Take F&W’s magical calendar tour, win!

[Tom Biederbeck] A calendar can be many things, as the inventory at Felt & Wire Shop shows: a planner, a diary, a “collection” (read on) or simply a graphically thrilling set of images to adorn your quarters … while of course revealing what day it is. With 2010 upon us, this is the ideal time to award loved ones or yourself a post-holiday gift of the calendrical variety. To get you in the mood, we’re giving away 10 of the featured calendars on this guided tour.

If original illustrations and exquisite printing and paper pique your interest (and who could fail to be swayed?), Delphine’s Letterpress Calendar with Ribbon is a charming choice. Among the calendar form’s most intriguing attributes is its ability to assume almost any shape a designer can devise: This example is one page to a month, with separate sheets that can be trimmed down as the year proceeds to leave you with a dozen suitable-for-framing images. On smart, luxurious 80-percent PCW Mohawk Renewal and equipped with or without grosgrain ribbon for hanging.

Choosing the Methodology Calendar from Josh Chen and co. at Chen Design Associates will score you extra sustainability points: The calendar was originally produced for 1999, but amazingly the dates work perfectly for 2010. Constructed out of recycled, uncoated stocks and assembled by hand, this calendar’s simple but clever design details, thought-provoking content and compelling images won Chen a slew of awards and plenty of attention (including my own) when it originally appeared. How often do you get to score a collector’s item AND a practical tool AND save a tree in the same blow?

Vik’s An Apple a Day Calendar has an unusual DIY premise: This 365-day calendar is designed to be completed by the owner, by covering the date with the sticker you just pulled off today’s piece of fruit — healthy fun! While the makers suggest choosing apples of interesting varieties (Belle De Boskoop, anyone?), there are no rules against sticking a banana or even an avocado into the salad. At 18 x 23 in. on 100-lb. cover stock, this calendar is among the larger sheets you’ll see coming off a letterpress. Available in white or brown … but we like the way the brown shows off the colors in those gaudy-but-nice fruit stickers.

Imagery is the attraction in rhumba | notion’s “Dated” Desk Calendar, which demonstrates that even marking the passing of time can be humorous. This wire-bound calendar capitalizes on retro “found” imagery (vintage family photos, printed artifacts and handwriting) to achieve an effect somewhere between kitsch and nostalgia. Printed on Mohawk Strathmore Bright White cover stock.

The calendar’s connection with astronomy is obvious, but The Lunar Diary from Cheryl Heller of Heller Communication Design takes it into a higher orbit. Here the usual daily planner adds cycles of the moon to help in “choosing the most auspicious times for both action and restraint.” Whether or not lunar cycles determine the most favorable times to launch a venture or schedule a meeting, you may start looking at the moon a little differently. Wouldn’t that be nice? Available in 6 x 9- and 8.5 x 11-in. versions (larger shown).

View the complete calendar collection at Felt & Wire Shop.

NOW, ABOUT THAT CONTEST: Fresh from Felt & Wire Shop, 10 of these amazing calendars will be FREE to readers — all you have to do is respond in the Comments section of this post by Jan. 11. Don’t forget to give your name and e-mail address. Your address won’t appear in the Comment, of course, but if you’re among the lucky 10 commenters drawn at random, we’ll use it to notify you about your free calendar. Happy days!

While I’m on the subject, don’t miss our recent post on Cummings & Good Design Studio’s BOOK Calendar, one with another unique feature: a time capsule.