"What's the world for, if you can't make it up the way you want it?"
Toni Morrison’s optimistic words invite recipients to envision a more hopeful world in which individuals are empowered to create change. In the spirit of Arizona State University’s charter, a framework for inclusion and diversity, the ASU Library embraces a year of new possibilities.
Inspired by Morrison’s novel, "Jazz," addressing the active confrontation of racial prejudice and inequalities, and acknowledging the economic and social impact in Arizona of the Great Migration, we wanted to invite others to think deeply about their place in the world and what they might aspire toward in the year ahead.
Harkening to a time near the origins of Arizona statehood, when faith in social and technological progress was strong, the style and embossing of the piece joins influences of Art Nouveau and Pueblo Deco, inspired by archival architectural materials in the ASU Library’s Distinctive Collections, and draws on copper foiling to speak further to our place in Arizona’s history.
Toni Morrison spoke often and eloquently about her preference for the use of metaphorical imagery that included birds, symbolizing enslavement, freedom, migration and community. The 2019-20 ASU Library Holiday card features a phoenix in the moment just before it spreads its wings for flight and holding in one foot a symbol of the earth, evoking the concept of change and transformation.
Credits:
Creative Direction: Jennifer Duvernay
Art Direction: Amy Carolyn Watson
Graphic Design: Kelsey Hinesley
Content Curation: Britt Lewis
UX Consult: Jordyn Kush
Project Contributors: Patricia Odle, Kristen Johnson
Produced on NEENAH® Cotton Letterpress 110C (neenahpaper.com) in Fluorescent White, through O'Neil Printing, Phoenix, AZ, and foiling in 115 Gold with Foil Graphics, Phoenix, AZ.