The drive to succeed knows no season. Join us as we take a look inside the building of American Spirit, a year-round inspirational calendar and its accompanying animated video.

The Calendar

The idea to do an inspirational calendar came from the positive quotes that are always circulating on social media. We’ve posted quite a few of these ourselves from MCG, and we’ve always found them to be helpful – and hopeful. If you work hard and you’re passionate about what you do, good things will happen. We’ve always believed this, and we believe it now more than ever.

So we had a thought: why not share a little of this positivity with those around us?

We began by gathering inspirational quotes by notable Americans in business, the arts, and entertainment about courage, perseverance, creativity, and hard work.

For the calendar stand, we looked at a few different options and settled on a little wooden easel. It was lightweight, a nice size, and had a roughness to it that corresponded well with the theme of American Spirit.

The Video

We love doing animated videos and felt we had a little more to say than simply repeating others’ words, so the beginning of a script started to form.

The video concept came to me while on a business trip working with farmers in South Dakota. We’ve worked in agriculture for quite some time, but what inspired me on this particular trip was the relentlessness of the typical farmer’s schedule and how hard they work to keep their family businesses running.

Farmers don’t punch out at 5PM; they keep going until the work is done. They’re usually battling against weather, machinery breakdowns, and fluctuating commodity prices – and still, they persevere.

These words from the video were born in a field somewhere in the middle of South Dakota:

The heart of America is built on hard work

Tireless innovation and the grit to get up and go just can’t be taught

This is as true of the farmers I’ve met as it is about any of the successful people I’ve known in business and other walks of life.

Tying It All Together

Once we selected the quotes, the design of the calendar came together very quickly. We knew we wanted to use a muted American theme of red, white, and blue, and those happen to be our colors at MCG as well. We used similar artwork in both the calendar and the video, and we let Alan loose on the animation to pull everything together.

Just as farmers grow their crops year after year, inspiration is grown out of even the smallest ideas. As Maya Angelou said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

2018 marks 14 years MCG has been in business, and we’ve been fortunate to have so many friends, clients, and colleagues we’ve met along the way. Mostly, I’ve been amazed to see that creativity never dries up. And for that, I am most thankful.

Where will inspiration take you?

We hope your year is full of opportunities, and that you, too, grow something extraordinary.

We hope you’re enjoying your 2018 inspirational calendar, American Spirit. If you haven’t received one, it’s not too late – just let us know, and we’ll send one your way.