What's important to you in a wall calendar?

I'm thinking of designing a calendar for 2020 and maybe printing a few extra for sale.

I find it very difficult these days to find a functional calendar with big squares and lunar cycles.  

There's a lot of little details - like my calendar will go from January 2020 to Jan 2021 inclusive (because doctors are always making appointments for January back in June and we need next year's calendar before this one comes out)

At first, I was just going to do something simple with pictures of the farm and have enough printed for next year's Christmas Gifts, but after talking to a few people, they want the same thing I want in a calendar.  So maybe I need to make more?


The questions:
A. What do you want in a wall calendar?
B. What do you hate in a wall calendar?
C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it?
     C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
    C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture?
D.  Would you buy something like this?

r ranson wrote:
The questions:
A. What do you want in a wall calendar?
B. What do you hate in a wall calendar?
C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it?
     C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
    C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture?
D.  Would you buy something like this?

A. I prefer one printed in North America.
- I want lunar cycles and major US holidays.
- I want the equinoxes and solstices (which are holidays for me)
- I want big squares with room to write, and paper that is not incompatible with writing pens

B. I don’t want it shipped from China
- I don’t like calendars that lack lunar and solar info or with little squares or with slick paper I can’t write on

C. I love pretty nature photos on my calendar that are seasonally appropriate to the month for a temperate climate.

D. Yes.

r ranson wrote:I'm thinking of designing a calendar for 2020 and maybe printing a few extra for sale.

I find it very difficult these days to find a functional calendar with big squares and lunar cycles.  

There's a lot of little details - like my calendar will go from January 2020 to Jan 2021 inclusive (because doctors are always making appointments for January back in June and we need next year's calendar before this one comes out)

At first, I was just going to do something simple with pictures of the farm and have enough printed for next year's Christmas Gifts, but after talking to a few people, they want the same thing I want in a calendar.  So maybe I need to make more?


The questions:
A. What do you want in a wall calendar?
B. What do you hate in a wall calendar?
C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it?
     C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
    C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture?
D.  Would you buy something like this?

A. Decent size squares to write NB items. B. Too small squares and uninteresting pics. C. Love great pics, don't like generics. C ii. Nature, farm animals, especially babies. D. If it matched my likes.

Me 20 years ago:  "A buxom woman leaning over the engine of a hotrod, holding onto a wrench, maybe with a little smudge of oil on her cheek"

Me today"  "An advertisement for fiber or perhaps my AARP benefits".


OK -- I'm not that old yet.

Agree with all of Myrth's "Likes."  I also really like it if the paper is such that when I write something on January, the shadow of it doesn't get imprinted on February but based on the calendars I've used for the past few years, that's a pipe dream and something I put up with.

I prefer nature pictures - landscape, nature, gardening and/or inspiring quotes (combination of both/all - last year's was a hiking/landscape theme with inspiring quotes).  One year I got a gardening calendar that had seasonal recipes and tips and that was really fun.  Something peaceful and inspiring so I don't get sick of it before the end of the month and even better if I get a boost looking at it.

I buy a calendar every year so yes, I would/do.

I also really like it if the paper is such that when I write something on January, the shadow of it doesn't get imprinted on February

What type of pen do you like to write with?

Totally crazy idea warning...

What if we had a permies.com calendar?

I was thinking at first that I could do something simple, like a print on demand.  But this doesn't give me much control over paper quality and other factors.  Print on demand often come in set sizes and the binding is often not customizable.  

What if we did something bigger?  Maybe with a Kickstarter?  I could work with my local printer and make something for everyone.

Crazy idea.  I should just ignore the voices in my head.

...and yet...

I don't know.  Could it be done?

Have a contest for the best photos from permies members.
We could have the calendar ready by June, then hold the Kickstarter to pre-sell it... To be delivered in September or October (not December or January like so many calendars I get).

I don't know.  It's an idea.

r ranson wrote:

The questions:
A. What do you want in a wall calendar?
B. What do you hate in a wall calendar?
C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it?
     C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
    C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture?
D.  Would you buy something like this?

A. I want major holidays, moon phases, solstice & equinox
B. Clutter. One year we had a calendar and each square had little icons for fishing, the weather, astrology, and almanac info. It was too busy and left little room to write in.
C. ii I like nature and farmy pictures
D. Yes

In addition to huge blocks to write in, I really like having last month's and next month's calendar on the page. And I could definitely do without photographs. With all the free calendars around, I'm not interested in buying one.

What about the binding?  Do you like spiral bound or the regular staple kind?  

The staple kind works for me.  The paper is always thin enough that I bought a package of those reinforced white hole circles that you put around punch out holes to keep them from ripping through around the nail it hangs on.

I would definitely be open to a permies calendar.

I know lots of people prefer gel these days but my writing with those is so blurred.  I write with a fine tipped ball point pen whenever possible.  

r ranson wrote:

I also really like it if the paper is such that when I write something on January, the shadow of it doesn't get imprinted on February

What type of pen do you like to write with?

Totally crazy idea warning...

What if we had a permies.com calendar?

I was thinking at first that I could do something simple, like a print on demand.  But this doesn't give me much control over paper quality and other factors.  Print on demand often come in set sizes and the binding is often not customizable.  

What if we did something bigger?  Maybe with a Kickstarter?  I could work with my local printer and make something for everyone.

Crazy idea.  I should just ignore the voices in my head.

...and yet...

I don't know.  Could it be done?

Have a contest for the best photos from permies members.
We could have the calendar ready by June, then hold the Kickstarter to pre-sell it... To be delivered in September or October (not December or January like so many calendars I get).

I don't know.  It's an idea.

I typically use a ballpoint pen. Nothing fancy. Most calendar paper is fine. But some really cheap ones are made with glossy paper that don’t take ink well.

I don’t know how well it would sell here, being quite new.

What is shipping from Canada to USA for something like this? (Or vice versa). That’s probably a factor in feasibility for a project such as this.

A. What do you want in a wall calendar? Same format as picture calendars, but larger, with more room to write stuff without feeling cramped.

B. What do you hate in a wall calendar? cliché photos.

C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it? Love it.
    C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
   C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture? 1, simple, not too busy; 2, no people; 3, interesting and not too cliché.
D.  Would you buy something like this? If it is original and artistic, absolutely.

A photo constest will likely yield great results with appropriate guidlines.

r ranson wrote:
A. What do you want in a wall calendar?
B. What do you hate in a wall calendar?
C. What about the picture page?  Love it?  Hate it?
     C.i. if you hate it, what would you rather have?
    C.ii. If you love it, what is your favourite kind of picture?
D.  Would you buy something like this?

A. Functionality; my favorite calender (about 16x20, opened) was actually an 18month one, with large, lined squares, sturdy yet easy to write-on paper, national holidays plus Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mothers & Fathers days - all in smaller print, at the bottom of the squares, and room on the Pictures side for monthly to-do lists & birthdays. It also had color coded lines on each day, for color coding family schedules, or using to color code between work, school, social, or other events for each day.

B. Slick paper,  small squares, too much miscellaneous info, or holes in the middle of the days (the 1st Wednesday of the month often has a hole in it, in cheap calenders!)

C - Pictures are fine - I like beautiful scenery, critters, flowers, and homesteading related stuff, cartoons, uplifting or funny messages &/or quotes are good.

D - yup!

I like it when the next month and previous month days are printed in say a light grey on the day boxes that are not part of the current month. Helps when transitioning from one month to the next.

I also like it when the calendar is printed on material that a pencil can write on. With a lot of calendars pens are the only option.

Smaller sized calendars are my preference - the type that sometimes come in the mail. Big enough to still write on but small enough that it fits on the wall easily.

I also really like calming pictures that tend to be focused on nature.

I agree with all the stuff about calendars above. Space to write, paper not too slick, include the celestial events and maybe all the major North American holidays. Sadly I now use the calendar app instead of writing on the wall calendar.

I've designed calendars.

If you go with the staple type, you have to design it in multiples of four pages. 12 months, plus 12 photos, makes 24, plus the front and back covers, and one full extra spread of top plus bottom. 13 months would use that space up nicely.

Things are gaining motion.

The idea is I want to do a small print run for my own Christmas presents.  If there's interest, I could sell them via a quickstarter (like quick Kickstarter) campaign.  

The quickstarter would probably be way more stress and work than just making them myself.  But if we could sell 75, it might be worth this.  Do you think 75 people would want to buy this kind of thing?

The theme will be something like "year in the life of crowing hen farm" with beautiful pictures of animals, farm, flowers, and farm-ish related things.  

I'm compiling a list of everything mentioned in this thread for easy reference - if you have anything to add, please post it to the thread now.  

I want something with spaces big enough to write stuff in.  As in roughly 3"x3".  I couldn't care less about pictures.  I don't use my calendars for wall art.  And paper that's heavy enough to take some erasing (pencil) and not bleed through (pen).

Okay,

I'm going to make this North American Centric.  

That means the week starts on Sunday (not Monday which I like best)

We need reliable sources for these dates for 2020 and the first two months of 2021 (any ideas?)
- a lunar calendar for North America.  I'm going to go with the four main phases (full, empty, and quarters)
- civic holidays in Canada
- civic holidays in the US
- (do we want to include Mexico?  It's in North America, but I don't know anyone who lives there)
- Easter dates - not so much because I know anyone who celebrates this, but because it usually corresponds with my local last frost.
- pancake Tuesday - because this IS an important holiday in my house.
- important solar events (equinox, solstice, eclipses?)
- Several of my friends are Muslim so it would help me if I had the fasting dates on it.  can't remember what this is called right now.  
- what else am I missing?

Would it be terrible if there was a tiny drawing of pasta every Friday?  Pasta day is pretty big in my life.  

r ranson wrote:
Would it be terrible if there was a tiny drawing of pasta every Friday?  Pasta day is pretty big in my life.  

It's your calendar. I'll still buy it :)

I use one of those large calendars that are intended to be a desk blotter, only I magnet mine to the fridge.
Each page is loose.
It's date squares are ~3" X 2 1/2". It's easy to flip forward on, but harder to do backward because when the month is up, I remove the magnets and move the "done month" to the back.
At the bottom, it has all the months of the year in a line which can be very handy for counting weeks to hatch (I hate it when I blow that by a week and with chickens, ducks, Muscovy and Geese who all set for different lengths, I need all the help I can get).
They used to include an extra January, but have cheapened up. I did find that handy, but I find it handier if we can actually pick the calendar up by October and get it hung early so I support your plan to print them early, but maybe not so much your idea of them being Christmas presents. Maybe Canadian Thanksgiving presents? (For those who don't speak Canadian, that's Oct 14 this year which is on the late side if anything.)

I have to send my international Christmas presents late Sept or Early Oct to get them there in time.  It's something like 13 weeks by surface for a parcel.  But of course, the Kickstarter wouldn't be getting other stuff (My Japanese friends are nuts for creamed honey), so their shipping will be faster.  It could probably go letter mail if I get the size small enough.  

Ideally, I would have everything printed by Sep... but when it comes to publishing, the one thing I learned is that timing is always subject to change.  

Shipping:

It looks like I need to keep under these dimensions or get a huge hike in the price of postage.

Maximum dimensions
500g
380 mm x 270 mm (15 inches x 10.6 inches)

That needs to include packaging.  

That is, if I understand this graff correctly

This looks like the official Canadian holidays for 2020 https://www.statutoryholidays.com/2020.php
although there's nothing governmental about the website.  I guess I have to check it for accuracy before using that list.  

I like big spaces to write in and am mostly interested in moon phases and sun signs, solar events...a simplified version of llewellyn's calendar? https://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738746050

I'm not really interested in having holidays on my calendar...there's no escaping them so I don't forget the ones relevant to me.

I guess when I've actually bought a calendar it's been for the astrological information otherwise I just grab whatever is free in town...I hardly ever look at the pictures on those and keep it folded to see just the days of the month.

I'm likely to buy one of yours though...and enjoy it no matter what is in the spaces.
I probably wouldn't let anyone write on it

Will the photos have a theme? Your farm, livestock, gardens? Weaving, spinning, fibres?  so many possibilities in your world.....

EDIT...now I see the 'theme' in your post above...just what I was hoping!
Not sure how I missed it  

The theme will be something like "year in the life of crowing hen farm" with beautiful pictures of animals, farm, flowers, and farm-ish related things.  

For pictures I prefer black and white pencil drawing loveliness from folks like Tracy....probably because my head has been buried in the BWB latest draft and I love the way Tracy's drawings make the book feel.  Otherwise, I tend to love pictures of people's great works with nature that are inspiring, be it the strangler fig bridges, Machu Picchu, Sepp Holzer's place from the air, etc.  But my preference is simple drawn loveliness.

I do love the idea of a Permie's theme.  Highlighting one of Holmgren's 12 design principles somewhere on each month might be a consideration.  

I did a small sample run of a desktop calendar.  It's not the perfect one, but it seems to be very popular.

https://permies.com/t/147842

it was a test to see if it was worth coming back to my dream of designing my own wall calendar.  Maybe for 2022 as it's too late for next year.  

Most of what I like in a calendar has been laid out here.
My favourite one I ever had was a Kurzgesagt calendar that was for the current year according to the human era. You can see one here. I liked its little tidbits too. Honestly, if it's beautifully designed, easy to write in and shares or inspires something, I'll want it on my wall! I just never ended up buying it again because shipping was so expensive.

A space to write notes and holidays identified
B lack of space is bad
C  picture is unimportant
D  free is important

Accuracy seems important. Generous space for writing. Very distinct squares/rectangles, for each day (I had one that had such faint lines, it was sometimes hard to tell where the notes for one day ended, and the next began - VERY frustrating and often confusing, when in December, you write in important things for the coming year, only to discover when the time comes, that you can't understand at a glance, what you wrote.

Transition is important.  Having a 14 month calendar  beginning in December and ending in January is handy.