The 15 Best 2009 Calendars: From Pentagram To Pirelli

THE BEST CALENDARS OF 2009
Every year, several wonderful design blogs do round-ups of the best and most beautiful yearly calendars. Many of them are the lovely artful letter pressed and silk screened calendars made by talented artists available on etsy. In addition to those, individual artists and photographers sell their own calendars on 'make your own' sites like Zazzle, Cafe Press and Australia's Red Bubble, many worth checking out.

The 15 calendars I've chosen to share with you today are all either beautifully shot, designed, illustrated and/or produced. Most are available for sale, but some were produced by companies only for their clients and large account holders, like the well-known and highly coveted Lavazza and Pirelli calendars.

In any case, they are all worth looking at. Please note due to some artful nudity, this post may be considered NSFW (Not Safe For Work) depending upon your place of business.

Annie Leibovitz's Lavazza 2009 Calendar:

Another phenomenal calendar by Italy's Lavazza who, for the past 17 years, has put out one of the most respected and sought-after calendars.
Not for sale.
See my complete blog post on this amazing calendar here.

Peter Beard's 2009 Pirelli calendar:


The 2009 edition of the Pirelli Calendar, cult object for more than forty years among connoisseurs of photography, beauty and cultural evolution, was shot by the legendary Peter Beard. Known for his wonderful African wildlife shots and his portraits of beautiful barely-clad women- he combines both of these genres for Pirelli.

The calendar features many outtakes and much of Peter's collage style.


The setting for the 36th "Cal" is the landscape of Botswana, where famed photographer Peter Beard spent ten days immortalizing seven internationally renowned models. Beard, who lived in Kenya for thirty years, is one of the world's greatest interpreters of the mystery and charm of Africa.

Above: Peter at work in Botswana

The final result is a calendar/diary that Peter Beard describes as "a living sculpture". The 56 plates of the new Cal are a rich collage of images, quotations, observations by the artist on the environment, climate change and global warming, overpopulation and the depletion of natural resources. "My real concern", says the photographer "is the destruction of nature on a global scale. We've totally lost track of what evolution is based on, and how important diversity is in nature. This concept is the very foundation of survival ".


 

Throughout the shooting and production of the Calendar, a number of measures were taken to minimize its environmental impact. In keeping with Peter Beard's message, the Pirelli Calendar and the gala presentation of the 2009 edition will be Zero Impact®.

 
 
Pirelli, in cooperation with a LifeGate initiative, will contribute to the creation and protection of a forested area in Costa Rica capable of absorbing the same quantity of CO2 emissions generated by the production and printing of the Calendar and by the presentation gala. Additionally, the Calendar will be printed on natural, lead-free paper.



Models include: Daria Werbowy, Emanuela De Paula, Isabeli Fontana, Lara Stone, Mariacarla Boscono, Rianne Ten Haken, Malgosia Bela
Not for sale.
See all 56 images here.
See Peter Beard's site here.

Germany's Top Model 2009 VW Scirocco calendar:

The new Volkswagen Scirocco calendar, a spin-off of the German automaker's link to Germany's Next Top Model TV show, is one hot property. And while Volkswagen dealers are giving it away in Europe, it's not coming to these parts.

"There are no plans to get the Scirocco or the calendar (in the U.S.)," Volkswagen of America spokesman Keith Price told Inside Line.

The calendar is one of the fruits of VW's relationship with the Germany's Next Top Model show, featuring Heidi Klum. The winner of the German version of the popular TV show, Jennifer Hof, got a new Scirocco sport hatchback as part of her prize package. In an interesting footnote, the runners-up got Volkswagen CrossPolos.
Beautifully composed, shot and art directed, I have no idea who to credit. If you know, please tell me. The VW Scirocco went on sale this past summer in Europe. Already Sold out. Try ebay.



Not For sale.

42° Hot Car Wash 2009 from Christ Car Wash Systems


Christ Car Wash Systems customers, business associates and friends can look forward to rising temperatures in the fourth version of the "Hot Car Wash 2009".

