24 Solar Terms Calendar

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I’m from a small island in Shanghai and my family is a traditional family that relies on farming to make a living. Farming plays an important role in Chinese culture, especially in
our way of documenting and marking dates. 24 solar terms, related to the process of farming and weather, is one way of marking dates in Chinese culture and it has further influence on what we eat during each on solar term. Because the solar term system is an important part of my cultural identity, I wanted to design a calendar that visually represents this concept.

In preparation, I researched different flowers that blossoms during each solar term as the decorative element of each piece of monthly calendar. I also looked up my seal-carving dictionary to learn about how the names of these solar terms are written in small seal script.
In terms of package design, I want to incorporate the shape of a circle which symbolizes the idea of happiness and perfection in Chinese culture. At last, I decided on using the form of a CD to kick in some fun modern cultural elements.

The biggest challenge of this project is to screen-print the very thinly-outlined flowers and the small types and make all the layers registered correctly. I also designed the packaging from scratch and built it with 100lb cover cardstock. This process spanned almost 2 months.