Holiday Greetings

Courtesy Richard Meier & Partners Architects

Richard Meier & Partners Architects sent a sweeping vista of their Seamarq Hotel in Gangneung, South Korea. The lights at night on the water add a touch of festiveness along, of course, with the "Happy Holidays!" in the upper left.

It wouldn’t truly be the holidays without season’s greetings flooding your inbox. In our case, these tidings come from designers and architects we’ve worked with throughout the years. There are notes urging us to have happy, relaxing holidays, well wishes for health and prosperity in the New Year, and gracious messages of thanks for “everything.”

These communications aim to sow good will between colleagues and business contacts. The messages toe the line between business interactions and something much more casual that is typically reserved for our inner circles, of friends and family. It’s a difficult balance to strike, attempting to remain professional while sending out a mass e-mail that has no occupational purpose.

As one of my colleague’s put it upon receiving an email with Happy Holidays scrawled in cursive on the face of a frosted cookie, “What is the point?”

Courtesy Michael Graves Architecture & Design (MGA&D)

This year's greetings were a variety of each level of animation. Many firms opted to send videos, or in the case of this graphic from Michael Graves Architecture & Design, GIFs to convey their holiday cheer.

Courtesy re.publique

This bright and patterned graphic from re.publique, an Italy-based architecture and design public relations firm, almost seems animated.

Courtesy Jorge Herrera Studio 

Courtesy Perkins+Will's Boston Office via Vimeo

(time lapse, realistic sketching transforms to graphic entirely.)

Courtesy OLIN studio via Vimeo

— ( Collaboration, time lapse. Susan's favorite. )