日历 calendar
dragon year calendar
for 2012, year of the dragon, we designed a wall calendar that can be used as a table decorative object as well. a single piece of paper folded in six to build up the body of a dragon, with its scales in paper skin. first glimpse makes visible only the head and tail of the dragon, on opposite paper sides, that unfolded build up the body and the 12 months calendar together.
this mythological animal is maybe one of the most typical and classical references for chinese culture. this is why the design is also using the most characteristic aspects of ancient chinese design technics: seals, calligraphy and colors.
each element of the calendar was made with a single, different and unique seal stamp. that means altogether there is more than 250 different printings. each element was stamped on paper and computer processed, after scanning every one to adapt it to color defined chart. the paper used is for brush painting, for chinese ink calligraphy as well, just with high density to avoid ink marks between sides. the colors chart is following the traditional taoist ones for elements, buildings, ceremonies and decoration, framing visibility in both modern and ancient identity.
each side of the calendar contains six months. one side is built up with serif typography and the other one is using sans family. the year's holidays are marked with three kind of ancient dragon's seals. to indicate international common holidays such as 1st may, it is used a simple line design stamp. to indicate specific chinese holidays we used two different seals with more elaborated engraving: a positive one for national off-work days such as 1st october, and a negative one for chinese traditional holidays that still being working days.
to be used on a wall one must start to destroy it making a hole to hang it, and cutting each fold apart to separate every month. that is what we thought can be seen as cooking the dragon to devour it and, who knows, maybe attain its longevity.
