Lately I’ve been creating my own calendars in Illustrator to get complete control for when I create project timelines for new clients. The calendar below has sensitive information like the client name and name of the project motion blurred out for confidentiality purposes. Click it to see a bigger version.

The Illustrator file to create this calendar has… three layers?

There is the “calendar grid” layer with shading; that one is locked so I don’t accidentally move things around. Then there’s the “calendar headings” layer, also locked, which has the days of the week, the actual dates, the title of the document, and my company + client name. Finally, we have the “project details” layer, unlocked, which allows me to move around  deliverables and deadlines.

It took me a bit longer than I wanted to get the file set up, but now I can use it as a template for all future project timelines when I’m the project manager (this is my second time being UX + project lead/manager here at WD, it’s a good combo).

I really like designing experience maps, calendars, wireframes, etc in Illustrator. The end result is so sharp, and the PDFs are always crisp for clients to print out.