2017: It’s going to be…
MASSIVE
Another year, another trip around the sun.
What I love most about the start of a new calendar year is that it gives us carte blanche over the foreseeable future. For a brief moment, we are hopeful, the white space is endless, and our hearts and minds can only anticipate what might fill our pages over the next 365 days.
After surviving the horror that was 2016 (thank you meme culture), I knew there had to be something big ahead. I just didn’t realise it would be something literally big that would set the tone for my 2017 aspirations.
Late last year as I was comprising my Christmas shopping list via social media — because all the best inspiration (and sales!) come from browsing the feeds of my favourite brands and bloggers — I stumbled across this Instagram post by @thedepotandco:
I was in love!
In love with a black and white wall calendar (it’s ok you can laugh!).
This iconic calendar was designed in 1966 by Massimo Vignelli and taken that year into the Design collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
I had never heard of Massimo Vignelli and (despite having spent hours of my life in MoMA only months prior!) it was the first time I laid eyes on the masterpiece that is, the Stendig Calendar.
The ‘Running very low…get in quick!’ caption suggested to me everyone else on the planet knew about this amazing product, except me. So, I immediately text my sister (she appreciates art and I was selfishly hoping she would offer to add it to my Christmas stocking!).
Success. Thanks to my sister’s online shopping prowess I am told she secured two calendars for the price of one! If there is anything the women in our family know how to do well, it is shop.
But I digress, the point of the story is, my sister was equally inspired by the scale of the Stendig Calendar and the hope it provided for an awesomely massive new year!
In the meantime my inner librarian could not resist conducting a little research. Turns out Massimo Vignelli was one of the most influential designers of the past century, working in a variety of areas including environmental design, interior design, furniture design and graphic design. Not only was he responsible for the giant calendar that would soon adorn my bedroom wall, but he was best known for designing an iconic-yet-controversial version of the New York City Subway Map. in the 1970s.
“If you can design one thing, you can design everything.” — Massimo Vignelli
Aside from its dramatic and bold graphics (and, of course, its size!) what inspired me most about the Stendig Calendar was the fact that each sheet had the potential to live another life beyond the days of a calendar month. It was stylish AND functional! The sheets are perforated just under the binding strip so at the end of each month the upcycling options are endless! The official website suggests using the pages as gift wrap (which I intend to do!). But I especially love the instant wallpaper option Agnetha chose for her dressing room!
So, here we are, a month into 2017, why am I taking the time to share with you the story behind a wall calendar? Two reasons:
Firstly, now that the January blues are behind us and the sparkle of a new year is starting to fade I have been pondering what kind of year 2017 will be. I cannot help but wonder what Vignelli was thinking when he designed the Stendig Calendar. Was 1966 similar to 2016 and did 1967 call for the same breathing space we need 50 years on in 2017? Why did he go so big? Did he intend for his work to be admired in a gallery or consumed by the everyday shopper?
I have a lot of questions but I enjoy the provocation offered by something as conventional as a calendar. I am inspired by Vignelli’s ethos that one can ‘design everything’ and so I am applying similar questioning to my goal-setting for the 2017 calendar year. Starting with, what kind of a life do I want to design?
Secondly, almost every person who enters my home (note: tiny one-bedroom unit) comments on the Stendig Calendar. They will stop mid-sentence, pause in awe, and say something along the lines of ‘Wow, that is a HUGE calendar’. Then they’ll innocently question why I haven’t written anything alongside the dates of the giant pages or in amongst the white space.
That’s when I have the joy of explaining — it’s not just a wall calendar, it’s art, it’s from MoMA. And I chose it to remind me that a new year, new month, new day is carte blanche for whatever size life we want to design for ourselves.
Oh, and I’ve decided, 2017 is going to be massive!
*originally published 1 February 2017 via The Lady Edison
a note: the Stendig Calendar has become a permanent design feature of my tiny one-bedroom unit — thank you Santa (aka my sister) for the predictable but oh-so-loved annual Christmas gift!!!
