Inside the Design: 2022 Big Picture Calendar
Both time-honored and innovative, the 2022 Big Picture Calendar is exactly what it says it is. A large analog calendar that organizes the entire year at a glance to help track, plan, and celebrate milestones big and small with ease.
Inspired by Schoolhouse President Sara Fritsch’s own homemade calendar, this helpful home staple includes perfectly sized squares for writing in key dates and weekend slots that are notated by a darker shade for ease of planning. For the 2022 edition, our Product Team worked closely with our in-house graphic designer to create an illustration of Schoolhouse products on the back (perfect for repurposing as wall art at year's end). Below, we asked our Digital Designer, Jesse, to give us the scoop behind the project highlights, challenges, and the inspiration behind the illustration.
Our Product Designer (left) and Digital Designer (right) working on color palette selection.
What’s your favorite part about the 2022 Big Picture Calendar?
Coming from someone who appreciates processing information visually, seeing the entire year at a glance is so valuable!
Could you share a bit about the inspiration behind the illustrations?
Looking back and paying homage to some of the most iconic and celebrated mid-century designers, we wanted to showcase a number of Schoolhouse icons in a simplistic, minimal fashion.
"Taking cues from mid-century posters created by Braun and Knoll, the print features several Schoolhouse icons and is reminiscent of a vintage blueprint."
After the year is over, the calendar may be flipped over and repurposed as wall art.
What were some of the highlights and/or challenges during development?
Creating a poster side for the Big Picture Calendar was a first-ever. It’s always exciting to be trailblazing, but with that comes challenges of identifying and defining what we’re trying to achieve and getting granular with all the graphical styles, variants, orientations, layout, etc.
How did you land on the color palette?
We played with many options! I think it was a combination of eliminating moods/vibes that we had already touched on with previous calendars and just our energy at the time. Since we design these calendars almost a year before their release, we really tried to forecast and predict an appropriate-feeling, relevant color story for the future.
Initial illustration exploration (left) inspired by vintage blueprints, final design (right).
What’s your favorite Schoolhouse icon?
So hard to choose! I really love how versatile the Factory Collection is.
Last but not least, what’s something on your family calendar that you’re looking forward to?
We have a Maui trip booked for late June 2022 – definitely looking forward to that!
Initially made to help sort out busy schedules, the Big Picture Calendar has taken on new meaning for us this year. In a time where many of us had nowhere to go, the joy of penciling something in on our calendars has become even more profound. Displayed in many of our work from home offices, the Big Picture Calendar inspires joy and nostalgia while reminding us that there are brighter days ahead.