This year's Calendar motto is "Splish, Splash". The perfect motto for photo shootings in sunny California. The photographer, Christian Holzknecht, lives and works in Los Angeles - just the right background for the Rock`n Roll style artwork created especially for Christ's Hot Car Wash Calendar 2009.

 

His flashy style of portraying people has risen the eyebrows of media majors such as the German Playboy for whom he is currently working on a photo shooting. Not to mention the several lifestyle magazines: GQ, Maxim and Playboy, as well as, diverse TV formats such as Pro7, Sat1, RTL and VOX who are avid appreciators of his artwork.



What began as a gift for business clientele has become a cult object. Each new Hot Car Wash Calendar edition is handled as a much sought-after collector's item. This not for sale calendar is bestowed to customers, company associates and friends. An additional 2000 calendars are available in Auto Jet wash tunnels (Germanywide) and can be obtained in a promotional activity by purchasing a 10er wash card. There is a total limited edition of 7.000 calendars.
Photographer: Christian Holzknecht Production: Otto Christ AG, Memmingen
Not for sale.

Mike Stimpson's Classic Lego® 2009 Calendar
 

Artist and photographer Mike Stimpson is known in certain circles for his fun photographic reproduction of classic color and black and white photographs made with Lego characters. Now he has made them into a 2009 wall calendar available for sale at Red Bubble (where the individual prints are available for purchase as well).
Below, I have placed some of his images next to the originals (however, the calendar does not depict the original photos after which Mike's were designed):




Buy it here.

Kitsmumma Limited Edition Fine Art Photography Calendars by Sylvia Baxter:


These themed calendars by Kitsmumma feature a wonderful collection of fine art images. These high quality calendars are printed on an HP Indigo 5000. Each page is a satin-coated prints on 170gsm high quality art paper. The calendars have a hanger and white wire binding with satin-coated prints on high quality art paper. They’re A3 size (that’s 297x420mm, or 11.69x16.54").




See them all and buy them here.

Artist Camilla Engman's 2009 Wall Calendar

 

Artist Camilla Engman's illustrative works always make a beautiful wall calendar, and this years is no exception.


Size: The calender is 6,3 x 11,7 inches (16,3 x 29,7 cm). Paper: Inlay - 0,28 Ib (130g), Munken Lynx. Cover - 0,66 Ib (300g), Munken Lynx. Wirebinding for wallhanging. Offset printed. Cardboard back. Price: 28 $
Buy it here.
See Camilla Engman's site here

Taschen's Julian Shulman Calendars; wall, desk and book:
The Day To Day Desk calendar


above: Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered - 2009
Pad on plastic tray, 13 x 11 cm (5.1 x 4.3 in.), 640 pages, $ 13.99
ISBN: 978-3-8365-0617-5
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
buy it here

The Wall calendar:


Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered - 2009
Laminated cover, 30 x 30 cm (11.8 x 11.8 in.), 24 pages, $ 13.99
ISBN: 978-3-8365-0619-9
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
buy it here.

And hardback bound calendar:


above: Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered - 2009
Hardcover, 17.4 x 22 cm (6.9 x 8.7 in.), 128 pages, $ 29.99
ISBN: 978-3-8365-0616-8
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
buy it here.

Classic Design Favorites: Stendig, Pentagram & Calendreco:

The Classic designer favorites from Stendig and Pentagram always make my list and this year I've added the Caledndreco perpetual calendar.

The Stendig wall calendar was designed by Massimo Vignelli in 1966 and remains a classic. Measures 3' x 4' and the pages alternate between white on black and black and white pages:

buy it here.

The Typography Calendar by Pentagram

The Pentagram calendar features 12 different typefaces chosen by 12 of Pentagram's design partners. The calendar is available in two sizes, a supersize 33-by-23 inch version suitable for wall hanging and a smaller 18-by-12 inch version appropriate for desk use. Both versions are available at museum shops across the US and at Ken Knight. Supersize calendar is $38 and the smaller desk/wall calendar is $24. Please note that prices do not include shipping and currently Ken Knight will only ship to the lower 48 states. Buy it here.

