Graphic communication media such as calendars, postage stamps, pennants, buntings and flags are utilised in our daily activities as a people, society or nation. It is now a popular feature of ceremonies and events like weddings, festivals, Independence Day and others to design calendars, buntings to mark the occasion or event. Thus, graphic artists need to know how these products are like in the realms of art so that it will ease their pain when such a project is assigned or offered to them by instructors and clients.

Calendar

A calendar is a well designed one-page or multiple paged paper pieces used to organize days for societal use. It usually has a chart showing a year divided into months, weeks and days.

Various institutions and associations have designed their own calendars which are mostly given to clients and other members of the general public as a way of broadcasting the activities of the institution. Calendars of this nature bear the name of the company, the logo and the popular trademark of the company. The arrangements of the months should be sequenced so that gleaning of information from it will be very easy. The colours used should be harmonious and the typography style must be legible. If an illustration couples the text, it shouldn’t be distractive neither should it be ambiguous. It must be descriptive of the activities of the company.

Postage Stamp

This is a carefully designed paper piece usually in small dimension that is affixed on a letter or document to be mailed as a proof of payment of the mail. The amount or fee is inscribed on it as well as the country of origin. Mostly, there are illustrations on postage stamps that depict the culture of the country of origin. For instance, a postage stamp from Ghana may depict pictures of interesting sites in Ghana such as the independence square, national flag, Kakum national park, picture of the present and past presidents, abundant natural resources in the country etc. The backs of postage stamps are glued so that it can be affixed on letters.

Pennants

It is a miniature flag usually shaped like a triangle or pentagon with designed text, logo, emblem or symbol of a group or association. They have several functions such as identification, decoration, signaling, education and advertising. It is usually exchanged as a sign of greeting or as a sign of goodwill. It is offered to people as a souvenir item.

Buntings

These are colourful small flags joined together with a string and hanged along streets during festive occasions or hanged along the interiors of church buildings during festive occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and Weddings etc. The colours of the flags must symbolically agree with the event. Sometimes, artists cleverly choose colours that harmonizes with the attire the couple holding the wedding feast would wear. This implies that, artists who are offered such projects must carefully think through and design the buntings so that the general appearance will be suitable for the occasion.

Flags

This is a decorative cloth with special colours, emblems or logos peculiar to a group, association, religious or political denomination or nation. The choice of colours, symbols or emblems do have symbolic or philosophical meanings that are linked to the ideologies, beliefs and values of the group, association or country.