Client: Target
Senior Creative Producer: Steven D. Jones
Senior Creative Producer: Steven D. Jones
These are in-store gift cards for Target, featuring 8-bit typography and pixel art illustrations and typography, that Jude created for Birthdays and Graduations.
Project Goals
Target is known for its lavishly illustrated, typographically-driven gift cards, and wanted bold, new designs that captured the feeling of achievement from graduating, or simply turning another year older. Pixel art provided the perfect visual language, combining 8-bit typography with celebratory imagery to evoke the energy of a classic video game victory screen.
Project Realization
The cards were released in Target stores and online to coincide with the 2025 graduation season. Designed to feel both festive and nostalgic, they joined Target’s seasonal rotation of artist-driven gift cards and used a pixel art aesthetic to stand out on shelves and screens alike.
Creative Process
Jude began by designing custom 8-bit typography for each phrase, drawing inspiration from vintage game title screens that felt bold and celebratory. To support the messaging, he created simple background elements that reinforced the theme without overpowering the type. The limited visual language of pixel art made each design feel immediate, iconic, and unmistakably playful.
🕹️ View the full project breakdown and high-res images at:
👉 https://www.the-pixel-artist.com/projects/target-gift-cards-featuring-pixel-art-and-8bit-typography-by-illustrator-jude-buffum
👉 https://www.the-pixel-artist.com/projects/target-gift-cards-featuring-pixel-art-and-8bit-typography-by-illustrator-jude-buffum
