Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I visited an exhibition across the street at the Gladstone Hotel here in Toronto. I made it on the last day. 
The work was done by a company called Doublenaut, who are two local screenprinting designer fellows. Gig promotion posters are their specialty. 
Here's a look at some of the posters they showed. 





The one below is for my favourite designer/collaborator miss Buggins!


I also thought I'd throw in a few recent snaps that were lurking on my camera. These were goodbye cupcakes I made for my boss when she left St. Joseph's. 
My piping kit was a casualty in the decorating. 
The photograph below somewhat depicts the lovely sunsets Canada gets. 



Friday, January 18, 2013

THE UNVEILING OF THE NEW WATTPAD HQ

Last night I attended the Wattpad Open House to see their new headquarters.
Finally I was able to see the outcome of the wall murals that Emilia and I had created and to view the result of Interior Designer Mette Keating's  hard work!
It looked terrific!
I wish I had taken a picture of some of the wallpaper she dressed some of the rooms in.
It was beautiful.

It was a shame she couldn't be in Canada to attend. I was surprised by the magnitude.
I knew the scale in numbers, but to see it in person was quite impressive!

It was a great feeling to witness the positive feedback and to see others taking photographs of our work.
Margaret Atwood even made an appearance! She didn't make it very far past the door, as

Hopefully by sharing the images I took (probably should have used a flash, the lighting wasn't ideal) you will understand how I felt standing there.
I'm quite certain my sleeplessness has effected my photoshop accuracy, but I'm too excited to delay this post.









Tuesday, January 8, 2013

THE HAPPY SHOW

Stefan Sagmeister is brilliant. I've been slowly reading & re-reading his book "MADE YOU LOOK" for a countless number of months. I love that his work is always so personal, emanating subtle but potent pearls of wisdom to inspire. I also happen to dig his handwriting.

Through my wonderful design mentor Megan Oldfield (of Coolaide Design), I had the opportunity to attend the opening party for The Happy Show in Toronto this evening. Megan took on the colossal task of designing the exhibition and did a phenomenal job.

Stefan Sagmeister spoke briefly during the introduction, but made himself available to the crowd to answer questions and be engaged in conversations. I had to psych myself up to speak to him. It was difficult to catch him with innumerable interceptions by other attendees, plus I was hesitant to interrupt his eating of a hot dog. I was nervous. I approached him at the bar, grinning like a fool and fumbling my words. He immediately shook my hand, and was quite surprised when he asked me questions. The queries I rehearsed in my head were forgotten, and I only managed to crack out two:

What advice do you have for a newbie in the design industry?
If I were trying to attain a job at your studio, how could I impress you?

He told me he would be looking for something new, a service or skill that his company didn't already possess. Of course good ideas were a major factor. It was 50% good ideas and 50% personality and how well you mesh with the existing team.

What I wanted to ask him, if my nerves hadn't dominated the conversation, was whether he had a certain place where he tended to derive inspiration, and if he had any tips on obtaining confidence in one's work, whether that was something meant to be innate, or required work.

I still cannot believe he shook my hand!

The party offered guests unconventional carnival snacks (hot dogs, popcorn and candy) and an impressive selection of beverages. The special Happy cocktail was delicious.

The exhibition itself was very much Sagmeister. Filled with cute and quirky anecdotes, facts and observations. It fulfilled it's purpose. I was left contemplating the contents of my life and weighing them against my level of happiness.

My favourite aspect of the show were the hidden illustrations on existing fixtures and the interactivity of installations,  particularly the "suggestion" card machine (you will see my result below later). Upon entering/exiting the exhibition, there is a wall with an encased button that reads "PUSH BUTTON" and "take ONE" pertaining to a card that emerges.

Please excuse my terrible iPhone photography, I'm not sure what compelled me to leave all decent cameras at home.



This photo (below) I am only including to illustrate the atrocious zoom on the iPhone. Not impressed Apple! 



Yes, that is my thumb in the image below. 

















(But I came home and wrote this instead)


The Happy Show did indeed make me happy. However, it was more the warmness of Mr. Sagmeister that accomplished this than the exhibition itself (there was a disclaimer at the entrance, see 5th photo from the top). I am almost ready to rescind the belief that interesting design opportunities and experiences are not possible in Canada. Almost.

I am back to work at St. Joseph Media tomorrow, and potentially for the next couple of weeks. I had a surge of inspiration and progress in my portfolio redesign after perusing Jessica Walsh's website. Hopefully the momentum will continue and I will have something to post on that in the near future!

I have booked a trip back to London for February and I absolutely cannot wait! I feel as though as soon as my feet reach English soil, my veins will be flooded with radical creativity.


Thursday, January 3, 2013

2012 on FILM

It has been some time since I posted some of my photographs. My cameras have been collecting dust. I had two rolls of film (Fuji Pro 800z and Kodak E100vs) that were both sitting at 25 exposures in the Oly OM10 with a dead battery, and in the Canon AE-1. Itching to delve into some creative pursuit, I decided to take the film to be developed. Here are my favourite images from the rolls, taken between April and December 2012.

















Enter Kodak E100vs: