2010 Calendar Is Available!

I swear I finished it before 2010.

So what started out as a fun personal project last year is now officially a yearly tradition.  I am very happy with the way my quarterly calendar for the new decade has turned out.  This past year I think was a definitive year for me in how I look at and evaluate design, with a heavy and hearty emphasis on typography.  It was the year that I had that moment that all budding designers have (or at least I assume they have), when they realize that what being a designer is all about is understanding type.  I certainly cannot claim however, that I now fully understand type, only that what will no doubt be a lifelong obsession has begun in earnest at some point in the last twelve months.

So with that in mind, I decided to do my calendar this year with a focus on type.  I spent some time doing some research on typographers that had inspired me over the course 2009: Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Si Scott, Jessica Hische, Herb Lubalin, Non-Format, and of course anything that comes out of John Boardley’s keyboard.  Then I sat down with my sketchbook for a while and wrote and drew and tried to come up with some bases for each of my four posters.

For the first poster, January through March, I was heavily inspired by the work of Si Scott and Nicolas Alexander and wanted to at least provide one piece of the four that was based on hand-drawn type.  Although I used Gotham for the backbone of this piece, the overall design was done with a set of microns over a long night and a couple glasses of scotch.

For the second quarter, I wanted to do a piece that was reminiscent of a ye olde style woodtype poster.  Lots of Clarendon fonts and hand distressing were cast alongside the most ridiculous little story/event I could dream up that somehow included the words April, May, and June.  I think this poster, which I have framed in my living room, also had a lot to do with where I was going with this piece.

Next up was a piece which actually is rooted in a piece of art that I think I probably did in 6th grade.  I remember doing ‘pop art’ pieces where we would meticulously draw horizontal lines until they hit little shapes and follow around the shape until the other side and then continue to the far side of the piece.  Instead of circles and squares, it’s Gotham again.  I know that makes no sense, but it was 6th grade.

Finally, the October through December piece reaches back to my mathematical roots.  I tried to create letters that followed simple geometric formulas – circles, half circles, lines, 45 degree angles – and then use that type not only as the focus of the piece, but also as a textural background as well.

So with the start of a new year, and the release of this year’s calendar, I’ve also opened my own store, which you can access here or by clicking the newfangly link over there on the top right of the sidebar.  The calendar is now on sale!  So if you are so inclined, feel free to mosey on over to the shop and grab yourself a copy.  They are a totally affordable $35 for four posters!  Or if you prefer, you can pick up one at a time at $10 a pop.