The Calendreco Perpetual Calendar


Calendreco™ is printed on a premium brilliant white, double-thick, alkaline pH* cover paper, buffered for longevity**. It is made with responsibly sourced pulps, 100% renewable electrical energy, and clean water. Manufactured carbon neutral and chlorine free, this paper is one of the most chemical-free papers available today. The inks are non-toxic and vegetable-based. Finally, the calendar is 100% recyclable.


buy it here.

Lotta Jansdotter's fabric wall calendar:


2009 fabric calendar, 19 x 19", 100% linen. Lotta's fabric calendars are without a doubt lovely collectors items, and sell out in lightning speed every year. Available in three colors, buy them here. $28.00

Four Seasons Calendar by Elum Designs:

Size: 6"x9"
our Four Seasons calendar is letterpress printed on 270 gm 100% cotton rag archival paper. each quarter celebrates the beginning and end of the season; Winter 2009 - Fall 2009 (January - December). the set of four calendars is packaged in a clear sleeve and includes 4 stand up adhesive easel backs.

$20.00, Buy it here.

Contemporary realist painter Patricia Chidlaw's wall calendar.

Although not printed on heavy stock and I wish it were larger, it's nice to see a collection of her fabulous paintings as a calendar. The 12 paintings are part of her wonderful exhibit happening now at Terrence Rogers Gallery:






Order the Patricia Chidlaw calendar here

Another lovely calendar is this wall one from Paper Source:

Twelve exclusive Paper Source designs make this monthly calendar a distinctive and elegant addition to any wall. On the back of each beautiful page are templates to cut and fold creating wonderful pillow boxes, hang tags, gift tags, bookmarks, and file folders. 100% recycled with 30% post-consumer waste and completely reuseable, this calendar is about as earth friendly as you can get.

Size: 13 1/4" x 19 1/4" , $26.00, buy it here.

Be sure to check all the lovely letter press calendars by various artists at Etsy.
At the beginning of this post I mentioned the numerous Calendar round-ups done by other bloggers which tend to feature indie art calendars. Rather than duplicate their efforts and posts, here are links to some of the best 2009 calendar round-ups online.
DECOR8
POPPY TALK
CREATURE COMFORTS
DESIGN CRUSH

BONUS Calendar: I almost forgot the Bubble Calendar you can pop! Second year available, this one is addictive:



horizontal or vertical formats are available:


Bubble 2009 Calendar. Just like everyone loves to pop the bubbles in bubble wrap, every day gets marked off this wall calendar with a "pop". Black Helvetica print on thick acetate. Weekends are in bold for easy identification and major holidays are also marked. Handmade in the USA.
Dimension: 48 in. W x 18 in. H

Buy it here.

Vitamin's Urban Gnomes Go "Street" With These Limited Editions

You may be familiar with Vitamin's line of 'urban gnomes', sweet little bone china gnomes that stand 8" tall and are decorated on front and back with various designs.



But now they have limited edition versions decorated with 'street style' imagery. The "street Style" editions are handmade of bone china, 8" tall and tattooed with 11 different graphic designs, and are exclusive to generate.










Buy them here while they last.

1800 Tequila Bottles; First By Artists... Now By You.

1800® Tequila Essential Artists Campaign -- Earlier this year 1800® Tequila launched an inspired campaign featuring nine cutting-edge artists it considers to be Essential.

These artists and their artwork were featured as part of a national advertising campaign including print, billboards, internet, and radio, and now each piece of artwork is featured on 1800® limited edition tequila bottles, available nationwide in stores now (or online here )



Below are the artists, their bios and their bottles from the Essential Artists collection. I have to tell you, the photos don't do them justice. I was generously sent the Hannah Stouffer bottle shown below, and it's just stunning!

