Developed Calendar
After that really interesting study from Ou, 2020, which stated that Gen Z is over 80% likely to celebrate a petâs birthday and 43% likely to dress our pets up for festive occasions, making us the most likely generation to do so, I decided to revamp the Rescue Special Calendar, as I felt that this would be the most effective collateral to display this research in - it already featured individual dogs, and whatâs cuter than a dog in a costume? Plus, I feel like it would be even more enticing for viewers/purchasers of the calendar to adopt said dogs.Â
I decided the most recognisable and celebrated festivities in New Zealand were Halloween and Christmas, and so decided to an October spooky-themed page with a dog in a ghost costume, while December features a dog in a Santa hat and surrounded by star Christmas baubles. One other feature that Iâve added to the calendar that it didnât previously have is the âFt. Xâ section. For example, October ft. Tulip, December ft. Agate. I was really struggling to figure out how to include the dogsâ names in the calendar - I tried having it directly above the dog or even wrapped around their silhouette, but it just felt out of place. I finally experimented with their names below the month - as if to say, this monthâs rescue special is... but that was too many words.Â
I decided to try featuring - but decided that the abbreviation âft.â was more generation appropriate, and almost felt like they were guest artists featuring on a song. This vibe was perfect - uplifting and celebrating and focusing totally on the featured dog, instead of treating it like a drag or a burden or a charity case.Â
For Gemini, I didnât do a recognisable holiday as there won't be a holiday for every month - but a lot of the Auckland Council adoptable have fun names - Geminis are born in a certain astrological period, so I decided to capitalise on that and have her featured in her birth month with birthday celebration accessories.Â
In future iterations, it would be interesting to see what else I could do - could I continue to play on dogsâ names? Eg - have Rowan the husky surrounded by rowan berries? Have Tulip surrounded by tulips? Or could I do it seasonally? And just have the dogs in weather-appropriate garb, instead of holiday garb for the months like February/august/September when there are no super recognisable holidays?Â












