Best of CASE District II Award
 

Institution: McDaniel College

Title of entry: 2021 Season's Greetings Card

About this entry: To promote our new McDaniel Environmental Center (MEC), we created a sustainable snowflake ornament to pair with the president's seasonal winter greeting card. Rooted in sustainability efforts, the MEC was developed by students and for students to engage in hands-on learning opportunities. Its fields, forests, meadows, wetlands, and stream provide natural settings for community-building and education in agriculture, conservation, and environmental sciences.

The front of the card features the president's seasonal greeting and a laser-cut ornament overlaying a glimpse of trees. The forest imagery mimics background designs of trail signage soon to be installed on MEC property. The back includes an in-depth explanation of symbols comprising the snowflake, including a key to the iconography. Inspired by the nature in our locale, icons were created and carefully constructed to ensure that the laser cutting held the intricate details of the snowflake. Highlighted are: American Goldfinch, Timothy Grass, Serviceberries, Oak leaf, and Eastern Blacknose Dace.

The environmental theme carried through the paper selection as we specifically chose stock sheets that are Forest Stewardship Council® certified. The final piece shared the president's warm sentiments, represented the MEC, delivered a sneak peek of trail signage, and became a keepsake, as reflected in this comment from a faculty member: “Well, bravo on the design of the card. It was a super idea to highlight the MEC, and the intricate snowflake is sheer genius! I always save one card each year, and there won't be a contest this year,” said Katy Burke Stanton, Lecturer in English.