Hannah Stouffer:
San Francisco-based illustrator and designer Hannah Stouffer constantly strives to define the term "classic" and explores how it relates to our modern attractions. She draws inspiration from traditional notions of luxury and elegance, and engages them as the basis for her work. Her self-taught design sense and style of illustration, combined with her themes of Victorian imagery, royalty and pop culture, distinguish her as a definition of classic contemporary.
Stouffer defines her illustration style as an exploration and embellishment of subcultures- and her work clearly presents that combination. The study of subcultures, their symbolism, and their unification with contrasting, unconventional imagery and decoration create the compositions in Hannah’s work. She draws inspiration from historical eras, lapsing all the way from Antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to Modern times- all the while maintaining an awareness of current attractions and tendencies. It is her skill at engaging these together that provides the basis of her work.

Jorge Alderete:
Pop illustrator, who uses trash culture, 50's science fiction films, wrestling and surf music imagery in his psychotronic illustrations, animations and comics. He graduated from the School of Fine Arts in the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, as a Designer in Visual Communication.
As an independent animator, he has worked for MTV Latin America and Japan, Nickelodeon Latin America and Brazil. He has been coordinator of the animation section on the internet for MTV Latin America. Also he has been a jury of the MTV On-line Prizes 2001 (animation category) and One Show 2004 (design category) in New York. His work has been published in several specialized anthologies for example: Illustration Now (Taschen); Illusive, Pictoplasma, Los Logos, Dos Logos, Latino, Play Loud, (Die Gestalten Verlag); Place (Actar); Tatto Icon 3 (Victionary); Iconography II (idN) etc. etc.
He is the co-owner of the independent record label Isotonic Records, specialized in instrumental rock.

In 2006 he joins up with Clarisa Moura, Quique Ollervides y Cha! to open Kong, the first design store and gallery in Mexico speciailzed in international graphic design, illustration and street art. From 2006 he is the curator of the Terraza space in the Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico. In 2007, with Andres Amaya, he forms Plan B, the first Urban vinyl toy production company in Mexico. Currently he mostly works as an illustrator, for different publishing and media ventures in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, USA, Switzerland, Finland, etc. He works in his lab at Mexico City.

Glenn Barr
Barr is one of Detroit's most celebrated and successful underground artists. His paintings have appeared in galleries from LA, Seattle and San Francisco to New York City, Germany and Italy. Barr's work has been featured in a variety of comics and graphic novels from Mad, DC Comics and Paradox Press as well as in a successful series of self-published books called HEEP. Barr's contributions to animation include background styling for The Ren and Stimpy Show, Bjork's I Miss You video, and The New Woody Woodpecker Show to name a few. His paintings have been reproduced in the periodicals Big, Film Threat, Hi Fructose and NY Times. The 2003 book, Lowlife Paradise: The Works of Glenn Barr, published by La Luz de Jesus Press & Last Gasp was met with great success. This book had a brother born at the same time entitled The Lowlife Companion: Selected Drawings from Glenn Barr. His latest book which is already in it’s second printing is a comprehensive collection of paintings, drawings and photographs entitled Glenn Barr’s "HAUNTED PARADISE". This collection spans 4 years of work were the previous book left off and is also published by La Luz de Jesus & Last Gasp.

Glenn Barr's surreal creatures, specters and tragic characters live in a seedy universe, drenched in the grit and haze of a post-apocalyptic urban dreamscape. His Detroit work has been labeled Pop Surrealism, Lowbrow, Regional, Outsider, Ashcan or as he coins the phrase “B Culture-ism”. Barr finds inspiration in the city streets as well as from pop and counter cultures that infuse a familiarity in his many parallel realities. With a nod to old master painting, pulp art, and cartooning, Barr's paintings are mesmerizing in their narrative complexities and technical depth.

Josh Ellingson
Josh Ellingson relocated to the California from Flint, Michigan during the "dot com boom" of the late '90s. Moving on from web production art, Josh found a niche in illustrating for various technology related magazines. Today Josh Ellingson contributes to various international publications and participates in art exhibitions nation-wide. His work has been featured on everything from handheld games to custom vinyl toys. When not managing his studio in San Francisco, Josh likes to travel and sketch. He has participated in shows at Gallery1988 SF, KidRobot SF,Space Gallery, The Local 303, Studio Gallery, Super7, and The Artist X-Change.

