How to Make a Visual Calendar

A couple readers asked how I make my visual calendars. The first two visual calendars I kept were created collaboratively with other artists. The 2007 calendar used a monthly format.

The 2008 calendar used a weekly format.

I prefer the monthly calendar in an engagement book format. I find a calendar template or use an existing calendar for the year. The pages measure 8x10 inches. I use Photo Shop to split and re size the calendar to fit the pages. This takes a little time but the daily boxes become big enough to add art, collage, draw or write in them.

Crop the calendar first to split it into two sections and move to new 8x10 pages. Next, use edit, transform, scale to re size the calendar to the page size. I leave extra room on the inside page edges to allow for binding into a book. You can erase the month name and put in your own text with a favorite font.

I put my artwork on the pages between each month and coordinate it to the season. If the scans do not fit, I re size them to fit the 8x10 page.

The covers are made and the whole calendar is taken to Kinko's to get it coil bound for about $5.

I use the same technique to make the calendars for my travel journals. It's fun to add collage elements before leaving home to get a jump start on creating a trip calendar. Adding text in the language of the country you plan to visit adds to the adventure.

With summer vacations coming up, it's not too late to make a travel calendar.