An annual holiday tradition for millions of Americans, The Nutcracker is a ballet that has its origins in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story Nußknacker und Mausekönig (Nutcracker and the Mouse King), first published in Berlin in 1816.
We’ve long had the Nutcracker on our list of potential tins, and it was only a matter of time before its turn came up.
When we first broached the idea with Christine and Eric Strohl of the design studio Strohl -- our longtime and exclusive design partner since 2011 -- we learned about their personal histories with the Nutcracker.
Christine has really fond memories of dressing up as a child to go to Broadway each year with her grandmother to see the ballet.
Eric, on the other hand, has a more complicated relationship with the Nutcracker. His sister is a ballerina, so his family attended a viewing no less than four times a season throughout his entire childhood.
After a certain point, perhaps a few of these viewings were against his will. But in any case, from a young age, the association between the Nutcracker and the holiday season was inextricably formed.
Given this background, the idea of a Nutcracker tin had been simmering for a while with Christine and Eric when we presented the notion to them early this year. They were, needless to say, very excited to finally work on this tin.
Here’s how they approached the design: “This is a well-loved story, and we needed to be true to the subject matter, illustrating what for us are the highlights of this story: Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Snow Queen.”
“We also wanted to share as many small details as we could for context: mice, the clock, the Nutcracker, and everything else we could fit in to create lively transitions between the three scenes and make the tin a delight to interact with.”
More sketches working through the composition:
When designing the new Leckerlee tins for the season, Christine and Eric are always considering them collectively: the tins need to look good together, but at the same time, they should be distinct from one another too. This enables us to offer up a little something for everyone each year.
“For the Nutcracker tin, we wanted a mid-century style and palette that would reflect the rich feelings of nostalgia that we have for the story. A more refined and subtle palette of holiday colors ended up working well. For style, we went with simple shapes to make up the festive scenes.”
Ultimately, the overarching principle was to "leave the viewer with a sense of childhood wonder," something which we think they positively achieved.
