Love Letters Kalena na Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou

ʻO Love Letters Kalena na Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou he mea lanakila hanohano loa o ka 2026 A' Design Award Hao ma ka Māhele Hoʻokūkū Hoʻolālā Kaiāulu.

HaoKaiāulu· 2026

Love Letters Kalena

na Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou

Mea Kūʻai: Yezi Designs

Mea Lanakila A' Design Award Hao ma ka Māhele Kaiāulu

10,172

Mea Lanakila i Hōʻoia ʻIa

Hōʻoia i ke Kūlana Makana no #180625

Kipa i ka Pūnaewele Nānā ma A' Design Award Hoʻolaha Nūhou Hōʻailona Makana

Nā Waihoʻoluʻu

Ka Hoʻolālā

E Pili Ana iā Love Letters Kalena

He kalena ʻo Love Letters i hoʻolālā ʻia e hoʻopili i ka nohona o kēlā me kēia lā me ka ʻike i ka nui launa ʻole o nā mea ola. Aia ma kēlā me kēia o nā kāleka he ʻumikūmālua kekahi leka mai kekahi lāhui ola aneane halapohe, e kono ana i ka noʻonoʻo ʻana, nā hoʻohiki pilikino, a me ka hōʻailona ʻana i nā lā koʻikoʻi. Peʻe ʻia kēlā me kēia kāleka i kūkulu kū kaʻawale ʻole i ka humuhumu ʻana, a hiki ke hoʻokomo ʻia ma hope i loko o kona wahi leka pepa no ka leka uila ʻana a i ʻole ka mālama waihona ʻana. Paʻi ʻia ka pūʻulu ma ke ʻano offset ma ka pepa ʻaʻahu ʻole i hōʻoia ʻia e FSC, a mālama ʻia i loko o kahi pahu pepa ʻano hukihuki i hiki ke hoʻohana hou ʻia ma ke ʻano he mea hoʻomanaʻo a i ʻole he mea aʻo.

Ka Hoʻomaikai

E Pili Ana i ka A' Design Award Hao

Ua lanakila ka hoʻolālā Love Letters Kalena i ka A' Design Award Hao, he ʻike hoʻohanohano i hāʻawi ʻia i nā hoʻolālā maikaʻi e hoʻokō ana i nā koi ʻoihana a ʻoihana hana i manaʻo ʻia mai nā mea hoʻokumu i hana maikaʻi ʻia. Hōʻike nā lanakila Hao i ka mākau nui, ka loea kiʻekiʻe, ka ʻike akamai a me ka hiki hana noʻeau o ka poʻe i hana iā lākou. Manaʻo ʻia ʻo ka hoʻolālā Love Letters Kalena he mea hoʻokumu i mahalo nui ʻia, hoʻohiwahiwa ʻia a aloha ʻia e pono a hou. ʻO kēia hoʻolālā i lanakila i ka A' Design Award Hao e hoʻohui ana i nā hana maikaʻi loa o ka ʻoihana a loaʻa nā ʻano ʻenehana mākaukau i hui pū ʻia me ka ʻike hana a me ka makakoho. Mahalo ʻia ka hoʻolālā Love Letters Kalena no kona nānā pono a ua hoʻolālā ʻia e hāʻawi i nā hoʻomaikaʻi ola e kōkua ai i ka hana ʻana i ka honua i wahi maikaʻi aku.

Ma Hope o ka Hoʻolālā

ʻEke Nūhou

Nā hōʻoia, nā lālā hui a me nā kikoʻī ʻenehana i hāʻawi ʻia e ka mea hoʻolālā.

Nā ʻAno Kūʻokoʻa: This project reimagines the calendar as a tool for emotional storytelling and environmental action. Each month features a letter from an endangered species, inviting reflection, personal pledges, and meaningful dates. The foldable card becomes both calendar and time capsule, using ritual, empathy, and biodegradable materials to turn awareness into active care, a purpose led experience connecting biodiversity loss to daily life.
Nā Ana a me ka Hoʻopili: The finished product measures 110 mm × 230 mm × 40 mm. The calendar set includes 12 illustrated calendar cards, 12 paper envelopes, and a calendar storage box. The cards are designed to be folded into a self standing three dimensional structure without additional binding. After use, each card can be placed into its corresponding envelope for mailing or archiving. The complete set is housed in a paper based calendar box suitable for storage and distribution.
Nā Lepili: Emotional calendar, Eco conscious design, Endangered animals, Interactive daily ritual, Foldable cards, User engagement, Mailable cards, Educational gift, Modular structure
ʻEnehana Hana: The calendar is produced using FSC certified uncoated paper with high opacity to enhance durability and color accuracy. Offset printing is applied for production, combined with spot color control to ensure consistent tones across animal illustrations in different batches. Multiple rounds of prototyping and user testing were conducted to optimize the calendar’s size, thickness, and interaction details for daily use.
Pilikia Hoʻolālā: The main challenge was integrating a daily use object with abstract concepts to encourage genuine user engagement. This required designing a full interaction flow, from using the calendar, writing messages, to mailing actions, and adding playful, foldable features to the calendar cards. Constraints included production feasibility, material limits, and balancing usability with emotional and eco conscious objectives.
Noiʻi: Type of research: iterative design and user centered study. Objectives: to create an engaging, emotionally meaningful calendar. Methodology: multiple prototyping rounds and user testing. Tools: physical prototypes and feedback sessions. Participants: 15 users evaluated interaction and usability. Results: optimized foldable structure, size, and display clarity. Insights: users valued emotional engagement and eco consciousness. Impact: informs sustainable, interactive product design for daily life.
Hoʻoulu Manaʻo: This project makes biodiversity loss personal and actionable by breaking it into monthly rituals, reflection, pledges, date marking, and small acts of care. Drawer style box and red envelopes create a sense of reveal, while foldable calendar cards combine animal storytelling with practical use. Guided prompts turn awareness into everyday action, embedding ecological urgency into time based rituals.
Ka Lōʻihi o ka Papahana: The project started in March 2025 in Georgia and Michigan, USA, and completed prototype testing and design refinements by September 2025. Since then, it has been in ongoing serial production, ensuring quality, consistency, and readiness for distribution.
Kaʻina Hana: Most calendars function as tools, this one is designed as a relationship. The project bridges personal ritual and planetary care through a system that encourages reflection, action, and emotional continuity. Love Letters transforms a calendar into a twelve month exchange between users and endangered animals, packaging empathy and awareness through monthly interaction. The drawer style outer box symbolizes preservation and is designed for second life use as a keepsake or educational object.
Nā Palapala Kuleana: Copyrights belong to Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou, 2026
Nā Lālā Hui: Yefan Liu
Zilan Zhou
Jiayi Chen
Kangwen Shi
Nā Kuleana Kiʻi: #Main Image: Photographer Yefan Liu, A Calendar of Love Letters, 2025.
#Image 1: Photographer Yefan Liu, A Calendar of Love Letters, 2025.
#Image 2: Photographer Yefan Liu, A Calendar of Love Letters, 2025.
#Image 3: Photographer Yefan Liu, A Calendar of Love Letters, 2025.
#Image 4: Photographer Yefan Liu, A Calendar of Love Letters, 2025.