“Reitdesign wishes you a merry fitness and a healthy new year.”

Reit created a holiday gift box for clients to start the new year off…REIT! Each Live REIT box included a custom designed reusable water bottle, drawstring bag, and a pamphlet of NYC-based health and wellness activities to take part in. Even the boxes were customized to include fun and research-backed facts about fitness. Like, did you know you that the right type of music can increase performance by up to 20%?!

“Stir. Sip. Sigh. Repeat.” 

During the 2013 holiday season, REIT created a year-end holiday gift that brought “comfort & joy” to our clients in the form of a make-your-own hot chocolate kit! The custom box and custom pieces—which included 1 branded ceramic mug, 4 reusable jars of “Mix-Ins,” 5 interlocking cases of spices, and an interactive “Cocoa Contraption” offering 8 assorted recipes from 4 categories: Classic, Sweet, Spicy & Zesty—combined photo-realism and Reit’s own whimsical hand-drawn illustrations. Perhaps our most successful holiday promo, several recipients went out of their way to thank us, posting photos and tagging #reitdesign on socials. Plus, REIT took home The Davey Awards GOLD for our packaging design!

“Good fortune awaits you.”

At REIT, we’re all about planting the seeds for partnership, nurturing our client’s growth, and supporting our clients’ successes—and our holiday gift in 2014 year was a testament to that. REIT’s “Lucky You” box was filled with all one might need to bring good luck: providing three bamboo shoots, long a symbol of good fortune in Asian cultures, along with care directions and all the fixings—a planter, rocks and special charms—to attract health, wealth & longevity. Each was stamped with iconic symbols and Chinese inscriptions (authentically written by our in-house, multi-lingual team). Clever and ever-green, this gift is one that keeps on giving.

“Squeeze Tightly, Neck Passionately & Canoodle Daily.”

REIT wanted to deliver a memorable “thank you” to clients during the 2015 holiday season that reflected our love for NYC. We created a retro-romantic NYC themed GET SMITTEN box that included interactive elements, cheeky copy, and tactile cues that revealed articles of winter clothing packaged beneath. On the inside of the box lid, an imprinted city map pinpoints places that have romantic and special relevance to REIT employees.

“Little known, largely bizarre…”

In 2016, REIT wanted to have some fun with the notion of “holiday” by celebrating the “little known, largely bizarre” holidays that happen throughout the year! Produced entirely in-house by the reitdesign team, each sanded wooden box was personally labeled and individually hand-stamped. Upon opening the box, clients received a panoply of customized items for your desk, including a fold-out, perforated monthly calendar highlighting these holidays and NYC destinations to celebrate them, chronological greeting cards with original artwork by reitdesign team members, three pocket-sized custom-designed notebooks, and logo pencils and erasers—tools for noting down any holidays our clients wish to celebrate.

In 2017, the NYC-based Stanton Hoch Team had much to be thankful for—including being ranked in the country’s top .0000985% of real estates by The Wall Street Journal! Of course, they couldn’t do it without their clients. To help Stanton Hoch express their gratitude, REIT developed a festive Thanksgiving Promo that included 7 to-go containers designed to share leftovers with family, friends, and those who may have been without dinner this holiday season.

In addition to the handy containers, the promo package included a notecard, labels, a wraparound sleeve, container lids that were imprinted with trivia and fun facts alongside significant statistics about Stanton Hoch. The gift kept Stanton Hoch’s name in front of existing clients and sparked conversations with prospective clients.

“The Gift of Giving”

In 2017, REIT wanted to deliver a much-needed message of hope. Inspired by the theme “The Gift of Giving,” we departed from the tradition of sending gifts to clients—by putting some of our favorite NYC charities in the spotlight. We created a fully customized and digitally embossed mailing tube that contained a tote bag; five sets of circular cards embossed with gold metallic and raised UV pattern printing; five stylized enamel pins, each representing a specific category of charity; and a fold-out description sheet that shared charitable information. Taken together, this package not only reinforced the holiday spirit of giving, but it also helped raise the profile of charities whose work is more vital than ever.

“Self-Care”

In 2018, REIT’s holiday theme was self-care, and our in-house team created a package that provides our clients with products and services to de-stress from the uber-active lifestyles they lead. Created entirely in-house, the team filled the custom-designed package with four loose teas from the iconic McNulty’s Tea & Coffee Co in the West Village, complete with branded reitdesign items, including a glass mug, diffuser, and coasters. Gift boxes also included a card that shared hidden oases in New York City where one could take a moment of reflection & respite. Client response was outstanding—wowed by the beautiful packaging and appreciative of the reminder to take a beat for themselves.

Gifts are not only reserved for the holiday season! In 2018, long-time REIT client New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) wanted to create a special gift for its 60 Board of Directors to be presented at their Annual Meeting. REIT designed and created custom labels with individual board members’ names, and sourced a winemaker that could provide magnum bottles of a California Cabernet Sauvignon.

Each label, created with digital short run printing techniques to spot gloss varnish and metallic inks, included the Show’s 2018 poster on the front, while the back label featured the story of the NY Auto Show and showcased past show posters. The bottles were housed in a custom box with logos affixed on top and a fly sheet within, thanking the board of directors for their service.

“Enjoy life’s simple pleasures”

In 2019, we returned to the basics, providing recipients with delicious holiday movie themed popcorn recipes they could create on their own using our branded popcorn kernels and popcorn bowl. Created entirely in-house, the team selected two specialty popcorns with assorted toppings, and created a “Film Buff’s Recipe Guide” pamphlet that included the reitdesign team’s favorite holiday movie recommendations  accompanying by unique, movie-themed popcorn recipes.

Creating the magic touch…the REIT way! In 2020, Cresimo requested REIT’s branding services to create packing for its innovative line of stainless steel bar and coffee related products. The company was struggling to establish an elevated brand that could reach and appeal to both its commercial and consumer audiences—they were looking for that “magic touch”. With current packaging design varying significantly across products, the REIT team worked to design a cohesive brand identity and create packaging that uniquely identified each product and its signature features.

Our layouts featured prominent logos that tie each product to the brand, dramatic black backgrounds with vibrant pops of color, and strong hero shots of each product to capture attention. Like many of REIT’s holiday gifts, we thought it important to customize each product’s offering — so the reitdesign team added signature drink recipes the user could try with the purchase of the product.

“Together we can pay it forward”

If it wasn’t already clear, every year REIT designs holiday gifts for our clients! But in 2020, in lieu of gifts, the reitdesign team gave back to the city that built us by creating custom-designed soup cans to raise awareness about food insecurity. To further REIT’s impact, the team donated to NYC food banks and called upon our clients, followers, and professional network to support hunger relief. In addition to designing and donating, for the month of December REIT shared tips, resources, organizations, and opportunities to help out fellow New Yorkers across our social media platforms.