Creator
Kooky Days is created by Kevin Fish, an independent cartoonist based in Barcelona, Spain, who specialises in hand-drawn cartoons.
Although Kevin studied graphic design, he is a largely self-taught cartoonist who has been drawing cartoons since childhood.
Over time, he has developed a distinctive illustration style that blends classic cartoon influences with modern graphic design principles.
Kevin continues to produce his work using a traditional cartoon art process.
First, he sketches each cartoon by hand using paper and pencil. Next, he carefully inks the drawings with pen to create bold, clean line work.
This hands-on approach ensures that every Kooky Day cartoon illustration maintains the character and energy of classic hand-inked cartoons.
Kevin only uses digital conversion tools for scanning inked artwork, and digital software (like Adobe Photoshop) for editing and colouring the inked cartoons, using a technique called “flatting“.
The idea
The concept for Kooky Days, a daily cartoon calendar, was born in December 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
However, the creative foundations of the project extend much further back and, in fact, inspiration for the cartoon style is based on a cartoon alphabet Kevin developed during his study of graphic design.
And, that was more than 20 years ago!
As a result, Kooky Days represents a creative project that has been over 25 years in the making.
Cartoons
KookyDays.com launched on Friday, 26 December 2025.
A new cartoon calendar illustration will be published each week starting on Thursday, 1 January 2026, to celebrate weird, wacky, and wonderfully kooky days throughout the year.
Credits
Inspiration
Kooky Days draws inspiration from a variety of creative artists and digital products, including:
- the Miniature Calendar photography by Japanese artist, Tatsuya Tanaka
- the playful illustrated typography featured in Google doodles
- the clean, modern branding of the Apple iCloud Calendar, particularly its flat design approach
Calendar references
To research unusual and fun calendar events, Kooky Days regularly references well-known online calendar resources, including:
These sources help inform the ideas behind each illustrated calendar cartoon.
Artificial Intelligence
Alongside illustrating, inking, colouring, and website development, Kevin uses a variety of artificial intelligence tools to support the creative process.
These tools assist with early blog drafts, content structure, idea generation, and cultural references.
Where possible, each Kooky Day post includes a reference or link to the original AI-generated text or image.
- Text: ChatGPT, Claude, Notion AI
- Image: Google’s Nano Banana, ChatGPT Images
Typeface choice
Why use Helvetica?
Apple’s iCloud Calendar uses SF Pro, however Helvetica serves as a close and effective alternative. Its use reinforces the visual connection between Kooky Days and the familiar calendar app aesthetic.
Helvetica’s clean, timeless design also provides a strong foundation for cartoon artwork.
When used in bold weights, its simple letterforms allow the illustrations to interact naturally with the typography while maintaining readability and visual balance.
— Days will get Kooky!