ABOUT
For the Calendar Project, I created a calendar around the theme of writing. The main part of the calendar is a pencil that must be sharpened each day to the corresponding numerical date. Someone must write or draw enough each day to be able to sharpen it to the next date. Each individual pencil will last for one week.
Additionally, I designed packaging and other supplemental items to go with the pencil set. I explored several packaging designs with complex fold-outs with several sections to hold all of the different items. Different box ideas that allowed the pencils to stand up, and include a standee as a method of display, and boxes that simply hold the pencils laying down. I was drawn to the idea of a supply kit, with foam dividers to hold the various items and simpler magnetic boxes, which was used in the final monthly box.
The main extra item included is prompt cards with writing and drawing prompts on them to encourage people to free write/sketch and use the pencils. There is a different prompt each day. The pencils come in monthly sets, with each set taking on a different theme that is reflected in the design of the packaging/pencils and the prompts themselves (ex. nature theme with nature-based prompts all month).
Additional items that could later come in the packaging with the pencils and prompts (maybe as a starter kit, with the pencils and prompts also being offered as “refills”) include a notebook, eraser, sharpener (that collect pencil shavings throughout the year), pens, sticky notes, and more.
When naming the calendar, I wanted to play on the idea of “Write/Draw Every Day” and the importance of practicing one’s craft consistently. “SHARPEN,” relates both to sharpening the literal pencil, but also sharpening your mind and craft.
Client: Made for Typography III class at the University of Akron
