Photo provided Students work on the holiday cards, clockwise, starting from bottom, Roree Stofel, Cameron Molnar, Austin Nesci, Gavin Montgomery and Max Thomas.
A team of high school students are giving Santa and his elves a run for their money by using design skills, technology and a good old-fashioned assembly line to spread some cheer.
In keeping with an annual tradition, students in the C4 Columbus Area Career Connection program have created just more than 200 holiday cards this year, said graphic design teacher Jeff Metz. The cards go to teachers and administrators from participating county schools, community members who help support C4 programs, and some retired teachers.
While Metz doesn’t recall exactly how the annual project began, he said that the first C4 holiday card was pretty simplistic. Now, however, the festive creations are “more complex,” thanks to the help of a laser engraver.
However, before that comes into play, the project begins with a design phase. Metz said that about 35 students submitted designs for the cards, and C4 administrators chose one created by Columbus North sophomore Faline Fox.
The completed card shows a holiday scene with snowman next to bridge, a few buildings in the background, and Santa flying overhead with his reindeer and sleigh as it snows.
“Mr. Metz told us that we had to do a 3D project, and I remembered how my mom would always get these really pretty cards that would be like a box with a scene inside of it,” Faline said. She decided to follow that style but do a more simplified version.
Creating the design was the most challenging part of the project for her, as she had to get it done in a short amount of time. It didn’t help that her computer crashed twice in the process.
After her design was chosen, Faline tweaked it as needed. Once the design was completely finished, students used the laser engraver to cut out pieces for the project and then assembled a few cards at a time, going back to the engraver to cut out more pieces as needed.
In addition to designing the card, Faline worked with the laser engraver on the project and also helped a little with gluing the cards together.
Metz said that all of the students who worked on the cards were from the Graphic Design and Layout and Graphic Imaging Technology classes with 37 submitted designs. About 20 of those same students worked on engraving, folding, gluing and stuffing the cards. Faline said that Metz also took some time to help with the project.
“I think my favorite part has been just assembling the cards, because I’ve gotten to talk to people,” she said. “And also, I think this part (the interview) right now, because I feel like I’m getting recognition for my work, which is cool.”
Metz said that students enjoy the project each year. He noted that it gives them not just a chance to learn about design principles but also an opportunity to give back to the community.
“I hope they get a kind of sense of community, truly,” he said.
