Box breaking

My company is very conservative when it comes to their graphics. From my desk i can see at least ten examples of the kinds of things they like. Orderly, simple, nothing too extravagant, too bright, or different from the layouts they have used since the 1960s.

The annual calendar had been done by the same lady for at least 10 years and each year, she just kept the same layout and just changed the banner graphic. They were...nice. Not amazing, but nice.

When i came on board for last year's calendar, i started playing around without being asked. When i came across the idea to put the graphic behind the calendar and have the date squares be just slightly translucent...all of a sudden, they were amazed. It was something they'd never considered before and they LIKED IT!

This year, something similar happened. They had two ideas and wanted some examples of different ways to go about it. So i gave them what they wanted. 2 examples and some simple variations.

My design :) Planet Saturn with the
Cassini sattelite in orbit. 

And then, something struck me. A perfect design was already there, i just had to clear away what wasn't working (read: the standby layout). So i started playing around...again without being asked. I split the months into two 6-month sections for the top and the bottom. Then i put the graphic all the way across the back, and year and other graphics in the middle. The result was really cool. I liked it. Two co-workers liked it. Boyfriend Jon liked it.

So i went to the presentation meeting and handed them what they asked for. They hummed and hawed over it for a few minutes until i offered my take on the design. It didn't take long for them to agree that my design was their favorite with some minor tweaks, which i had expected to be brought up. But overall they loved it. which makes me so happy.

So now, the Saturn planet is being re-done for color correctness, and the rings will be cleaned up but then i'll start adding the dates, holidays and other necessary information. It's shaping up to be a very pretty year :)