Part of the way libraries make their communities an inclusive space and make their patrons feel welcome is by celebrating holidays, honoring heritage months, and commemorating important days. From looking at usage, we know that LibraryAware’s holiday and seasonal template offerings are among the most popular in our collection.
For example, Guelph Public Library in Ontario made a lovely Diwali book flyer. Hindus make up the largest percentage of the immigrant population in the city of Guelph. This flyer sends the signal that those immigrants are welcome at the library. It also serves to teach others in the city about the significance of Diwali.
I interviewed Denise Turner and Leah White, the two professional graphic designers here at NoveList, about the appeal of LibraryAware’s holiday templates, partly to get the word out, partly just to geek out about the amazing stuff they make, and also partly to understand how libraries are using the templates.
What makes these templates so popular?
"Libraries need templates that are relevant, professional-looking, and easy to use for the holidays and celebrations that are meaningful to their communities,” says Leah. “I think they’re so popular because they’re easy grab-and-go materials that you really don’t need to customize. When we add the holiday and seasonal templates to New Releases, they appear in the Trending Now section on LibraryAware.”
What designs do you most look forward to creating and seeing libraries use?
“Winter!” says Denise. “Winter is one of my favorite seasons and its holidays are the most fun to design. I love knowing we’re making it easier for libraries to celebrate the seasons with our templates.”
“I also particularly enjoy our Heritage Month templates because they help libraries recognize and celebrate the diversity within their communities. I think they help build more inclusivity and connection.”
Leah agrees and says, “We’re always expanding our collection of holiday templates with fresh options and to cover as many holidays as we can. People celebrate in different ways and that’s fun for us as designers. And it’s not just holidays. A lot of people celebrate the winter season, so we’ve created more templates for that this year.”
I asked Leah what her favorite holiday is to design for and she said, “I really look forward every year to making Halloween designs, and I’m not alone. Halloween is now more than a single day. It’s an entire season on its own that people have gotten into celebrating in a big way. Halloween templates are some of the most popular holiday templates, and one of our most popular current seasonal book flyers features cozy gothic reads.”
Denise adds, “Yes, Halloween is always fun to design for. You get to create more imaginative and eerie elements that you typically don’t use. I also enjoy the dark color palettes and fun spooky twists on words. It’s probably also a bit nostalgic as I have fond memories of Halloween as a kid and then as an adult celebrating with my children when they were young.”
Which format of templates is most popular for libraries and why do you think that is?
“Our book display signs are our most popular template format, year after year,” explains Denise. “I think it’s because they are easy to use and are ‘ready to go.’ In most cases, they only need to be printed and require little extra personalization. They're a fun and easy way for libraries to grab a patron’s attention when visiting the library.”
Leah agrees with this, and says, “From working in a library, we know there are a lot more book displays and programs this time of year. Libraries like the display signs because they make it easy to create eye-catching and effective book displays. They really help with circulation.”
“Our next most popular format is our book flyers. They combine a seasonal look with all their amazing book covers that grab readers’ attention,” says Denise. “Some also include our expert book recommendations, too. Like our other templates, we design them to require little-to-no editing to save libraries time. They engage patrons while also helping them select what to read next. The book flyers not only provide ideas of what to include on the display, but libraries will print out copies for readers to take with them."
I asked Denise what different types of templates are generally available for holiday designs. She said, “We typically create a sign, poster, and book flyer for holiday designs. Some ‘bigger’ holidays or themes may receive additional social media graphics, bookmarks, an email, or a bingo card. "I’d recommend libraries look at the whole set of templates available and think about how each piece might be used to promote their collections, programs, or events.”
What advice would you give to libraries that are looking to make the most of the holiday templates?
“Take advantage of the multiple formats offered in the same design,” says Denise. “This is a great way to promote a cohesive look across multiple channels. Think social media, email, book displays, posters, etc. Using the same design not only saves you time from having to create something new for each channel, but the repetitiveness also increases the effectiveness of your communication. Try to carry your message all the way through.”
What kinds of design trends are you seeing right now?
Denise says, “There are lots of design trends out there, but I’m noticing the use of bold and saturated colors, clean and modern fonts, and a lot of natural shapes like waves, curves, and blobs.”
I shouldn’t have been very surprised to hear this next point because I know it works so well for getting the word out about the event. But Denise also said, “Minimalism is still a popular design style and one of our favorites. With this style, we see a lot of white space, clean lines, simple graphics, and modern fonts.”
Finally, she adds, “Inclusivity also continues to be a focus — ensuring a diverse audience is reflected and making sure the designs are accessible for everyone.”
“A trend not so much about design as planning but we’ve seen libraries wanting seasonal templates much earlier each year,” says Leah. “The day before we launched our Winter Reading 2024 templates last month, a library was asking when they’d be live — and we’d been worried we might have posted them too early! So, we love that libraries are just as excited as we are for these seasonal designs.”
Who do you follow for inspiration?
“We follow libraries on social media to watch for things we could use for design trends,” says Leah. “It’s a fun excuse to see the creative things libraries do in videos. I frequently look out into the wider world for inspiration, too, like on professional design boards.”
Denise says, “We both have our favorite libraries we follow for trends. But when we’re making designs, we’re not necessarily trying to break the mold. We’re trying to think of what libraries want for their communities, what they will use, and what changes they’ll be interested in making to the templates — or not. We want them to be able to just use the templates without needing to take the time to change anything or have design skills. That’s what it’s about — giving them the best designs we can and saving them time.”
Leigh Gaddy is the Lead/Demand Generation Marketing Specialist at NoveList. She is currently reading An Immense World by Ed Yong.
