Hezin O’s charmingly illustrated 2018 calendar is inspired by A-Z cards for children

When we saw that Hezin O had produced a beautifully illustrated calendar for 2018, we had to get in touch and find out more. The calendar is compiled of 12 separate tearaway cards which can be hung so as to function like a calendar or used as single prints. Each card features a central illustration, the dates of the month framing it and the number/first letter of the month in the top left and bottom right corners.

Each illustration, printed on two-colour Risograph, depicts a word that begins with the same letter as the month. For example, November is represented by a bowl of noodles. Hezin imagined this concept upon realising that the months of the year are easily recognisable through very little information — a single letter or number. They therefore could be visually represented as a set of “word cards” — the type children use when learning the alphabet.

Due to the “cartoon-like illustrations”, Hezin opted to used the typeface bb book A, to mirror the inconsistencies in the thickness of line, as a typeface with high levels of contrast. The combination of the simple but charming illustrations and the characterful bb book A creates a affable and almost childlike aesthetic very much in-keeping with the style we’ve come to expect from the Korean designer.