About this project

Hi, my name is Harald Geisler. I am a typographer based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The Typographic Wall Calendar is a project I've been working on since 2009.

The "2012 Typographic Wall Calendar" is a project to produce a large (70cm x 100cm / 27.56in x 39.37in) printed wall calendar for the year 2012. The calendar is made of two-thousand and twelve used keyboard keys. The keys are arranged manually to write out all days of the year 2012. 

By backing the project with $35 or more, you'll receive an original size print of the calendar. Calendars are shipped from Germany to your home, world wide shipping included.

↓ Picture shows the 2011 calendar, made of two-thousand and eleven keys.↓

Is it a real calendar? How do you read it?

Yes! It is a real, usable calendar. The Typographic Calendar makes finding dates a fun and creative process. The keys are arranged in a grid. If you read them from left to right, they read each day of the year in sequence: January Sun 01 Mon 02 Tue 03 etc. You can think of it like a long array, sequence or string of all dates in the year. To make things easier, every month is differentiated by an "arrow key." This enables you to scan the grid for a specific month before beginning to search for the day. After a bit of practice, you can orient yourself quickly within the grid. You can also use certain brands of whiteboard markers to write events onto the calendar. 

How did it start?

The project began in 2009 as a promotional work for my Typographic Studio in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 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.

In 2010 we decided to turn the project into a Kickstarter campaign →kck.st/20eleven. The response was again very positive. After a successful campaign with 205% funding, we shipped over 90 calendars to people all over the globe. 

How is the calendar made?

Print info:

The printed Typographic Wall Calendar reproduces the keys in their actual size. The size of the print is B0 (70cm x 100cm / 27.56in x 39.37in). It's printed in four color offset on thick paper and UV coated to protect the print from scratches and the colors from bleaching. 

What does the press say about the Typographic Wall Calendar?

“…one-of-a-kind…”
Armin Vit, Quipsologies (former Speak Up) Vol.47 No.60, Austin TX 

“…my heart went all a-flutter.” 
Blair Pfander, Sundance Channel, Brooklyn

"…simple, effective, straightforward, yet dizzying…” 

Xiaoli Li, Formatmag

“…der minutiöse Wahnsinn, …(der) eher an J. Johns oder einen sehr disziplinierten J. Pollock erinnert als an deinen normalen Wandkalender.” 

Hans Schumacher, slanted.de / projektgrafik.de, Berlin

“Creative of the week” 

Gerrie Smits, The RAAKonteur #20, London

“…staggering image…” 

Erik Brandt, geotypografika.com, Minneapolis

“It’s a completely unique project, and both an expensive and huge undertaking…” 

Jamie Homer, flush-left.co.uk, UK 

“…thought intrigued…” 

Idealog Weekly,idealog.co.nz, New Zealand 

“…ambitiøse…” 

Thomas Arendt, blog.makeyourmark.dk, Denmark


“…perfekte Tastenkombination für das kommende Jahr.” 

Publique, itspublique.de, Germany

“…amazing…” 

Andrew Dobrow, Geektoplasm 

“…unique DIY…” 

Abby Jenkins, Apartment Tharapy Unpluggd, US 

“…This is calendar ART. This is art that is a CALENDAR…” 

km, Clerk & unwell, Chicago 

On The "On Kawara Edition" or save the date.

The Kawara Edition is for backers interested in receiving an individual art object (as opposed to a photographic print) as an extension of the Typographic Wall Calendar project. A Date of your choice set in actual keyboard keys, signed, framed and send to you - world wide. The On Kawara Edition is available in black and white:

This reward is a tribute to the japanese artist Kawara On. Kawara is internationally renowned for his reduced typographic date paintings. In this picture series, called "Today Series," Kawara painted the picture's creation date on canvas. This was executed in the language and typographic convention of the country the painting was created in. 

From my first encounter with Kawara's body of work as a teenager, I was very impressed by the meticulously execution and the sheer vastness of the body of work. Kawara traveled a lot and so did his paintings. I was lucky to grow up in Frankfurt am Main with a museum (the MMK - Museum für moderne Kunst) that had acquired quite a few date paintings--even the rare ones that are kept with a newspaper of the pictured day in a card box. During the nineties the museum offered free entry on wednesdays, and Kawara's work was included in almost every exhibition. So I was followed by Kawara's work for a long time, or did I follow it?

Despite my interest in archiving time and fascination for the work aesthetically, there was one thing I didn't like about Kawara's work. I couldn't relate to the depicted date. 

The strategies that I developed to create the Typographic Wall Calendar can also be used to create physical wall mounts of actual keys and particular dates. While preparing this Kickstarter Campaign "2012 Typographic Wall Calendar" I had the idea to allow backers to commission art objects featuring individual dates. A date that was, is or will become important to you personally. Relating my work to my memory of On Kawara's work and to offer a personalized specific artwork, made me very happy. A picture of the design layout is illustrated above. I will then mount and frame these keyboard keys behind glass within a special frame for objects. 

The Kawara Edition will include both the framed date and the content of "The Private Edition" (a signed 2012 calendar with two additional unsigned copies). After the Kickstarter campaign I will ask you for your date. This commissioned date will be assembled, framed, and shipped to your home with a certificate. A perfect complement to the Typographic Wall Calendar!

Technical Information about the "On Kawara Edition":

The size of the arranged keys is 9.25 x 0.7 x 0.4 in. (23,5 x 1,8 x 1 cm) if it is a thursday or 8.6 x 0.7 x 0.4 in.( 21,8 x 1,8 x 1 cm) with any other day of the week. 

The outside measurements of the frame are 12.6 x 8.7 x 1.4 in. (32 x 22 x 3,5 cm)

The campaign deadline is November 6th to ensure that calendars will arrive before the holidays. When the (fingers crossed) funding goal is reached, the calendar assembly will start on Monday November 7th. The print data will be sent to the print shop on November 11th. Prints should be ready by November 16th and shipping starts on the same day. 

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 www.haraldgeisler.com. Maybe a local store will also be selling the calendar here in Frankfurt am Main. We're still looking for venues to display and sell the print. If you like this calendar and run a store 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 strong protective poster tube as small packets (Päckchen) with DHL. All shipments are covered with an insurance and trackable online. 

"Päckchen" is the most economical way to ship goods from Germany. That means the posters literally get shipped, on a boat from Germany. From my experience with the 2010 Kickstarter campaign we expect orders to take between one and (in the worst case) six weeks. To secure the safe delivery of the calendar, all shipments are trackable online. Shipments within the EU will most likely not be shipped on a boat, but still can take up to three weeks. Inside Germany shipments take between 2 days and up to a week. Shipments from oversea backers will be shipped first, followed by EU and German backers. Your planing to make the calendar a gift to someone you like? All orders shall arrive before the holidays in December.

Shipments of two to five calendars will be packaged in a wider and stronger (8cm/ 3.1inch) diameter poster tube. If you order more than five calendars you'll recieve multiple tubes.

More Information:

Still like to know more? Mike McGregor from the Kickstarter team was so nice to invite me to a creator Q&A at → The Kickstarter Blog.

And follow the links on the side for further reading…

Enjoy the video from last year (for the 2011 Version of the "Typographic Wall Calendar"):