The Idea
If there is one thing I think all humans can agree on, it’s that 2020 was a crazy, wild ride. It seemed like every few days there was a major news story about some catastrophe: COVID-19 deaths, riots, election drama, fires, Tiger King?… the list goes on. Given the heaviness of 2020, I wanted our Christmas card to be something lighthearted that makes people laugh. Who couldn’t use an extra smile after all of that?
I came up with the idea to do a photoshoot with my husband, myself, and our five cats (yes, you read that correctly!). After all, we spent 99% of our time quarantining at home with them, so a photo of us all together made a lot of sense. Plus, I had an inkling suspicion that most of our friends and family didn’t realize how many cats we have, and I thought a picture of all of us together would be pretty comical.
The Process
Once I got my husband to agree to the idea, the next step was figuring out how on earth to get five cats to pose in a photo together. They don’t even like being in the same room together unless there’s treats! But is it impossible to pull off? Not with a little bit of graphic design magic.
I set up a photoshoot area in our dining room with a video camera on a tri-pod, lighting, a white backdrop, and a cozy comforter to mimic clouds. I figured the only possible way to capture the shots necessary to create the composite photo was to have a camera shooting continuous video that I could export still images from.
My husband and I proceeded to pose with different cats in front of the camera until I felt like I had enough footage to work with. It took a while because, well, cats. The final image is a combination of 10 different images and 47 photoshop layers.
The End Result
After many hours of photoshop editing, some creative copywriting, and some InDesign layout work, we arrived at the final Christmas card design. I had a lot of fun putting this together, and I hope it brings a smile to your face! Happy new year!
You are so talented. I was fortunate enough to receive the real thing and man, it did make me laugh, I loved it, and couldn’t believe you got all those cats to pose for the picture. Of course, now I know it was magic and your creative brain making art. Great job!