Project
Skylight 2
Calendar
Skylight’s 15″ Calendar has long been a staple in family organization.
To bring the new Skylight Calendar 2 into alignment with the 27″ Calendar Max, Skylight needed more than a simple cosmetic refresh.
The goal was to deliver the full capabilities of the flagship model in a dramatically thinner, lighter footprint—built to mount effortlessly wherever families need it most
Commissioned by Spanner PD, we provided Industrial Design, CMF development, and collateral design support for the redesign of the Skylight Calendar 2.
- Year2025
- ClientSkylight
- PlaceSan Francisco
THE MISSION
Working alongside Spanner’s DFM and mechanical integration team, our goal was to align the device with the broader Calendar Max design language while dramatically improving the user experience within strict mechanical and architecture constraints.
PROBLEMS TO SOLVE
-The device needed to be thinner and lighter than the outgoing 15″ model, while still fitting the new Calendar Max product family’s design language.
-Mounting was an either/or. Desk and wall use each demanded different tradeoffs — the previous design hadn’t fully solved for both.
-The design had no personality. Skylight wanted user-swappable cosmetic frames so people could make the calendar their own.
-Cable management was an afterthought. Setup meant wrestling a cable into a cramped internal cavity — not the experience Skylight wanted for a device that sits in the middle of a family’s kitchen or hallway.
Design Updates
We didn't start from a single direction — we mapped out the full decision space before committing to one. Early concept work weighed hard-edge, soft, and hybrid design languages side by side, and tested each against real usage questions: what viewing angles matter, how the stand should articulate, whether the wall mount and desk stand should share hardware or stay independent.
One data point reshaped the design early on: only 6% of users were using the outgoing 15" Calendar in portrait mode. That single number let both teams simplify the backplate, cable routing, and mounting hardware around landscape-first use — and skip an entire mode's worth of engineering complexity that wasn't earning its keep.
From there, the design converged on:
-A refined surface language that carries the Calendar Max family's design cues into the smaller footprint
-A cable-management solution that lives inside the same cavity as the mounting plates — once we mocked up and tested real cable routing and winding paths, we knew exactly what space the solution needed, and reconciled that against everything else already competing for that cavity
-New speaker and microphone placement, refined for acoustics without adding bulk
-Four interchangeable cosmetic frame styles, so the finished product ships as one calendar with several personalities
Calendar 2 is the product we’ve always wanted to build, and this partnership made it possible.Anubhav Sarkar,GMSkylight
Engineering & Prototyping Solutions
Working alongside Spanner’s mechanical and electrical engineering team, we co-developed the technical and physical solutions for Calendar 2; validating every iteration through physical mockups, stress testing, and functional prototypes:
-High-Torque Stand & Hinge: To ensure stability, we prototyped and pressure-tested the stand mechanism under continuous load. Spanner specified a custom friction hinge (1.5–2 N·m) for a seamless 0°–75° range, creating a stable, easy-to-adjust base with an optimized assembly sequence.
-Compact Cable Management: Routing space was tightly constrained within the mounting cavity. Through quick physical models and cable-winding tests, we jointly established a practical layout that fits neatly into the internal architecture.
-Tool-Free Swappable Frames: Transitioning from the original frame design, we simplified part count and introduced a magnetic retention system. Together, we tuned magnet strength and placement for a secure snap that releases effortlessly by hand.
-Acoustics & DFM Integration: We balanced speaker and microphone placement against tight enclosure limits, ensuring high audio performance while optimizing internal geometry for clean DFM and efficient assembly.
Manufacturing, CMF & DFM Alignment
While Spanner led the DFM effort in direct coordination with the manufacturer, we worked in close synergy—providing full Mechanical Engineering (ME) support and defining the final CMF strategy to preserve the design intent through production.
-Seamless Factory Handoff: For eight weeks post-handoff, we provided ongoing support alongside Spanner, ensuring that materials, finishes, and mechanical tolerances translated perfectly to the factory floor.
-Hinge & Stand Refinement: When initial production builds revealed subtle play in the hinge-stand interface, we collaborated to refine the housing tolerances, restoring the firm, wobble-free action proven in early prototypes.
-Smart Installation Detail: To improve the wall-mounting experience, we supported the execution of a drill-through label for the mounting accessory, giving users an error-free installation without adding manufacturing cost or complexity.
Working with the Skylight team was a delight. They have a strong commitment to enhancing the user experience, and no detail was too small to consider. The stand, in particular, was a pain point in the previous design, so we took on the challenge of redesigning not only its look, but also its functionality and ease of use. We wanted users to have a premium experience whether they were mounting the device on a wall or using it on a countertopAlyssa Kinoshita, Senior Product DesignerSpanner
PROGRAM OUTCOMES
–Delivered a slimmer, lighter 15″ Calendar aligned to the Calendar Max family.
–Solved desk and wall mounting in a single, coherent hardware architecture.
–Shipped four swappable cosmetic frame styles.
–Redesigned cable management from the ground up, based on real constraints rather than the old approach.
–Engineered and validated a purpose-built stand hinge for long-term reliability.
-Calendar 2 launched at CES 2026 as part of Skylight’s refreshed Calendar Max lineup, with coverage from TechCrunch on the redesign.
Project team
SKYLIGHT
- Anubhav Sarkar _ VP of Product
- Philip Jones _ Engineering & Hardware
SPANNER:
- Alyssa Kinoshita _ Senior Industrial Designer
- Torence Lu _ COO
N-OTHERS
- Alejandro Sarra _ Founder & Creative Director
- Nicolás Tagliabue _ Senior Industrial Designer
- Ignacio Loncon _ Senior Industrial Designer