One of Linden’s many holiday traditions is creating calendars to share with our clients, friends and families, and we’ve been doing it since 1998. Whether it’s beautiful photography or words of wisdom, year after year, Linden carefully selects themes and artwork that people will want to keep on their desk or in their homes the whole year through. In honor of our 25th anniversary, we are taking a look back through our calendar archives and reminiscing about the themes and inspiration behind them all. Hope you enjoy this adventure back through time as much as we are!
Client-inspired Works of Art
Outstanding design and quality finished work is paramount at Linden. Established in 1996, Linden created and amassed original artwork for clients spanning across a variety of industries: music, food, sporting goods, education, publishing, health care and technology, to name a few. Linden chose to feature these works of art in our calendars from 1998 through 2001.
1998
1999
Fun Fact: The May 1999 illustration is the building that housed Linden’s first office at 233 Linden Street, Fort Collins, Colorado.
2000
2001
Fun Fact: Linden purchased its forever home in 1999. The historic Sears Roebuck house was built in 1921 by a physician, Dr. Jim Goode and his wife, Maude. The 2001 calendar cover illustrates the building’s grand porch and entry at 223 South Howes Street in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The Coonts Effect
In 2002, Linden tapped local artist Bob Coonts to showcase his fine art in the calendar. A Colorado native, Bob owned his own business, taught classes in the art department at Colorado State University and continued his own painting. His fortunate students not only refined their graphic design skills under his instruction, they were also enriched by Bob’s expertise and business experience in how to apply their skills in the real world. Bob Coonts shared a wealth of knowledge and support to Fort Collins designers and we couldn’t be more grateful. Our clients and staff appreciated the 2002 calendar so much we used his art again in 2003 and 2004. To see more of Bob Coonts’ fine art visit his gallery at bobcoonts.com.
2002
2003
Fun Fact: For many years Bob hosted a graphic design community bowling event that everyone in the design community looked forward to attending. Linden’s own Shawna Phillips won a trophy for the lowest score titled, “In the Gutter.” She’d like to thank tequila for this honor.
2004
The Dog Days of Linden
As much as Linden appreciates a quality piece of art, there’s nothing we love more than our dogs (and yours!) and that is evident in our calendar creations from 2005 to 2016. Thanks to Linden’s open-dog policy, our office was often overrun by several employee pooches. We were so inspired by our furry friends and our former bright red Linden mascot that we incorporated them into everything imaginable, including iconic works of art and advertising, historical events, travel destinations, as well as their natural habitat, the Linden office!
The entire Linden team lent a hand in calendar development during these years, including photography by Susie Cannon and Cara Eastwood Baldwin, illustration and watercolor by Kendra Spanjer, and fancy Photoshop work and design by Launie Korth Parry, Dixie Lira and Rebecca Witter.
2005
2006
2007
Fun Fact: As a staff retreat, the Linden team spent a long weekend in New York City. While sightseeing and engaging in the best of what the Big Apple has to offer, we photographed a metal version of Linden’s mascot in iconic scenes and places. The mascot is a piece of art in itself, crafted by one of our former press operators, Thomas Hadam.
2008
2009
Fun Fact: Because we love all dogs equally, we invited our clients’ canines to a professional photo shoot at the Linden office studio. In return, we provided a professional print of their pooch and a coveted spot in our 2009 calendar. Later that year we took this offer to a street festival in partnership with a local animal rescue. For a small donation, we snapped photos of some of Fort Collins’ finest four-legged friends.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Not-So-Fun Fact: This may have been the longest and most arduous photo shoots of all time. While our bookkeeeper Jean Whitlock’s beloved retriever Buckley is more golden inside than out, he is less than cooperative when it comes to being in front of a camera.
2016
Nature to Nurture
In recent years, Linden has turned not only to our admiration of lovely landscapes and their unparalleled color palettes, but we also focused our attention on things like art from around the world that inspires the work that we do, along with the marketing and technological innovations that allow us to do it.
2017
Fun Fact: Linden’s team is teeming with talented photographers. Our dense Wyoming clientele offers us many opportunities to photograph all the beautiful landscapes the state has to offer.
2018
2019
2020
Root Strength
After a year that shook us to the core, Linden wanted our 2021 calendar to be all sunshine, soft wind and pleasing petals. We answered that call with gorgeous foliage photography by Tiffany Rebecca and light but inspirational anecdotes by Linden’s punny Creative Director, Alison Quinn.
2021
Dixie Lira
Give this girl a few pups, some good music, a glass of wine and a sunny day and you’ve got a happy Art Director. Dixie lives in the Chicago suburbs with her son and at least two dogs at all times. Her design work is magic because she's chockful of Dixie dust.