'A Year's Worth of Giving' With Neenah Paper

When was the last time you received a handwritten letter or card from a loved one, outside of your grandma, for your birthday or a holiday?

If you can't think of one, maybe it's because we're living in a digital age where we send GIFs and "confetti" iMessages,  slide into DMs and write on Facebook Walls for whatever occasion is at hand.

Neenah Paper is looking to change that with their newest project, "A Year's Worth of Giving," where they collaborated with 12 designers around America to create a collection of 24-custom designed greeting cards and envelopes.

These aren't your traditional friendly neighborhood greetings cards, as each designer created two in their personal, unique style for major holidays from Christmas and New Year's Eve right on down to blank cards and Thank You’s.

San-Francisco-based director, designer and illustrator Russel Shaw even decided to create a card dedicated to celebrating nothing, as he sees the importance in the little things life has to offer. To showcase this, he illustrated a skywriting plane scrawling "Celebrate Nothing" across a baby blue sky.

Inspired by all things green, Elana Schlenker, a designer who specializes in visual identities and interactive work, opted to design a card devoted to the beginning of spring where she combined iridescent foil and basic bold shapes to create a unique pattern.  

Grammy award-winning designer, Lawrence Azerrad, deputy art director of the New York Times Ben Grandgennett, and independent designer and art director Leta Sobierajski also created beautiful works of their own inspired by holidays and random moments they love by utilizing 30+ different types of paper stocks with a variety of printing techniques supplied by Neenah.

So, the next time you’re thinking about someone, instead of sending a basic text congratulating them, dust off the old pen, write a note on a “You Did It” card and pop that sucker in the mail.