Behind the Ink: How Our Calendars Come to Life

Step 1: The Sketch: Every calendar design starts simply—with a pencil and paper or on the iPad. Once we’ve sketched out an idea we love, we move on to adding color. Each design only uses one or two colors, which can be tricky. We spend time figuring out how to make the artwork work with a limited palette and deciding which color to print first

Step 2. Making the Transparency: After finalizing the design, we send it off to our friends to be vectored. Vectoring is essential—it turns the design into a crisp, scalable format, ensuring clean lines when we burn the image onto the screen.Next, we send the vectored file to WJ Blueprint, where it’s printed on a transparent sheet—this is called a transparency. The transparency is what we use to transfer the design onto the silkscreen.

Step 3. Screen making. It all takes place in a dark room using a light table. The transparency is placed over a screen coated with light-sensitive emulsion. When exposed to light, the emulsion hardens—except where the design blocks it. After exposure, we wash out the screen, and the design is revealed as a stencil.

Step 4. Color Testing. We think carefully about how each month fits into the overall aesthetic of the calendar. We try to avoid repeating colors and make sure similar tones are spread evenly throughout the year.

Step 5. Print the first color: Once we’ve chosen and mixed our colors, it’s time to print. We start with the first color and can usually print around 1,000 pages in a day. Each print is pulled by hand—one at a time. Our large drying racks hold up to 300 sheets, which helps keep the process moving smoothly.

Step 6. The second color: After the first color dries, we begin printing the second. This part takes patience—lining up the second layer with the first, also known as registration, can be tricky and time-consuming.

Step 7. Done! Once both colors are printed the month is complete and the next phase of the calendar starts, which includes putting them together by hand and shipping them out to you!