The inspiration for this year’s card comes from Fürth, Germany. At its heart is the work of sculptor Joseph Stephan Wurmer. For 17 years, he has exhibited at international art fairs. His work has been associated with venues and institutions including art karlsruhe, the German Bundestag Art Collection, and the Bavarian State Painting Collections.

Wurmer works in abstraction with a clear geometric language. Starting with naturally grown tree trunks, he creates sculptures that reveal hidden spaces within the material. Using band saws and chain saws, he removes material, opens up spaces, and transforms solid forms into geometrically ordered structures. Organic material meets constructed order, interior meets exterior, and light meets structure.

It was precisely this interplay between space and form that inspired our 2026 holiday card.

The design takes its cue from the perforated sphere in Wurmer’s 2025 sculpture ‘Lichter Raum’ (‘Luminous Space’). More than an aesthetic motif, its underlying principle represents internationalism, global reach, and interconnectedness - qualities that also define KURZ.

For the card, its structure was reinterpreted. Growth rings and wood grain recall the sculptures’ natural source material, while precisely cut openings echo Wurmer’s approach of opening up and revealing what lies within.

But how can a sculptural idea be translated onto paper?

The answer lies in the interplay of multiple technologies. On the outside, SILVER LINE® Rain is applied using cold transfer and then overprinted in four colors, creating the distinctive wood effect. The inside is finished as well, combining KPS Slim cold transfer with four-color overprinting.

An additional blind embossing makes the fine wood grain not only visible, but tactile. The areas later used for laser-cut growth rings are deliberately left unembossed. This allows the printed image, embossing, and open areas to interlock with precision.

The laser provides the crucial next step. Delicate growth rings are cut out of the cardstock, while additional laser lines create scoring for the final shaping.

Then something remarkable happens. The flat card becomes a three-dimensional object. Precisely positioned scores and glued sections allow the card to stand upright. The open growth rings reveal the interior - translating Wurmer’s sculptural principle into an entirely different material.

Cardstock becomes space. A greeting card becomes a small work of art.

Even the personal year-end message becomes part of the design concept: LUXOR® 385 is used for the greeting text, enabling exceptionally fine double-sided hot stamping on 300 g/m² Magno Matt paper.

While our holiday card opens up spaces, the 2027 wall calendar sets out on a journey. Its destination: Chile.

Few countries are shaped by contrasts quite like Chile. Snow covered mountain peaks, endless coastlines, fascinating wildlife, and cultural icons meet modern architecture and traditional patterns.

Capturing this diversity in a single design was the creative challenge behind the new calendar. Across the A1 sheet, we encounter the striking peaks of Torres del Paine National Park, the moai of Easter Island, the Andean condor, and the copihue, Chile’s national flower. Santiago’s Costanera Tower provides a modern counterpoint.

Here, too, the image alone does not tell the whole story. It is the interplay of different printing and finishing technologies that gives the design its brilliance, texture, and tactile appeal.