THE BEST CALENDARS OF 2009
Every year, several wonderful design blogs do round-ups of the best and most beautiful yearly calendars. Many of them are the lovely artful letter pressed and silk screened calendars made by talented artists available on etsy. In addition to those, individual artists and photographers sell their own calendars on 'make your own' sites like Zazzle, Cafe Press and Australia's Red Bubble, many worth checking out.
The 15 calendars I've chosen to share with you today are all either beautifully shot, designed, illustrated and/or produced. Most are available for sale, but some were produced by companies only for their clients and large account holders, like the well-known and highly coveted Lavazza and Pirelli calendars.
In any case, they are all worth looking at. Please note due to some artful nudity, this post may be considered NSFW (Not Safe For Work) depending upon your place of business.
Annie Leibovitz's Lavazza 2009 Calendar:
Another phenomenal calendar by Italy's Lavazza who, for the past 17 years, has put out one of the most respected and sought-after calendars.
Not for sale.
See my complete blog post on this amazing calendar here.
Peter Beard's 2009 Pirelli calendar:
The 2009 edition of the Pirelli Calendar, cult object for more than forty years among connoisseurs of photography, beauty and cultural evolution, was shot by the legendary Peter Beard. Known for his wonderful African wildlife shots and his portraits of beautiful barely-clad women- he combines both of these genres for Pirelli.
The calendar features many outtakes and much of Peter's collage style.
The setting for the 36th "Cal" is the landscape of Botswana, where famed photographer Peter Beard spent ten days immortalizing seven internationally renowned models. Beard, who lived in Kenya for thirty years, is one of the world's greatest interpreters of the mystery and charm of Africa.
Above: Peter at work in Botswana
The final result is a calendar/diary that Peter Beard describes as "a living sculpture". The 56 plates of the new Cal are a rich collage of images, quotations, observations by the artist on the environment, climate change and global warming, overpopulation and the depletion of natural resources. "My real concern", says the photographer "is the destruction of nature on a global scale. We've totally lost track of what evolution is based on, and how important diversity is in nature. This concept is the very foundation of survival ".
Throughout the shooting and production of the Calendar, a number of measures were taken to minimize its environmental impact. In keeping with Peter Beard's message, the Pirelli Calendar and the gala presentation of the 2009 edition will be Zero Impact®.
Pirelli, in cooperation with a LifeGate initiative, will contribute to the creation and protection of a forested area in Costa Rica capable of absorbing the same quantity of CO2 emissions generated by the production and printing of the Calendar and by the presentation gala. Additionally, the Calendar will be printed on natural, lead-free paper.
Models include: Daria Werbowy, Emanuela De Paula, Isabeli Fontana, Lara Stone, Mariacarla Boscono, Rianne Ten Haken, Malgosia Bela
Not for sale.
See all 56 images here.
See Peter Beard's site here.
Germany's Top Model 2009 VW Scirocco calendar:
The new Volkswagen Scirocco calendar, a spin-off of the German automaker's link to Germany's Next Top Model TV show, is one hot property. And while Volkswagen dealers are giving it away in Europe, it's not coming to these parts.
"There are no plans to get the Scirocco or the calendar (in the U.S.)," Volkswagen of America spokesman Keith Price told Inside Line.
The calendar is one of the fruits of VW's relationship with the Germany's Next Top Model show, featuring Heidi Klum. The winner of the German version of the popular TV show, Jennifer Hof, got a new Scirocco sport hatchback as part of her prize package. In an interesting footnote, the runners-up got Volkswagen CrossPolos.
Beautifully composed, shot and art directed, I have no idea who to credit. If you know, please tell me. The VW Scirocco went on sale this past summer in Europe. Already Sold out. Try ebay.
Click above to enlarge
Not For sale.
42° Hot Car Wash 2009 from Christ Car Wash Systems
Christ Car Wash Systems customers, business associates and friends can look forward to rising temperatures in the fourth version of the "Hot Car Wash 2009".
This year's Calendar motto is "Splish, Splash". The perfect motto for photo shootings in sunny California. The photographer, Christian Holzknecht, lives and works in Los Angeles - just the right background for the Rock`n Roll style artwork created especially for Christ's Hot Car Wash Calendar 2009.
His flashy style of portraying people has risen the eyebrows of media majors such as the German Playboy for whom he is currently working on a photo shooting. Not to mention the several lifestyle magazines: GQ, Maxim and Playboy, as well as, diverse TV formats such as Pro7, Sat1, RTL and VOX who are avid appreciators of his artwork.
What began as a gift for business clientele has become a cult object. Each new Hot Car Wash Calendar edition is handled as a much sought-after collector's item. This not for sale calendar is bestowed to customers, company associates and friends. An additional 2000 calendars are available in Auto Jet wash tunnels (Germanywide) and can be obtained in a promotional activity by purchasing a 10er wash card. There is a total limited edition of 7.000 calendars.
Photographer: Christian Holzknecht Production: Otto Christ AG, Memmingen
Not for sale.
Mike Stimpson's Classic Lego® 2009 Calendar
Artist and photographer Mike Stimpson is known in certain circles for his fun photographic reproduction of classic color and black and white photographs made with Lego characters. Now he has made them into a 2009 wall calendar available for sale at Red Bubble (where the individual prints are available for purchase as well).
