EVERYBODY IS WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND

The craziness has begun! Weekend/late night overtime is happening. I've had the Loverboy tunes a-pumpin' in the office, so you know it's getting real. 

I wanted to share some progress with you lovely interweb people, to eradicate any notions that you think I'm sitting around on my behind munching on nachos (I might also be doing this...). 

The very first project I dabbled in at Informa is now fully underway and due in a week (cue mini scream). The 150-200 page Show Guide is coming together. If you riffle through old pages on this blog, you'll be able to see some of the early stages, if that's of any interest. I put together 30 or so pages today. Luckily I had prepared some of my stylesheets ahead of time! Still lots to be done but for now — here is a sample of some of the sections.

Be well, friends!

THE PRECARIOUSNESS OF OUTCOME

My boss, Christina, recently announced that she was leaving the company. It was very sad news, as we all absolutely loved her. Since we are a team of creatives, and we were all really close to our boss, I thought we should make her a super special gift. Christina also happened to be an incredible library of analogies. The idea came easily. I proposed making a screen printed analogy poster to the team, and the decision was made. I am always looking for an excuse to do some screen printing! 

We came together to compile a list of some of our favourite Christina analogies. Vivien (the other designer) and I worked together to create the poster — selecting the gradient colours, paper, font and typographic arrangement. I went to purchase a larger screen, so I could comfortably make an 11x17" (or larger) print. I had a clear idea of what I wanted and Vivien is an illustrator wiz. We experimented with the colour order in illustrator to get an idea of which sequence would look best for printing. I knew with my small squeegee on a big screen, it would be a wilder outcome than the on-screen rendition. This must be why I also have a penchant for film photography – the unpredictability of outcome. 

The next day we took the screen in to be exposed, ready for printing the following day.  

There was a very small window of time to complete our secret project, but we did it! We really came together as a team to make it happen. Although now I notice there are some kerning errors, which were overlooked as we rushed to get everything done. 

I'm very happy with the outcome (despite the kerning mistakes) and I think she liked her gift very much (hard to tell as she was laughing like crazy upon unwrapping it). Having our own print will be a great way to keep Christina's legacy alive in the office. We really miss her. 

I apologize for not photographing the final piece in the frame, but I have some photos of a few posters (they weren't all winners though). It's certainly not easy printing on your kitchen table. Still fun!   

I look forward to doing more printing and using up the 'slop bucket' of left over colours. 

Photos of the process below:

Funny how the first print is always the clear winner (below)

A SPLASH OF CORPORATE CREATIVITY

I've been having quite a bit of fun creating things at work! The projects I'm currently working on have allowed me to get a little more experimental, which I love!

Of course, in the end it's all about pleasing the client!

The brief was to produce two invites  - one for an Interior Design lecture themed "mixed-use spaces" and another for an Architectural lecture with the theme of "water sustainability in Architecture."
Not the easiest concept to visualize. I really liked the idea of taking elements/textures of a space - or of different spaces and unifying them into one. Composite images seem to be a common output for my work, so I started there. I really liked the outcome, because it was softer and less hectic than the original "swatch" idea. But I was out-voted so we went with the swatch option (see final spreads).

I'm still waiting for content, so these are still a work in progress. I wanted to add some colour, but it had to blend in with the white border around the cover swatches. I really liked the colour combination of grey + turquoise (sampled from one of the swatch images). To blend in with the white, I added a gradient. By accident I applied the gradient to the text, and decided to go with it.  

The turquoise colour was found to be a bit too "feminine" and a white version (without a gradient) was preferred. We also had to fit 5 bios in, so the inside spread layout had to be reconsidered. 

Here is the white version with a more masculine colour (and 5 bios inside).

Next up, we have the Architectural invite with the water theme. The end result was very simple. 

I found a superb stock image (which I will buy tomorrow). The inside spread isn't quite there yet. 

I don't think the current bio arrangement will go over well.  I will post whatever I come up with! 

2013 UK trip negatives

I've finally finished editing my negatives from my recent trip to the UK (London > Glasgow > Isle of Arran > Edinburgh).

 I also had a few leftovers from the music festival in Quebec/general life. Have a look below: