Have you seen Grayson Perry's Christmas card?
Ceramicist joins Bob and Roberta Smith, Michael Craig-Martin and more for series of Oxfam charity cards
Very boring and/or chronistically-challenged people often complain that Christmas comes earlier every year. But as the summer sun just begins to dip it seems they may, for once, have a point. For the global poverty charity Oxfam has just released a series of Christmas cards featuring the work of renowned artists Grayson Perry, Michael Craig-Martin and Bob and Roberta Smith.
The project was organised by the design studio Kit Grover which specialises in creating products and merchandise for artists. It's brief was simple enough: to “assemble a very diverse group of artists to create images for a range of Christmas cards” - and (here comes the trickier bit) to get them to do so free of charge.
“We think the result has something for everyone, which is the point as we want the cards to sell to everyone,” says Kit Grover. “As with much of our work we are facilitators, art directors, curators and diplomats all rolled into one."
“Briefing artists is sort of a strange exercise, but everyone was turned on by the idea of helping Oxfam achieve their goals," Grover says. "We have previously worked with all of these artists at one point or another, and we like all of them too, which made it easier to give them an open but specific brief.
Some of the artists involved have created new work for the cards – Bob and Roberta Smith for example – while Raqib Shaw chose an existing painting “as I believe it captures the essence of Christmas – I will never forget the beautiful heavy snow weighing down the branches of pine trees in Kashmir,” he tells Creative Review.
Meanwhile, Peter Saville came up with a gold-tinted version of his Unknown Pleasures sleeve artwork for Joy Division. The cards will be available in Oxfam shops and the Oxfam Online Shop from 17 October.
For more iconic designs by designers and artists check out the Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design.