, Copenhagen
Graphic design · Marketing
Museum of Illusions
A Christmas campaign proposal for the Museum of Illusions in Copenhagen — whimsy, fun and magic, localised with a single ornament.
The key visual
Whimsy, fun and magic
The design sits on the museum's primary brand colour and its hexagon pattern, so the campaign reads as the museum before it reads as Christmas.
We chose an illustrated key visual because it allows greater creative freedom and can convey a sense of whimsy, fun and magic, which is exactly what a holiday campaign needs. A well-shot photo of Santa might evoke warmth and nostalgia, but it can also feel generic, especially if it's a stock image other brands are using as well.
The main motifs are a Christmas tree with presents, Santa peeking out from behind it, and the museum's logo, lightly Christmas-ified. The colour scheme is classic: red, white, green and yellow, the colours we all associate with Christmas.
The local detail
One ornament, and the campaign travels
The museum is in Copenhagen, so the design needed something Danish in it. Through research we found the Julehjerte, the traditional woven paper heart hung on Danish Christmas trees, and its colour combination worked with the design without any adjustment.
What makes it more than a nice touch is that it's a slot rather than a decoration. Swap the Julehjerte for a candy cane and the campaign is American; swap it for a licitar heart and it's Croatian. Everything else in the layout stays exactly where it is. For a museum that operates in dozens of cities, one campaign that localises by changing a single ornament is worth more than a dozen separate ones.
The hoodie
November to January, not just the day itself
The merchandise takes the opposite approach to the poster: minimal, and built entirely out of the logo. Santa's hat, Christmas lights wrapped around the mark, and ornaments including a snowflake, a red-and-white striped bauble and a Julehjerte. The front carries the symbol alone, the back the horizontal logo with the lights running along the lettering.
That keeps it from being too child-oriented. It works for adults, and it can be worn from early November, when people start getting excited about Christmas, until the end of January, when they're still holding on to the warm, cosy feeling of it.
