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Love Letters Kalandriye by Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou

Love Letters Kalandriye by Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Fè in Sosyal Competition Category.


FèSosyal· 2026

Love Letters Kalandriye

by Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou

Client: Yezi Designs

A' Design Award Fè Winner in Sosyal Category

Colors

The Design

About Love Letters Kalandriye

Love Letters se yon kalandriye ki fèt pou konekte lavi chak jou ak konsyantizasyon sou byodivèsite. Chak nan douz kat yo pote yon lèt ki soti nan yon espès ki an danje, ki envite refleksyon, angajman pèsonèl ak makaj dat enpòtan yo. Chak kat pliye pou li fòme yon estrikti ki kanpe pou kont li san okenn relyaj, epi apre sa yo ka mete li nan anvlòp papye li pou voye pa lapòs oswa pou achive. Ansanm nan enprime an offset sou papye san kouch ki sètifye FSC epi li plase nan yon bwat papye estil tiwa ke yo ka reitilize kòm yon souvni oswa yon zouti ansèyman.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Fè

Love Letters Kalandriye se yon ganyan A' Design Award Fè, yon rekonesans ki gen prestij yo bay bon design ki satisfè egzijans pwofesyonèl ak endistriyèl yo atann de kreyasyon ki byen fèt. Ganyan Fè yo montre gwo konpetans, espesyalizasyon wo, konpreyansyon ekspè ak kapasite kreyatif kreyatè yo. Yo atann Love Letters Kalandriye pou se yon kreyasyon anpil moun estime, admire e renmen ki pratik e inovatè. Design sa a ki ganyen A' Design Award Fè entegre pi bon pratik sektè a e li gen karakteristik teknik konpetan ki lye ak konnesans pratik ak talan. Yo respekte Love Letters Kalandriye pou jèntan li e li fèt pou bay amelyorasyon kalite lavi ki ede fè mond lan vin yon pi bon kote.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
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.
Dimensions & Packaging
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.
Tags
Emotional calendar, Eco conscious design, Endangered animals, Interactive daily ritual, Foldable cards, User engagement, Mailable cards, Educational gift, Modular structure
Production Technology
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.
Design Challenge
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.
Research
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.
Inspiration
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.
Project Duration
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.
Operation Flow
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.
Patents
Copyrights belong to Yefan Liu and Zilan Zhou, 2026
Team Members
Yefan Liu
Zilan Zhou
Jiayi Chen
Kangwen Shi
Image Credits
#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.

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