UrbanMedium
Is UrbanMedium a one man outfit? A team of designers? Perhaps a corporate giant masquerading in an attempt to infiltrate the minds of urban youth? None of the above…
UrbanMedium is a husband and wife design duo (Derek and Heather) with a knack for creating sweet eye candy. Born out of a daydream back in 2000 and fueled by the frustration of the 9 to 5 grind, UrbanMedium creates the kind of art they want to hang on their walls, wear on their bodies, and plaster on their environments…and you’ll want to as well. Derek and Heather got their start in Los Angeles and now reside in the heart of the ‘dirty south', Atlanta.

Artillery
Artillery’s creativity is drawn from the aggressive energy of the drum and bass, dub step and metal constantly pouring through his headphones. Armed with some stolen X-acto blades, almost every color of Montana spray paint and his wry sense of humor, he has created an arsenal of hand-cut stencil designs featuring candy-coated colors and an almost Warhol-esque twist on banal imagery. He currently curates street art shows in Chicago’s eclectic Wicker Park neighborhood, giving an outlet to up-and-coming artists. Artillery's latest works can also been seen on the street signs, buildings and bridges of Chicago—because even though he’s quickly becoming so much more than a “street artist,” that boy just can’t resist the urge to “get up.”

Jeremy Bacharach
Originally from Long Island, NY, Jeremy Bacharach moved to Chicago to attend The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At SAIC he was Art Director of F News Magazine, winning several national design awards. By day, Jeremy works in interactive design for one of the largest agencies in the world, while also maintaining a small boutique practice designing for indie bands, cafes, and the like. By night, Jeremy creates in a variety of methods—painting, drawing, photography, and digital media. Inspiration often comes from vintage pop culture and from frequent trips to Mexico with his wife Ana, a writer. Many ideas are sparked by their creative collaboration, and an earlier version of Sirena del Desierto was made for her.

Dosa Kim
Dosa moved to Atlanta during his freshman year in high school. He went on to study graphic design at the Art Institute of Atlanta. After working at a local design studio for a year, he continued his education at the University of Georgia, studying Digital Media and Computer Animation. Since then he has been exploring the content of his art rather than limiting his designs to the selling of products or services. Commenting on current social issues, Dosa's art can be best described as whimsical, dark and sometimes minimal. Although much of Dosa's work has shadowy undertones, he emphasizes the notion of hope, the notion that outside forces will carry the subject matter and the viewer to his/her enlightened destination. This ideal is represented in numerous metaphorical ways and is carried out through his logo which bears the text: “Some of us will find our way home.”Dosa has shown at various galleries such as the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and was a finalist in the NYC Cut and Paste Competition in 2007.

Chris Dean
Chris Dean’s synthesis of offbeat imagery and stereoscopic process has brought the nostalgic of medium of lenticular pictures to a new level of artistry. The 40-year-old Detroit native began working with stereo images during his time at San Jose State University in the 1990s and sees a future of artistic opportunity for those working with related technologies. Humor is seen as a force for good in Dean’s work, which often revels itself through the user interaction required by lenticular imagery. The odd historical context of lenticular work is embraced by Dean who often references popular culture himself. “While not underselling meaning, I consider fun to be a primary concern,” states Dean. Dean currently lives in the small community of Ferndale, north of Detroit, with his wife Heather and children Jasper and Otto.

Think you can do better? Well, now's your chance to prove it.

Now 1800® is on the search for the next essential artists, via an innovative interactive project taking place on www.1800tequila.com . Any aspiring artist or fan can upload their art on a custom 1800® bottle and join the competition to win $10,000 and be featured in a national advertising campaign.

The site allows fans to log in and in 3 simple steps join the competition and also spread the word through a custom artwork widget to embed on their site. Connoisseurs can also view the gallery and vote on the thousands of submissions. Fans can upload up to 5 pieces of art until the contest ends in mid-December.

Below are screen grabs so you can see how easy the interface is designed for you to make and share your own bottle art (notice how soon they are going to let you design your own kicks too!)





Some examples of your competition:




and example of the widget you can embed on your site to show off your bottle design:


Visit the site and design your bottle now!