When working in a production department, like Zippo, it is rare to have an opportunity to do things other than the daily workflow. A little while back I found out that Zippo owns 100’s of rarely used screens. Right after I found them I learned that they would be destroyed for scrap metal. This was upsetting for me; the screens that were once used to make some of the most iconic Zippo’s from the past would vanish. We were able to get our hands on a box of these screens and saved them from destruction.

During my time at Zippo I am always looking for reasons to try something new and learn new processes. After getting a hold of the screens we needed a reason to use them. The screens are small so we were limited to what we could use them for. Holiday cards were the perfect fit!

We had a few department meetings about how we would go about making the cards. We decided to make and sell cards to raise money for the SPCA. We chose three artists to participate and started the project. With our regular workloads we were able to pull it off and it was a huge success.

We were able to sell 44 sets to employees. We plan to do this again, hopefully 2-3 times a year and expand the market to more than Zippo employees to raise even more money.

The project not only helped out the SPCA but also taught the designers a new process and got us way from the computer.