Ship your gifts in style with these local artist–designed boxes

The pressure of ensuring packages arrive in time for holiday celebrations and virtual gift exchanges is ever looming, especially when we consider the influx of deliveries that will be taking place in the coming weeks.

This season, Purolator alone anticipates it will pick up and deliver roughly 46 million packages — an increase of nearly 20% from last year.

While we can do our part to shop and ship earlier to ensure gifts make it under the tree, the company has also gone to lengths to increase its pick-up and drop-off locations to make it easier to stay connected with loved ones.

During the holidays the outside of packages can be important, but this year you can skip wrapping paper altogether. The courier of the North is working with 13 emerging local artists from coast to coast to design their own limited-edition seasonal boxes.

The artists have created personal renderings of winter in each of their regions. Collectively, the interpretations make for a rich tapestry of our country’s landscape in its most characteristic season.

Purolator

Available now, Canadians will find these uniquely designed boxes at their local Purolator Shipping Centre and Michaels stores to use for sending packages with Purolator Express service.

“We are so excited to work with these amazing Canadian artists from different backgrounds and regions. Since so many of us cannot travel, our hope is that you find a design that inspires you to share something special with a loved one, no matter where they are,” says Laurie Weston, Director, Retail at Purolator.

She continues, “Our goal is to make it safer, simpler, and even more convenient for you to send and receive packages. And with this initiative, we also want to encourage you to celebrate moments of joy and creativity together. So create something thoughtful — or buy it from a local retailer — personalize a card, and then ship it to a loved one in one of these beautiful boxes. And don’t worry, we deliver to every postal code in the country.”

Patrick Hunter, the 2spirit, Ojibwe, and Woodland artist from Red Lake, painted a scene of their experience of Ontario winters through a spiritual lens. Inspired by the original works of Woodland artist Norval Morrisseau, Hunter’s work is imbued with Indigenous iconography. Their box, for instance, is covered in blue, red, and white florals that are deeply connected to their rich heritage.

Patrick Hunter, artist box/Purolator

“Ontario is home to the largest populations of Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Métis and Cree Nations in Canada. My goal was to represent that fact through floral motifs that have been beaded onto apparel for hundreds of years by these groups. During the winter holiday season, but also throughout the year, these floral motifs are often given as gifts on items like mukluks, mitts, apparel and other useful items.

“My intention behind this design is to bring representation and visibility of First Nations iconography. More and more, all sizes of businesses in Canada and beyond are realizing the importance of diversity and inclusion. Providing visibility of another culture in a respectful way, through meaningful collaborations like this is one of the ways Purolator is acting as a positive example for similar businesses in Canada,” says Hunter.

Other featured artists include Nhesa Patoy, an illustrator working in the Yukon, and Karine Deschênes, an artist from the Charlevoix region of Quebec.

Thanks to a partnership with Michaels, Canadians are being encouraged to get creative and share their own interpretation of the holidays. People from coast to coast are invited to visit michaels.ca/en/boxdesignsweeps to learn more about the 13 artists, download a box template, and enter their own design to win some great prizes.