For years, Biosciences’ digital holiday card has been one of Berkeley Lab’s most creative seasonal traditions. Past cards have featured protein molecules floating inside a snow globe, DNA-inspired animations, and memorable characters ranging from “Earl N. Meyer” flask to an animated lab mouse (“Murray”), “Sparky” polar bear, “Ginger” gingerbread person, “Rhoda Blocker” turkey, and goats. Each year, the card offers a playful way to celebrate the Area’s science endeavors, people, and milestones.
The 2025 card centered on BioEPIC, which scientists from both the Biosciences and Earth and Environmental Sciences Areas began working in that year. The Biosciences team, which includes ALD Paul Adams, Area Deputies Katy Christiansen and Nikki Humphreys, and Lead Communications Coordinator Lida Gifford, wanted the holiday card to recognize that achievement while also incorporating the rooftop greenhouse and a recent bobcat sighting.
After conversations with the Biosciences team, CSO designer Eduardo de Ugarte created something that felt consistent with the long-running Biosciences holiday card style, while still making the bobcat recognizable, warm, and not too realistic.
To get there, Ed began by researching BioEPIC architecture and environment, greenhouse visuals, and bobcat references. Greenhouses need plants, but drawing every plant and leaf by hand would have taken hours, so Ed used Adobe Illustrator’s AI features to generate a starting point. The initial results were not ready to use. The negative space was filled with odd white artifacts among other unfavorable things that required careful cleanup. Ed continued refining prompts, editing shapes, removing the unwanted white sections, adjusting the composition of the leaves and variety. He even recolored and adjusted the later addition of holiday lights to match the final design.
After final approval of the artboards (still sketches), the subsequent animation workflow required 68 images to create a 20-second video. Each frame still needed human review and adjustment to ensure the movement felt deliberate and smooth, and the final result aligned with the Biosciences visual style and goals.
Rather than replacing the designer, AI served as a tool, helping reduce time spent on labor-intensive tasks and keeping the project on schedule. AI accelerated portions of the design process, while strategy, storytelling, visual consistency, illustration, and quality control remained firmly in human hands.
See the final animated e-card.
“Our holiday card each year is the result of our long-term creative partnership,” said Lida Gifford. “Together we have created a cast of characters that represent and respond to the most impactful situation that year. Sparky throws the master switch, reflecting the public safety power shutoff (PSPS) in 2019. The first year of the pandemic, we had the characters meeting on Zoom, and later they pivoted to a hybrid work mode. We rely on Ed’s expertise to keep the animations within reason (size and budget) and value his creativity to bring our characters to life and produce a card that is both fresh and familiar.”
Teams interested in working with CSO on a holiday card, animation, or similar design project are encouraged to reach out early. Projects like this take planning, creative development, and production time, especially when animation is involved.
