The Capitol Bar Pet Calendars
A calendar that gives people a reason to come back.
A playful annual pet-calendar collaboration for The Capitol Bar, beginning with Cats of the Capitol and followed by the Capitol CaNINE Calendar for the bar’s ninth anniversary.
THE PROJECT
The Capitol Bar pet calendars began with Cats of the Capitol, a community-driven calendar featuring photographs of patrons’ cats. The following year, the idea returned as the Capitol CaNINE Calendar to celebrate the bar’s ninth anniversary, this time putting dogs in the spotlight. Each calendar begins on July 16, the anniversary of The Capitol Bar, rather than January 1, turning the calendar itself into an annual tradition tied directly to the life of the business.
THE CHALLENGE
Create a piece of printed promotion that felt unmistakably like The Capitol Bar: funny, community-minded and worth keeping, while giving patrons a reason to return year after year. The calendar needed to work as a useful object, a celebration of the bar’s community and a recurring promotional piece rather than a conventional January-to-December giveaway.
THE APPROACH
Build the concept around the bar’s own anniversary and the personalities of its patrons and their pets. Starting the calendar on July 16 means that when the final month runs out, it is time to return to The Capitol and pick up the next edition. The collaboration stayed intentionally playful, with Heather “Meowler” Mueller and Danielle “Meownica” developing the project together while owner Derek retained final approval on the details, especially the all-important choice of cover animal.
WHAT WE MADE
The first edition, Cats of the Capitol, featured patrons’ cats in a custom calendar built around The Capitol Bar’s July 16 anniversary. For the bar’s ninth anniversary, the concept evolved into the Capitol CaNINE Calendar, shifting the focus to dogs while keeping the same anniversary-to-anniversary format. The project combined community participation, playful naming, editorial layout and print production into an annual object connected directly to the bar and the people who gather there.
THE RESULT
What began as a pet calendar became a recurring piece of Capitol Bar culture: part keepsake, part community project and part return-visit reminder. By anchoring each edition to July 16 instead of the calendar year, the project creates a built-in reason for patrons to come back for the next edition, while the changing cast of cats and dogs keeps each year distinct.