Turning the page to a new year: Style-savvy 2022 calendars
Even in this digital age, there are joys to be had from paper calendars
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Your support makes all the difference.Why are many of us still drawn to paper calendars in this digital age?
Karen Hernandez, senior product manager at the Museum of Modern Art in New York has theories.
First, we can feel “more intimately tied to our plans, and get increased joy out of organizing our to-dos, when we can track them physically on analog calendars," she says.
Also, "these calendars can express our style and bring beauty to otherwise monotonous days. Not only does the act of writing the event down stick in our minds more permanently, we’re also able to use the calendar for creative self-expression.”
There are a variety of beautiful and creative calendars on tap at bookstores and online sites to mark the months or weeks of 2022 with photos, artwork, quotes, cartoons, puzzles and more. Added bonus: You can frame your favorite images after each month is done.
A sampling of what's new:
ARTSY AGENDAS
A great-looking desk calendar called “City,” at MoMA from Japanese studio Good Morning, features 3-D cityscapes of Tokyo, New York and Paris Interlock the shapes on the provided display stand to showcase the 12 monthly calendars and the skylines.
Fans of artist Charley Harper’s modern depictions of birds and animals will want either the studio’s 12-by-13-inch or 6½-by-14-inch wall calendars, with some of Harper’s most striking works.
Lovers of all things vintage will be pleased with one of Paper Source’s Vintage Cats, Dogs, Birds Travel Maps, or Cocktails desk calendars, with frameable illustrations from the Cavallini & Co. paper goods archive.
POP CULTURE PLANNING
At Calendars.com and other retailers, find a “Descendants” calendar featuring characters in the TV series about the teen kids of Disney villains. There are also Batman, Wonder Woman and Frozen II calendars.
“Bridgerton” fans will want a wall calendar (Simon & Schuster) with all the steamy, dishy and dreamy characters in the Netflix series.
There are also calendars for “Outlander” (Sellers Publishing), and for “Mandalorian” fans, calendars with portraits of all the series actors in costume, or one that features just The Child, in photos and illustrated forms (Trends International Calendars).
At Workman Publishing, you’ll find calendars themed around social media favorites like cute squirrels, pets, and unusual animal friends. They also have a calendar devoted to The New York Times' Mini Crossword puzzle.
OUTDOORSY ORGANIZING
Another example of Good Morning’s lovely papercraft: their kit of pop-out bird calendars, featuring six birds, including a pelican, crested kingfisher and cardinal. Fold the easily assembled tabs and the birds stand up on their own.
At MoMA's store, there’s a safari animal version as well, with a rhino, giraffe, gorilla, stag, bear and camel in pop-up form.
Armchair travelers might enjoy a calendar from National Geographic’s collection (Simon & Schuster). Photographs are themed around Islands, Castles & Houses, and National Parks.
The parks are also to be found in Cavallini & Co.’s beautifully drawn archival print calendar, at Paper Source. Or choose Arboretum, with detailed illustrations of trees.
Those who prefer a desktop blotter calendar might like Paper Source’s large, grid-format blotter with lots of writing room in each block. Each month’s page is bordered in a seasonal floral print.
SHOW-TIME SCHEDULES
The Playbill Store celebrates the return of Broadway with a 2022 calendar featuring some of the theater district’s favorite musicals, like “Chicago,” “Come From Away” and “Dear Evan Hansen.” “Hamilton” lovers might want the wall or day-to-day desk calendar with photos, lyrics and historical facts.
TIMETABLES FOR THINKERS
The “30 Second Mysteries” calendar (Simon & Schuster) would be a fun one for everybody who binges whodunits. A quick recap of each case, the mystery and clues from the worlds of history, science, celebrity and everyday life can be digested in half a minute – then the answer is on the back.
For history fans, the History Channel’s 2022 This Day in History will be a trove of interesting facts.
Bibliophiles and writers might like “The Curious Reader” calendar from the folks at online magazine Mental Floss, with anecdotes and fun facts about writers and literary works. What really happened on the day “The War of the Worlds” was broadcast nationwide? What did Hemingway say when he won the Nobel Prize for literature? The daily calendar is a trivia trove for readers.
Learn some new (old) words with “Forgotten English” (Sellers Publishing), a daily tear-off calendar of archaic and arcane words like “womblety-cropt,” which in the 1850s described a tipsy individual, along with historic reference and word usage. There are anecdotes on, among other things, the history of the dinner fork, medieval holiday hijinks and how Paris was redesigned.
DATEBOOKS FOR DOERS
"The Martha Manual” daily tear-off calendar features Martha Stewart’s organizing, cleaning, decorating and cooking tips, like how to soften butter, use leftover egg whites, or paint a wall.
“Life Hacks 2022” (Andrews McMeel) gives daily tips and tricks on dealing with everything from cooking to technology to personal care.
And amateur athletes would go for “The Complete Runner’s Day by Day Log 2022 Planner Calendar” (Simon & Schuster) a planner and log all in one. There are inspirational monthly essays, helpful tips and lots of space to track your runs.