Skating Into Christmas
“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days…”
– Charles Dickens
I was asked by the lovely people at Dubray Books to illustrate their 2026 Christmas campaign. I was delighted to hear from them again, after working with them on their previous Christmas campaigns from 2019-2021. As usual, this brief arrived in the summertime, in order to get everything printed and displayed by November 1st (Christmas seems to arrive earlier each year!). We had a very hot summer here in Ireland this year, so it was quite the challenge to transport my mind to a snowy climate. Eating ice-pops sure helped!
I was asked to imagine a whole new festive world to decorate their 13 nationwide stores with. They pulled together an informative brief, which included pieces from my own portfolio, along with vintage illustrations of ice-skaters and jovial festive scenes. The theme was ‘vintage ice-skaters’ and a general sense of wintery times-gone-by. They asked for a triptych scene once again, with Santa as the main focus. We decided on a selection of cute woodland animals to accompany Santa on his ice-rink; each enjoying the fun in their own unique way. My favourite are the little mice, with a tinsel scarf and a matchstick torch. Books were obviously to be a big feature of the imagery also, so I included plenty of gift-wrapped books, and a book sleigh!
Some of the elements within each scene also had to work as in-store cut-out props. For example, I included a robin topiary display, along with a poinsettia holly garland, and a gift-bearing robin. I also had to consider Dubray’s brand colours for the colour palette. Their signature navy blue and turquoise, along with rich reds and lush greens were the perfect palette anyway for a Christmas-inspired illustration. I had so much fun creating these illustrations and celebrating the Christmas spirit (even if my celebrations were a little early). Pop into any Dubray store to grab a brochure, gift bag, and of course plenty of books!
Thanks for reading, friends ~ Rachel x
