The St Austell Printing Company Calendar

Each year we team up with talented illustration students from Falmouth University to release the official St Austell Printing Company Calendar.

Since 2014, we’ve tasked the students to produce illustrations for each month, plus a cover based on a particular theme. This ties into the third year curriculum of their illustration course, and gives them the opportunity to work on a real, live project.

The entire production process takes place in-house, where thousands of the calendars are designed, printed and finished before being sent through our mailing and fulfilment department to clients and friends across the UK.

Since we started the collaboration, there’s been a real buzz around the calendar and that year’s theme. We’re always asked by clients when they are going to receive the next one, and which theme we’ll use next.

The calendar has proven to provide an excellent opportunity for the students to promote their work too. We have a large number of design and marketing agencies who receive a copy of the calendar each year, which has directly led to work for students.

Thank you to all the students for taking part in this years’ calendar project.

This year’s calendar brief: Happy Place

All the artwork in this calendar was created by twelve very talented final year illustration students at Falmouth University. We asked to create artwork based on the theme of “Happy place”.

This year was very different. Normally, we would visit the University and hold our sessions face-to-face. This year, due to the pandemic we had to move online and conducted everything remotely. This also means that unfortunately, the students were unable to visit our factory to watch the calendar being manufactured. However, we have promised to arrange a time for them to visit once the university restrictions allow.

This is an excerpt of the brief we delivered to them. We chose the final thirteen illustrations from nearly fifty submissions.

Health and wellbeing is very-much at the forefront of people’s minds. We live in exceptional times, and we want to use the 2021 calendar to acknowledge and promote the importance of looking after ourselves and each other.

A “Happy Place” could be a physical location, a state of mind or situation. Something, or somewhere that makes you, or others feel happy, safe and comforted. This year more than ever, people were aware of what is important to them. We are looking for this to be a positive project which inspires, enlightens and educates.

Please click here to view last year’s calendar.