The Idea

What if the greatest Christmas movies ever made weren't just entertainment — but actually pointed toward something true? That was the premise behind Christmas Blockbusters, a four-week series drawing spiritual themes from The Grinch, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Christmas Story, and Miracle on 34th Street. The creative challenge was equally ambitious: build a single visual world that could hold all four films at once, feel instantly familiar, and make people genuinely excited to show up. The solution was a retro illustrated movie poster — one composite scene where every film's iconic elements coexisted in a snowy, marquee-lit world that felt like it belonged on the wall of a classic theater.

The Build

The illustration was built entirely in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop — a flat, textured world populated with characters and landmarks pulled from each film: the Grinch's hand reaching down from the top of frame, the wardrobe from Narnia, Cole's department store trolley from Miracle on 34th Street, and the leg lamp stool from A Christmas Story tucked into the corner for the eagle-eyed. The marquee logo treatment — hand-crafted letterforms inside a bulb-bordered theater sign — became the visual anchor that tied everything together across every format.

Then it went physical. I built a wooden frame in my garage, wired it with marquee bulb lights, printed the full movie poster at large format, and mounted the whole installation in our lobby. What started as a digital concept became a physical experience that greeted thousands of people walking through the door every weekend.

The Output

The system extended across every touchpoint the series needed — social media graphics at multiple aspect ratios, broadcast lower-third bars for live video production, a supersource background for multi-camera switching, message-specific social cards for each of the four weeks, a discussion guide banner, print invites, and lobby signage. Every asset was built from the same illustrated world, adapted for its context without losing the warmth and playfulness of the original concept.