Below, I have placed some of his images next to the originals (however, the calendar does not depict the original photos after which Mike's were designed):
Buy it here.
Kitsmumma Limited Edition Fine Art Photography Calendars by Sylvia Baxter:
These themed calendars by Kitsmumma feature a wonderful collection of fine art images. These high quality calendars are printed on an HP Indigo 5000. Each page is a satin-coated prints on 170gsm high quality art paper. The calendars have a hanger and white wire binding with satin-coated prints on high quality art paper. They’re A3 size (that’s 297x420mm, or 11.69x16.54").
See them all and buy them here.
Artist Camilla Engman's 2009 Wall Calendar
Artist Camilla Engman's illustrative works always make a beautiful wall calendar, and this years is no exception.
Size: The calender is 6,3 x 11,7 inches (16,3 x 29,7 cm). Paper: Inlay - 0,28 Ib (130g), Munken Lynx. Cover - 0,66 Ib (300g), Munken Lynx. Wirebinding for wallhanging. Offset printed. Cardboard back. Price: 28 $
Buy it here.
See Camilla Engman's site here
Taschen's Julian Shulman Calendars; wall, desk and book:
The Day To Day Desk calendar
above: Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered - 2009
Pad on plastic tray, 13 x 11 cm (5.1 x 4.3 in.), 640 pages, $ 13.99
ISBN: 978-3-8365-0617-5
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
buy it here
The Wall calendar:
Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered - 2009
Laminated cover, 30 x 30 cm (11.8 x 11.8 in.), 24 pages, $ 13.99
ISBN: 978-3-8365-0619-9
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
buy it here.
And hardback bound calendar:
above: Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered - 2009
Hardcover, 17.4 x 22 cm (6.9 x 8.7 in.), 128 pages, $ 29.99
ISBN: 978-3-8365-0616-8
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
buy it here.
Classic Design Favorites: Stendig, Pentagram & Calendreco:
The Classic designer favorites from Stendig and Pentagram always make my list and this year I've added the Caledndreco perpetual calendar.
The Stendig wall calendar was designed by Massimo Vignelli in 1966 and remains a classic. Measures 3' x 4' and the pages alternate between white on black and black and white pages:
buy it here.
The Typography Calendar by Pentagram
The Pentagram calendar features 12 different typefaces chosen by 12 of Pentagram's design partners. The calendar is available in two sizes, a supersize 33-by-23 inch version suitable for wall hanging and a smaller 18-by-12 inch version appropriate for desk use. Both versions are available at museum shops across the US and at Ken Knight. Supersize calendar is $38 and the smaller desk/wall calendar is $24. Please note that prices do not include shipping and currently Ken Knight will only ship to the lower 48 states. Buy it here.
The Calendreco Perpetual Calendar
Calendreco™ is printed on a premium brilliant white, double-thick, alkaline pH* cover paper, buffered for longevity**. It is made with responsibly sourced pulps, 100% renewable electrical energy, and clean water. Manufactured carbon neutral and chlorine free, this paper is one of the most chemical-free papers available today. The inks are non-toxic and vegetable-based. Finally, the calendar is 100% recyclable.
buy it here.
Lotta Jansdotter's fabric wall calendar:
Four Seasons Calendar by Elum Designs:
Size: 6"x9"
our Four Seasons calendar is letterpress printed on 270 gm 100% cotton rag archival paper. each quarter celebrates the beginning and end of the season; Winter 2009 - Fall 2009 (January - December). the set of four calendars is packaged in a clear sleeve and includes 4 stand up adhesive easel backs.
Contemporary realist painter Patricia Chidlaw's wall calendar.
Although not printed on heavy stock and I wish it were larger, it's nice to see a collection of her fabulous paintings as a calendar. The 12 paintings are part of her wonderful exhibit happening now at Terrence Rogers Gallery:
Order the Patricia Chidlaw calendar here
Another lovely calendar is this wall one from Paper Source:
Twelve exclusive Paper Source designs make this monthly calendar a distinctive and elegant addition to any wall. On the back of each beautiful page are templates to cut and fold creating wonderful pillow boxes, hang tags, gift tags, bookmarks, and file folders. 100% recycled with 30% post-consumer waste and completely reuseable, this calendar is about as earth friendly as you can get.
Size: 13 1/4" x 19 1/4" , $26.00, buy it here.
Be sure to check all the lovely letter press calendars by various artists at Etsy.
At the beginning of this post I mentioned the numerous Calendar round-ups done by other bloggers which tend to feature indie art calendars. Rather than duplicate their efforts and posts, here are links to some of the best 2009 calendar round-ups online.
BONUS Calendar: I almost forgot the Bubble Calendar you can pop! Second year available, this one is addictive:
horizontal or vertical formats are available:
Bubble 2009 Calendar. Just like everyone loves to pop the bubbles in bubble wrap, every day gets marked off this wall calendar with a "pop". Black Helvetica print on thick acetate. Weekends are in bold for easy identification and major holidays are also marked. Handmade in the USA.
Dimension: 48 in. W x 18 in. H
Buy it here.
