Firm Update: The Process of Creating the Courtney Law Office Annual Thanksgiving Card
As many of you know – and some of you will discover for the first time this year – every year I send out an annual Thanksgiving Card to my clients, professional contacts, and friends and family. (If you are not on the Thanksgiving Card list, and you would like to be, just let us know! We do not intentionally leave anyone off of it, but it is possible that I made a mistake by not putting you on the address list at some point in the past.)
Occasionally, clients will ask me where I obtained the image. I’ve heard all sorts of fun guesses: from the “estate planning store” (lol), a random image on the internet, and frankly, I’m guessing that a lot of you assume that I make them online using AI. None of those are true. Today, I want to tell you about the process that I use to create the Courtney Law Firm Thanksgiving Card.
Each year, I work with professional artist Doran Wetzel to put together the image. I often have a few ideas for the theme and the central joke. Some years, like this year, I have a clear image of exactly what I want. Most years, we are narrowing down over a few options.
Doran and I go back and forth on ideas and drafts. We spend time talking and thinking about the vibes and moods of the year and how the image resonates with these themes around death and paperwork. These themes are ones that all of my clients think about and handle every day! After 5-8 weeks of drafts and commentary, Doran will have created the final product, and I send his payment. Then, the cards are sent off to a printer, and picked up about a week later. Once I pick the cards up, I sign them and, as you may have noticed, I try to write a personal note in each one. This usually takes several evenings over the course of a week. My kids often help with putting on the address labels and stamps.
I feel very lucky that Doran is willing to be my professional partner in this strange little project every year–for those who haven’t noticed, he does sign each image too. Thank you for this annual work, Doran!
The image for today’s newsletter is the image from my very first card. This is my favorite card, and the one that started it all. Get ready for the card this year: it’s my second favorite card ever, in my 8 years of working with Doran on this.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
