Christmas Card illustration concepts in Science – how to connect Christmas with Science as an illustrator?

How would you imagine a Christmas card from a scientific institution?

In 2022, I was asked for the first time to create the Christmas card for the ÖAW (Austrian Academy of Sciences). The briefing was to design a card with a cosy Christmas feel — with a twist on science.

I imagined that cosy, warm feeling of being indoors with a hot cup of tea and candlelight, while outside, snowflakes are falling — very magical, very “Christmassy.” But the truth is: despite the magic, everything is based on science! Science is all around us — because science is nothing less than the study of our existence and our environment. (Surely, scientists would disagree and have a much more precise definition of what science is! ;)


But that was my approach to connecting the magic of Christmas with science — I added scientific definitions of everything on the card! 
The Christmas comet and stars are 1P/Halley, Sirius, and Polaris, steam is H₂O at 100 °C, while snow is H₂O at 0 °C. The cup is embellished with an illustration of Rudolph, the red-nosed Rangifer tarandus, and — who can guess what’s inside the cup (C₂H₆O)?

ÖAW Christmas Card Illustration Concept 2022:

Connecting the historical past with scientific future

In 2023, I was asked again to create their Christmas card, and this time the client came up with the idea to use the well-known Christmas greeting “From our house to yours – Merry Christmas,” and to include the famous ÖAW building, which is the historic “Old University” of Vienna.
 This was a great opportunity for me to illustrate some beautiful old landmarks of Vienna, such as St. Stephen’s Cathedral, St. Charles Church, and the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel.

The message “From our house to yours – Merry Christmas” winds its way through the city of Vienna on the airstream of Santa’s sleigh (which looks like a Christmas lettering banner at the same time), from the ÖAW’s “Old University” building, through the city’s houses and famous landmarks — all set against a starry Christmas night sky.


To connect this magical Christmas scene with science, I added some scientific hints — like book-reading angels, a woman with a telescope, and — the perfect counterpart to Santa Claus — an astronaut waving down to the city from the sky.

ÖAW Christmas Card Illustration Concept 2023:

Combining traditions with scientific items

Last year, in 2024, I had the pleasure of creating the ÖAW Christmas card again. This time, with the same briefing — connecting Christmas with science — I designed a traditional Christmas tree, but made up of scientific items. Highlights of this illustration include test tubes as candles, molecular and DNA chains as decorations, speech bubbles representing linguistics, and — my personal favorite — the angel of sound research on top of the tree.

ÖAW Christmas Card Illustration Concept 2024:

Two of the concepts have been shortlisted by Communication Arts Illustration!

It is always a great pleasure to work for the Austrian Academy of Sciences, especially when it comes to Christmas Card illustration concepts, as it is a wonderful challenge to contribute something appropriate to this intelligent world of science, with elegance and a touch of humor.

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