Thanksgiving, a harvest of creative resources
This epic all-American event is a great opportunity to get creative and get others excited about American culture and values. As you can imagine, events, parties, and huge harvest feasts amplify the American culture and the fabric of their people, giving thanks for everything they have for granted. But how can the creative community take this up a notch? Here you can get a bit closer to the festivity, understanding the event a little more to give you the perspective needed to create stunning Thanksgiving projects, keeping this special day up to date, looking fresh and as American as possible using our advised collection of specialized resources available here on Freepik.
What is Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is that all-important time of the year for Americans to gather around the family table for the biggest feast of the year. Stuffed roast turkeys, of which are the biggest you have ever seen, are the obvious attraction on the menu and a contender for the most recognized symbol for the festivity, accompanied by mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and delicious pumpkin pie. However, there is a little more to Thanksgiving than a big family get-together.
In the 1600s, pilgrims from Plymouth, England, set sail for the New World in search of a new beginning. Landing on the coast of today’s Massachusetts, the settlers were in bad shape after months of punishing weather and malnutrition when along came a native Indian who surprisingly spoke plain English. It didn’t take too long for a friendship to form between the pilgrim settlers and the native Indians, passing down the knowledge of the land, essentially giving the pilgrims a chance at a successful settlement. To express their immense gratitude, the Pilgrims invited the Indians to a harvest feast to say thanks to their new friends, God, and a bountiful harvest. To this day, the story has become a national treasure and a big part of American history and culture.
What day is thanksgiving?
The fourth Thursday of November each year is the big day. However, this wasn’t always the case. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced a damaged economy. Looking for alternative ways to boost the economy, he made a hasty decision to move the date of Thanksgiving a week earlier, setting the date on the 23rd of November. This would mean Americans would have an entire extra week of Christmas shopping, thus generating economic growth. Genius. America was split over the decision, and newspapers were tearing into the idea, jokingly calling it Franksgiving! In 1942, the fallout over Roosevelt’s decision led to the date we are familiar with today.
How can Thanksgiving benefit me or a business?
The very nature of a national holiday means a huge number of Americans are not working, paying more attention to having fun and spending money. In addition, Thanksgiving has long been known to be the start of Christmas shopping, and Black Friday, the day after, confirms it. This means there is a high demand for advertising, sales campaigns, and events, of course, opening up countless opportunities for designers to get creative, whether it’s for retail, events, campaigns, or something a little more creative. And for business owners, it’s a great time to push your product on the market with all that extra potential. Who knows how far your great ideas will go!
We can use Thanksgiving to our advantage so it seems…
From a designer, marketeer, or business point of view, dressing up your advertising in a Thanksgiving theme could do well to push interest and show consumers you are along for the ride and with a switched-on conscience. Because let’s face it, if you’re not following the herd, you may as well be selling pumpkins for peanuts.
A bountiful harvest of Thanksgiving resources!
Freepik’s resource library covers everything you need to create striking Thanksgiving themes for all kinds of situations, utilizing Thanksgiving images, icons, vector designs, and even stretching as far as providing high-quality video footage. But for anyone who has limited design experience, perhaps you could give templates a go. They are fully customizable if you have access to the adobe suite. But don’t panic if you’re unfamiliar with such programs. Freepik has an ace up its sleeve. Wepik is an intuitive online design tool straight from the browser that enables anyone to edit templates from Freepik’s library fast and easily. Check out these customizable designs just to get you started:
- Thanksgiving Post
- Thanksgiving Flyer
- Thanksgiving Poster
- Thanksgiving Banner
- Thanksgiving Invitation
Thanksgiving design elements
For the more advanced designers out there, perhaps you are looking for elements to balance out your composition and layout. There is no shame in it, and of course, it can save you valuable time, especially if you’re interested in using highly detailed Thanksgiving vectors.
Backgrounds
Working from the ground up, perhaps a background design will give your project a good head start. Filled with the symbolism of Thanksgiving and using the warm colors of fall, you can achieve the humble atmosphere expected of the festivity.
Images
Thanksgiving images are a fantastic way to turn up the engagement in your project, providing a sense of realism and dreamlike potential. They can do a great job of selling a lifestyle, reflecting on how you want your audience to feel or relate to. With such high-quality images freely available, adding value to your projects is just a few clicks away.
Symbols and Icons
Symbols play a huge part in creating recognition for your Thanksgiving projects and bring functionality to your designs. Perhaps, performing as a button for an app or web design project.
Fonts
Typography is always going to be a key feature in your projects. So why not step them up with outlandish styling and effects. There’s a bunch of Thanksgiving text’s ready for use or perhaps you’d be keen to take a look at Freepik’s font collection to guide your hand at creating your very own unique typography. When created with care and thought they can often surprise yourself.
Bringing in the harvest
It is hoped that all these resources will help you achieve what you set out to accomplish, creating striking Thanksgiving projects and participating in keeping this thriving annual event fresh and up to date around the globe.
