Splatoon Planner
Role
Host, Graphic Designer, Finance, Shipping
Project Overview
The Splatoon Planner and Stationery Project is a collaborative fan-made planner inspired by the Splatoon universe. This project is brought to you by a team of 5 moderators and 36 artists. We created an A5 hardcover planner along with stationery merchandise like washi tape, stickers, notepads, etc. Each month features a different topic from the games Splatoon 1, 2 and 3, and contains illustrations, undated monthly calendar grids, and weekly spreads.
Total Contributors
5 moderators, 29 illustrators, 7 merch artists
Project Duration
December 2021 - January 2023
The Planning Phase
Keeping our social media active and engaging is one of the most important parts of the project. To do this my team developed a social media posting schedule where we had every post planned at the start of the project. Then it was my job to create graphics for each social post.
For the first part of the project, we held interest check which is a small survey asking people what they would like to see in the project. We advertised our interest check through our social media pages.
After our survey closed I compiled the data and created a few graphics that explained the interest check results. I was surprised that a good majority of the people who filled out the form already were interested in being a potential customer. I also loved receiving such nice comments at the end of the survey.
During the interest check phase, we posted mod spotlight graphics. The goal of posting these graphics was to show our followers who is running the project behind the scenes. The whole theme of this project is stationery themed so I designed the graphics to look like pages in a scrapbook.
When we opened applications, we posted guest artist spotlight graphics to our social media pages throughout the application period. By inviting these artists, our goal was to get others excited about our project in hopes that they apply to join.
We received around 220 artist applications which was a great amount considering this was a small, niche project. We accepted 26 applicants (not including guest artists) and I created a graphic showcasing everyone who was part of the team.
The Planner Layout
When designing the planner layout, my goal was to create a fun and engaging layout for both the spot illustrators and customers. I settled on putting all the weekdays on the left side and then put the weekend days on the right. I had extra space so I created a little notes section in the lower left.
I created a template for spot illustrators and provided them with a detailed spot illustration guide. This is an example of the weekly spread. Illustrators were instructed to draw around 5 spot illustrations to decorate their page. Some illustrators decided to go above and beyond and added subtle backgrounds to their spreads.
Once both page and spot illustrations were done I compiled everything to create the spread. The strip at the top was taken from the page illustrator’s monthly drawing. After all artwork was placed in the file, I added color to the weekday dividers.
The example below is how one full month was formatted. Each month started off with a illustration based on the current theme. March’s theme was Splatoon battle modes. Then to the right of the illustration was a page left for notes. The next page contained a blank calendar grid so the customer could use the planner during any year. Following the calendar grid were the 5 weekly spreads. The page illustration was drawn by Jay and the spot illustrations were drawn by Alpa.
A few customers were curious about how to use the planner so we thought it would be a good idea to create a graphic that shows people one of the many ways that the planner can be used.
The Production Phase
I got to work with many different manufactures, ensuring we found the right ones for our products. For this project we made planners, sticker sheets, postcards, washi tape, memo pads, acrylic charms, a pencil case, a tote bag, a rubber stamp set, an enamel pin, and a bookmark. I received samples of every product and then photographed everything so that we could share production updates with our followers.
Project Conclusion
Here is a special shout out to all the moderators of this project: Lia (social media), Audrey (promo artist), Al (promo artist), and Star (intern). I’m so proud of all we accomplished and I’m happy our project was such a success.
For every zine project that I’ve hosted, I have given an gift to each contributor. For this project I asked Audrey to design an exclusive enamel pin that contained our mascot holding a pencil.
Thank you to every moderator, contributor, customer and supporter for helping to bring our project to life.
