About this project

The 2011 Typographic Wall Calendar is a project to construct a large calendar from 2011 keyboard keys. The keys are arranged manually in a grid. If you read them, they read each day of the year in sequence: January Sat 01 Sun 02 Mon 03 etc.
A new playful visual experience of time. Through Kickstarter we're hoping to raise the money needed to front the printing costs and ship the calendar directly to you!

[If you back the project with $35 or more - you'll get the full size print 70x100cm (27.56in x 39.37in) - world wide shipping included]

The Typographic Calendar makes finding dates and marking events a creative process. Every month is followed by a large backspace key, that helps scanning the grid for a specific date. The resulting, huge image (70x100cm) looks beautiful on the wall.

How did it start?

The initial project began in 2009 as a promotional work for my Typographic Studio in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The project was a collaboration between myself, a German typographer, and an American dramaturge. Because of an accident at the print shop, only about 80 prints were usable. Fortunately the printer offered a refund, which was used to buy poster tubes and pay for shipping expenses. One week before New Year’s the remaining prints went out to friends and clients. The response was overwhelming. People called up and said that they wanted to buy more or that they had already framed it.

How is the calendar made?

The keys have to be arranged by hand and photographed line-by-line to achieve high resolution and minimize lens distortion. The 2010 prototype was a gigantic image of 323 Megapixel (15119 x 21378, 1,83 GB Photoshop RGB).

Print info:

The size of the print is B0 (70cm x 100cm / 27.56in x 39.37in). The large format is needed to reproduce the keys in their actual size. It will be printed in four color offset on thick paper and UV coated to protect the print from scratches and the colors from bleaching. The UV coating also makes it is possible to write on the print with whiteboard markers.

↑ Picture shows the print of the 2010 calendar (two-thousand and ten keys)

Schedule:

The campaign deadline is Thanksgiving (November 25th). When the (fingers crossed) funding goal is reached, the calendar assembly will start. The print data will be sent to the print shop on December 1st. Prints will be ready by December 7th. Shipping starts on December 8th. So calendars will arrive before the holidays.

What will happen after the Kickstarter Project?

All Kickstarter backers will receive their calendars first. The remaining prints will be sold on my studio's website and Etsy store. A local bookstore and a nice souvenir store will also be selling the calendar here in Frankfurt am Main. We're still looking for local venues to display and sell the print. If you like this calendar and run a store that could sell it, drop me a line. Of course by backing this project you will not only get your copy first, but also at a much cheaper price.

Shipping Details

The backer rewards include world wide shipping from Germany. All calendars will be send in a poster tube as small packets (Päckchen) with DHL. If for some reason you wish a delayed shipping send me an email with the date you like to receive the calendar.
If you wish a faster premium delivery (i.e. 3-7 days to the US) with tracking add $28 for destinations outside the EU and $14 for destinations within the EU to the reward price. If you need the calendar really fast because it's your friends birthday on the 10th, there are possibilities for two day shipping from Germany to i.e. US or Canada from around $80, contact me to arrange express shipping.

The US pickup

In late December I'll be visiting Boston, NYC, and Albany. For each city there will be calendar pickup at a local coffee shop. In addition to the print, I'll treat you to an espresso and we can chat about typography. If for some reason you can't make it to the pickup meeting - I'll send you the calendar to your home for free.

What does the press say?
"This keyboard calender by Harald Geisler has us wondering why we don’t keep calenders around the office anymore? Oh right, it’s 2010. Well, we figure a calender better be pretty unbelievable to have us putting away Google Calender, and this one really is. Made up of thousands of keyboard keys, this calender depicts the date in simple, effective, straightforward, yet dizzying way…” says Xiaoli Li from Formatmag.

More Information:

Like to know more? Here is a longer text about the calendar concept:
http://haraldgeisler.com/2009/12/31/typographic-keyboard-wall-calendar/

Still like to know more? Mike McGregor from the Kickstarter team was so nice to invite me to a creator Q&A at their blog:
http://blog.kickstarter.com/post/1360375408/creator-q-a-harald-geisler-of-typographical-calendar

And follow the links on the side for further reading…