Calendar Design Essentials

Calendars are often some of the most exciting projects that come across a designer's desk. They're large, colorful and leave plenty of room for creative minds to add that special touch through imagery and concept. Get some creative calendar design tips now from these calendar design essentials.

Understand your goals

When it comes to calendar design, simply looking great isn't enough. You have to understand what your goals are before you set out to design your calendars. In most cases, your goals are to: 1) provide aesthetics and usefulness to the end user; and 2) promote a company. This means you not only have to design to motivate people to hang it on the wall, you also have to design your calendar to motivate people to feel a specific way about your company. Your calendar should project your company's image for a well-branded effort, and it should take advantage of every opportunity to capture a lead or make a sale. Adding value to your calendar is the easiest way to do both.

Make it interesting

Your calendar design should be interesting, even curious, for your audience. The better-defined your target audience is, the better you can introduce unique calendars they'll love to hang on their walls. Find interest in relevancy - if your company sells cat toys and your audience loves cats, give them a calendar depicting cats in endearing moments.

Highlight sales and events

Use colorful icons and images to denote special sales and events throughout the year. Find events that your target audience will appreciate such as a cat lover's convention or a national feline day, and design it loud and proud. If your company has special sales, design your calendar to funnel focus to those dates. You can even include an upcoming events box on your calendar design or even lead in to your next big sale or discount the month before.

Leave room to write

Calendars should be useful, not only for aesthetics and information but also appointment-keeping. Many people like to write in birthdays and other family events in calendar boxes, so your calendar design should leave room for these things. Moreover, if your business makes appointments throughout the year (such as accountants, dentists and mechanics) you can leave a special place each month for appointment write-ins. Successful calendar design hinges on two things: relevance and aesthetics. If you can combine the two in a creative new way, your calendar is sure to be a hit with your audience, and your business is bound to realize a great return on investment.