Ready-made or custom: choosing a calendar magnet design for your agency
Choosing between a ready-made calendar fridge magnet design and a fully custom one comes down to timing and branding control. A ready-made design from the gallery just needs your agency's own details added, while custom suits agencies with strict brand guidelines or an unusual layout. Either way, check the proof carefully before approving artwork for print.
What a ready-made design gives you
Most agencies pick a ready-made design because it moves fast. Browse the calendar fridge magnets collection or the full design gallery, choose a layout you like, and supply your own logo, photos and contact details. Because the groundwork is already done, you're only waiting on your own content before the design goes to proof.
Ready-made designs aren't fixed, either. Colours, layout, logo, photos and details can all be changed to suit your agency, and this design work is free. So "ready-made" doesn't mean "unchangeable" -- it means you're starting from a proven base rather than a blank page, which saves time without locking you into someone else's branding.
This matters most when a calendar order has to go out to the whole office in one hit, ahead of letterbox drops or client gifting. A ready-made starting point means the layout decisions are already made, and your office manager or marketing staff can focus on getting the details right rather than designing a magnet from scratch.
When custom is worth it
If your agency works to strict brand guidelines -- exact colour codes, fixed logo placement, approved fonts -- a fully custom design keeps you compliant rather than bending a ready-made layout to fit rules it wasn't built for. Franchise agencies in particular often have house style rules for marketing material, and a custom magnet design is the straightforward way to meet them.
Custom is also the better call for an unusual layout: a landscape calendar grid running alongside a photo strip, headshots for several agents, or a branch-specific house style that doesn't match any of the standard gallery layouts. If your agency wants to feature multiple team members, a secondary logo for a sponsorship or community tie-in, or a layout that splits the calendar grid from the contact panel in a particular way, custom gives you that freedom.
A fully custom design is free as well, so the decision isn't about cost -- it's about how much control you need over the finished layout. Agencies that already have brand assets prepared, such as approved photography and a style guide, tend to find the custom process just as quick as starting from a ready-made design, because there's less back-and-forth adjusting an existing layout to fit.
Matching the design to a size and format
Calendar fridge magnets are printed full colour in DL, A5 and A6, rectangular or die-cut to a house shape. A landscape calendar grid often sits best on DL, while A5 gives more room if you want to include property photos or more than one agent's details. Check the calendar fridge magnets collection to see which size fits your design.
A6 is worth considering where desk or kitchen space is tight, or where the calendar magnet is one of several items going out together and a smaller footprint suits the mailout. Whichever size you're weighing up, think about how much text and imagery the layout needs to carry before locking in a design -- a crowded A6 layout reads very differently to the same content given room to breathe on A5.
If a die-cut outline suits your agency's branding better than a straight rectangle, it's worth a look at the house shaped fridge magnets collection too. For dimensions side by side across all four standard sizes, the sizes page is the quickest reference.
What to check on the proof
Whichever path you choose, the proof is where mistakes get caught -- not after printing. Check every phone number, email address and web address against your current listings, especially if your agency has recently changed branch details or staff.
Confirm the calendar year and month grid are correct, that your logo is the current version rather than an old one, and that any photos are sharp rather than stretched to fill a space they weren't sized for. It's worth having a second person in the office look over the proof as well, since it's easy to read past a familiar error in your own contact details.
If you've gone custom, double-check colour matches against your brand guidelines, including any Pantone or hex references your marketing team uses. If you've gone with a ready-made design, check that the details you've added haven't pushed other text or the calendar grid off the layout, particularly if your agency name or a staff member's title runs long.
It also pays to check the proof at actual size rather than zoomed in on screen, since small text that reads clearly enlarged can be harder to read once the magnet is printed and sitting on a fridge door.
Browse the calendar fridge magnets collection or the design gallery to compare layouts, or get in touch about a custom design -- an instant price is available on the site once you've chosen a size and quantity.
Frequently asked questions
Does a fully custom design cost more than a ready-made one? No. Design work is free whether you start from a ready-made design or ask for something fully custom.
Can I still request changes to a ready-made design? Yes. Colours, layout, logo, photos and details can all be changed on a ready-made design to suit your agency.
How long does production take once the design is approved? Allow 7 to 10 business days production from artwork approval, up to a week for delivery to most capital cities and longer for country WA and NT.
What sizes are calendar fridge magnets available in? They're printed in DL, A5 and A6, rectangular or die-cut to a house shape -- see the sizes page for exact dimensions.