Base Artists

At Base Planners, we're committed to collaborating with and championing local artists working in the community. On this page, you'll discover the incredible talents behind the stunning front cover designs of our planners.

At Base Planners, we believe in empowering artists to create genuine, one-of-a-kind works of art that stand out from the crowd of traditional planner covers. Say goodbye to generic patterns, florals, and love hearts – our planners feature bold, contemporary artwork that reflects the cool teachers in our schools.

If you're a local artist and you're keen to work with us, we'd love to hear from you! Send us an email at support@baseplanners.com.au.

2026 Cover Artist: Justine McAllister

For our 2026 cover design, we were thrilled to collaborate with Naarm/Melbourne-based artist, Justine McAllister.

Justine is a contemporary painter and muralist originally from Ballarat, who is best known for her bold, large-scale murals around Australia.

Her creative reach spans far and wide; she's also designed tour posters for major bands like Pearl Jam and Blink-182, and most recently completed an international residency and exhibition in Japan titled 'Chasing Butterflies'.


Note from the Base team: if you'd love to see Justine's murals for yourself, here are some of the locations:


Victoria:

  • 'Horses & Hounds' - The Pullman Hotel, 265 Little Bourke Street
  • 'Dragon Dreaming' - Laneway next to 190 Barkly St, Footscray
  • 'Wild Things' - Wild Things Food, 230 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North
  • 'Canterbury Garden' - Canterbury Train Station underpass, Canterbury
  • Mr West Bar and Bottleshop, 106 Nicholson Street Mall, Footscray
  • Melbourne Market, Epping
  • Motley Hotel, 205 Bridge Rd, Richmond
  • JC's Quality Foods, Unit 1/1490 Ferntree Gully Rd, Knoxfield
  • Bendigo Bank, North Ballarat
  • MAMAWEST Footscray, 8 Thread La, Footscray


South Australia:

  • 'Reading by the River' - Salvation Army thrift shop, 4 Railway Terrace, Murray Bridge


Queensland:

  • Burleigh Motel


Northern Territory:

  • 'Dessert Rose', West Lane, rear wall of Hilton Darwin, Darwin City

Justine's website

Justine's design: 'Untamed'

Like us, Justine is a big believer in going against the grain of current saturated trends, and was eager to produce a dynamic and engaging cover design that would stand out as an artwork in its own right.

Here’s what Justine had to say about her final concept:

“‘Untamed’ portrays a contemporary and wild tangle of Australiana, incorporating native flora, fauna, and human figures.”

Take me to the untamed planner

2025 Cover Artist: Lynn Bremner

Hi! I am a Scottish illustrator and muralist, based in Melbourne / Naarm, Australia. I love to create bold and colourful images with a focus on fun and intriguing colour palettes and strong compositions. I use my illustrations as a way to spread kindness and positivity through relationships between characters and objects. I have recently worked on packaging, books, murals, editorial illustration and animation.

Note from the Base team: if you live or work in the Bentleigh area of Melbourne, we highly recommend checking out Lynn's incredible mural for the Sacred Heart Mission Op Shop!

Lynn's website

Lynn's 2025 Cover Design

Lynn's cover illustration was designed with teachers in mind. It's designed to stand out from the crowd of traditional teacher planners and offer teachers a product they're proud to carry with them. It's fun and playful whilst still remaining professional.

Each feature in Lynn's illustration playfully references a different subject area in the curriculum. In this design, Lynn pays homage to the incredible work teachers to in bringing learning to life for their students.

Take me to the planner

On the cover, you'll find:

  1. Melpomene (the Muse of Tragedy) and Thalia (the Muse of Comedy) for the Drama Teachers and Directors out there;
  2. A bar of music from Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ for all the wonderful Music Teachers, Conductors and Instrumental Music Teachers;
  3. A woman travelling the world using her language skills and knowledge (a nod to Language Teachers and travellers);
  4. Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer (for the coders and Digital Technology Teachers out there);
  5. Edgar Allan Poe with his famous Gothic raven (a nod to English Teachers and readers);
  6. Rorschach projective psychological test samples (we see you, Psychology Teachers);
  7. Einstein surfing a gravitational wave (we’d never forget Physics);
  8. Plants growing in test tubes (a nod to Biology and Chemistry);
  9. A hammer (a nod to Design and Technologies Teachers);
  10. ‘We Can Do It’ (in reference to the American WW2 wartime poster for the History Teachers out there);
  11. Pythagoras measuring the angles on a triangular slice of pizza (go Maths!);
  12. Matryoshka dolls (in reference to the Russian Revolution for the History buffs out there);
  13. Bees (a nod to Geography).
  14. A carrot and wooden spoon (a nod to Health and Cooking subjects);
  15. A dumbbell, sneaker and basketball (for the ever-multitasking Health and PE Teachers and Sports Coaches).