This is a postcard I designed for a client. In the end, we went with an invite and envelope instead, and we used similar artwork with people and cities and rivers. It turned out cool. But this piece seemed too good for the “not used” folder. And it’s got a good story.
This is a photo I took this summer of Autrain Lake in the upper peninsula of Michigan. My family convened for a proverbial summer get-together, since we are strewn across the miles, and rarely do I see my sister and her son. My parents visit here a time or two every year. It’s the place they honeymooned 48 years ago. And they chose it because it is the same lake where my grandparents honeymooned more than 70 years ago. We have disintegrating photos, dusty slides, and ancient 18mm family heirlooms of this lake. Pictures of rows of fish caught and laid out on the shore. Snapshots of grandpa and Alec, the best friend of his life. And the great photo of my dad’s English Setter, Sue, riding at the front of the boat with the wind in her floppy ears, searching the lake and shore for something to point out to dad and grandad.
It’s not just pictures. There’s the story of mom’s first stab at piemaking with wild blueberries. It didn’t go so well, so in the trash the pie went. And when the raccoons found them, mom thought it was a bear fixin’ to eat her for lunch. And the people they know . . . dad knows the children of the children of the children around that lake. And when I was standing with him on the dock, as he looked out on that lake, I saw a hundred years go by in his mind. I wanted to be in there with him. It’s crazy how some of the smallest things in our lives can hold such meaning. For each of us, there’s a lake, or a mountain, or a beachfront. And the stories we tell, the pictures we preserve, have such a melancholy sweetness to them. I wonder where yours is. . .
Well, this postcard is my contribution to the legacy. It’s not old or dusty, but it’s full of meaning and feeling and things that only my little family knows. I hope you enjoy it.
Hey Sherri! Did you do this for Emmaus? I got the invite to their fundraiser in the mail today and it looks an awful lot like this. If so…I’m so glad you’re still working with them!
Hey. Yes, I did do it. Do you like it? Yeah, this was supposed to be a postcard that went out first, but we decided to just go straight to the invitation. It was a really fun project, and I really enjoy working with Emmaus. Thanks for asking about it.