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.