Planet Word Museum
Words & Whimsy All Year
Challenge
For the past seven years, Planet Word—DC's museum dedicated to the joy and power of language—has asked Eighty2degrees to help with creating an end-of-year mailing to send to its supporters. The museum wanted the mailer to reinforce its brand, generate excitement for the museum's exhibits, and show its gratitude by giving everyone a small token of appreciation for their support. We were tasked with proposing the pieces of the mailer and designing the wonderful surprise that could fit in the envelope.
Approach
From 2020–2025, Planet Word chose to send a poster-style calendar, featuring a colorful, custom-drawn, conceptual illustration as the main visual. Each year, the illustration had a different theme from first introducing the museum to the inspiring ways words can be used to highlighting the magic of books in the museum's interactive library. The calendar served as a useful and beautiful reminder of the museum that people can enjoy throughout the year. Then, in 2025-26, we evolved mailer's format to match its theme of “Spread Joy with Words.” The three-panel illustrative mailer, depicting various kinds of ‘joy’ to share, included a detachable, stamped postcard to invite recipients to “pass forward” the same good wishes onto someone of their choosing.
