Fedrigoni 365 Calendar submission 2021

Fedrigoni 365 is a calendar, designed by TM Studio, for Fedrigoni papers UK. Each year UK based studios and individuals are selected to contribute. For the fourth edition a completely new and ambitious approach was undertaken. To maximise the number of participants only a number from 1-31 was assigned rather than a full date. Via cutting-edge digital printing technology and algorithms the new process allowed nearly 1,000 contributors to take part and for each book to be entirely unique. The calendars can be purchased from Counter Print. This year my assigned number was 23 in addition to the prompt word 'clear'. Initial thoughts were to ideas of transparency. But as usual I reverted back to form using op-art / symmetry and found that the numerals could be rendered to form an ambigram, remaining identical when turned through 180 degrees. The realisation reminded me of one of my favourite moments in design – creating something that initially appears confusing, abstract and with no meaning, but upon closer inspection, becomes clear.