2013 saw further typography refinements, largely to accommodate the addition of three languages other than English for designations of months and days. With Spanish, Italian and French added, we needed more room above the grid.

We also added a couple of centimeters to the width, making it the largest format we’d ever produced. (In the featured image above you can see the 2013 calendar’s Estoril cover peeking out on the bottom of the stack.) To me that extra little bit makes a big difference as the calendar hangs on the wall throughout the year.

Riders featured: Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Roberto Rolfo, Jorge Lorenzo, Max Biaggi, Nicky Hayden, Ben Spies, Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow, Stefan Bradl, Marco Melandri.

In each previous version of the calendar, as I looked at it month to month I would notice things I wanted to change for the next edition. By the 2013 version, I was pretty happy with how it looked and worked visually, so little about the layout has changed since then.

The 2014 calendar looks pretty much the same though for the first time we added MotoGP Test dates to the schedule.

Riders featured: Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Ben Spies, Jorge Lorenzo, Aleix and Pol Espargaro, Nicky Hayden, Tom Sykes, Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow, Stefan Bradl.

2014 was also the first time we were forced to use a photo created by someone else. I did not attend a single WSBK round in 2013, so good friend Dan Lo supplied a great shot of WSBK champ Tom Sykes.

The image of Nicky Hayden in the gravel at the Sachsenring is a good example of how the calendar at times presented tricky situations with the riders.

Most of the images we choose show the riders favorably, at speed on their bikes or with a thousand yard stare on the grid, generally looking cool. Occasionally we choose a photo to reflect David’s commentary, and Nicky Hayden’s ride through the gravel summed up his season in a single image. This shot got many comments from fans of the calendar, but I don’t think Nicky cared for it that much. So it is only sometimes that can give a copy of the calendar to a rider or his manager, confident the rider will be pleased with how he looks. But in the end, we don’t produce this calendar for the riders. We produce for fans of motorcycle racing.

Up next on the following page, the 2015 calendar: