WWF-India ‘Our Green Planet’ Calendar Design

Design of a wall calendar expressing concern by school children about the future of our planet, was inspired by the artworks featured in it. Playful, vibrant and hopeful in feel, it acted as an everyday reminder of the need to do our bit.

Background and Purpose

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) India is one of the foremost organisations working for the conservation of India’s wildlife and natural habitats, and on a range of environmental issues. As part of its environment education initiative Wild Wisdom Quiz, a Wild Wisdom poster making competition was organised in 2018. It involved school children from states across India. In the competition, students were encouraged to express their concern for the future of our planet.

The artworks, created by students ranging from class 3 to 11, were truly stunning and thought-provoking.

Tears coming down from a large eye with life depicted on one side and death on the other
An artwork by Akshara Goyal, depicting life on earth 100 years from now (from the calendar)

Requirement

In the second half of 2018, WWF-India commissioned the design of a 2019 wall calendar showcasing some of the best artworks from the competition. Titled Our Green Planet, the calendar also featured trivia and facts about nature and environmental issues. It was meant to empower users with knowledge, love and empathy for the environment — every day of the year.

Calendar Design Rationale

Inspiration for the design concept of the calendar — unsurprisingly — came from the beautiful and emotive artworks featured. It was decided to treat the layout as a spirited message from young minds to care for our planet. Visual elements were set within a size of 12 inches (width) x 17 inches (height), upon consultation with the printer.

Painting of a young girl enjoying nature, and around it WWF logo, calendar name and description
Our Green Planet calendar cover design featuring artwork by Rithika Walia

Playful, Supportive Layout

The layout became an extension of the paintings featured. A few key elements from each artwork were placed around the layout like icons, for a child-like, playful feel.

Artwork of buildings on earth in space, and around it: WWF logo, calendar name, dates and trivia
Calendar January page with two key visual elements from the artwork placed to occupy negative / empty spaces in the layout. Painting by Jaimy Parmar.

A light coloured bar on the left side of the layout supported the artwork on the page and divided the space into two broad parts for better organisation of elements. A small arrow extending from the bar acted as a connector between the two sections. The layout was flexible enough to accommodate paintings in both portrait and landscape orientation — an important consideration in this case.

Dates were placed at exactly the same place on every page, towards the bottom right, allowing users to quickly flip through previous and next months when required. This is an important aspect of calendar usability.

A painting placed in the center of the page with WWF logo and trivia above, and month dates below
April page of the calendar featuring an artwork in landscape orientation (by Akshara Goyal)

Varied and Vibrant Colour Scheme

Colour palette for each calendar page was varied, to match or compliment the artwork featured on it. This made every page appear fresh and vibrant.

A blue dominant painting with design elements around it in light yellow, green and blue colours
May page of the calendar with colour scheme complementing the featured artwork (by Antariksha Sethiya)

Consistent, Child-like Typography

Only one typeface was used to compose all calendar text. The font KG Ten Thousand Reasons by Kimberley Geswein was chosen for its crayon look. It reinforced the child-like feel in the calendar. The font also had good legibility. Manual kerning was done to text where required.

Page layout with calendar name, trivia, information and dates set in KG Ten Thousand Reasons font
Our Green Planet calendar July page layout featuring artwork by Arjun Prakash

In terms of type sizes and arrangement, overall typographic treatment was consistent throughout the calendar. This brought in a sense of order and practicality to an otherwise playful looking layout.

Closeup of calendar dates including month name and year (November 2019)
Text composed in KG Ten Thousand Reasons font
Closeup of formatted text with part of a painting also visible towards its right
Trivia relating to an artwork set in KG Ten Thousand Reasons font

‘Our Green Planet’ Branding

It was important to flag the calendar name / theme on every page specially as calendars are used over a period of several months if not the whole year. Our Green Planet appeared on the top right hand side of every inside page of the calendar, like a product brand name.

Page design with painting of people with oxygen cylinders in a polluted city, and calendar elements
Calendar name on the top right of the page (artwork by Lekhraj Surlakar)

Simple and thought-provoking, the calendar name — set in a large type size — acted as a gentle reminder of our responsibility towards the planet.

Closeup of the top right portion of a calendar page, including a graphic of a flying bird
Calendar name / branding and an environment related tip from one the calendar pages

Design of the Information Page

One of the calendar pages was dedicated to providing information about the organisation and its environment education initiative. It also featured links to WWF-India’s activities for children and mandatory / boilerplate text. Its design or overall layout was in sync with rest of the calendar pages.

A text heavy layout, also featuring web links and two photos of children participating in activities
Our Green Planet calendar information page design

Grid Based Layout

A 20 column (background) grid was used across all calendar pages. It helped to organise content / elements with consistency, but also with flexibility.

20 columns, within an outer margin, overlaid on a sample calendar page
Content placed with the aid of a column grid in the calendar layout
20 columns, within an outer margin, overlaid on the calendar layout
Information page content placed with the aid of the same column grid

In Essence

The overall playful yet structured layout of the calendar helped to showcase 12 stunning artworks expressing concern for our planet’s future. Even though some of the artworks acted as a grim reminder of the urgency to save our planet, the overall tone of the calendar was positive, vibrant and hopeful. The fact that the message about our planet’s future came from the younger generation made the calendar truly relevant.

14 pages of the calendar including the cover page, information page and 12 month pages
All the calendar pages

Technical Notes

Trim or finished size of the calendar — 12 x 17 inches — was calculated to economise on and reduce paper wastage. It was printed in four colour offset on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certified paper and bound with the aid of a Wiro.

The calendar hanging on a wall beside a colourful book rack
The printed calendar in a kids room

WWF-India Nature Products

WWF-India calendars have a decades old legacy. Nature / wildlife enthusiasts, supporters and many others adorn their work and living spaces with them every year. Apart from calendars, a wide range of nature related / environmentally conscious products are available at the WWF-India Online Nature Store. Please visit and support if you can, proceeds from sales go towards the organisation’s conservation mission.

Copyright Information

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