To those who didn't believe me when I said that I force myself to do annual un-Christmassy Christmas cards every year because I don't draw enough... this is my first post in almost a year, haha!
Showing posts with label cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cards. Show all posts
12.19.2015
2015 holiday card
To those who didn't believe me when I said that I force myself to do annual un-Christmassy Christmas cards every year because I don't draw enough... this is my first post in almost a year, haha!
12.13.2014
5.11.2014
2.14.2014
12.24.2013
11.29.2013
#6DEGREES
When I first read about Light Grey Art Lab's 6 Degrees project, my gut reaction was to do something related to what I still (and will probably always) consider home:
Saint-Louis, a small sleepy Acadian village on the East coast of New Brunswick:
But... I've been living in the Toronto area for the past seven years now. First for school, then for work.
Still, I can't quite bring myself to call Toronto home. Is it the fact that I lived in a rural area all my life? Is it because I have zero family in a 1500 kilometer radius? Is it that Lake Ontario will never be able to replace the Atlantic Ocean and its salty breeze? It it because, although I have access to an amazing diversity of cultures (the films, the food, AMAZING!) I can't have a daily conversation with someone in my native French?
(And no, Rob Ford doesn't help.)
My relationship to Toronto? It's complicated.
Much like my feelings about the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) and specifically, its streetcars.
The good:
Good, right? Well...
Toronto, like much of North America, doesn't have the best track record when it comes to historical landmarks. The tear-it-down-and-re-build mentality usually wins over consistent restoration work.
A lesser known victim to this attitude is the Toronto Transit Commission's custom designed typeface. The TTC font is absolutely beautiful, but its usage has become somewhat chaotic over the years. With extensive renovations at some stations, it becomes obvious that typography is the last thing on people's minds. For example, the Rosedale subway station's name is incorrectly displayed in Univers:
This only gets noticed by a handful of people since, as was the case with the people in charge of renovations, typography isn't exactly the first thing on the common commuting Torontonian's mind.
Saint-Louis, a small sleepy Acadian village on the East coast of New Brunswick:
 |
| http://www.saint-louis-de-kent.info |
But... I've been living in the Toronto area for the past seven years now. First for school, then for work.
Still, I can't quite bring myself to call Toronto home. Is it the fact that I lived in a rural area all my life? Is it because I have zero family in a 1500 kilometer radius? Is it that Lake Ontario will never be able to replace the Atlantic Ocean and its salty breeze? It it because, although I have access to an amazing diversity of cultures (the films, the food, AMAZING!) I can't have a daily conversation with someone in my native French?
(And no, Rob Ford doesn't help.)
My relationship to Toronto? It's complicated.
Much like my feelings about the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) and specifically, its streetcars.
The good:
 |
| http://peterfromtexas.tumblr.com/ |
- Public transit... YAY! The environmentalist in me love that Toronto has such a huge network of public transit options. See the above GIF.
- The Toronto streetcars are quite emblematic since most North American cities have phased out their streetcar systems.
- The cheerful ding-ding! of a passing streetcar never gets old.
The bad:
- Unreliable. If you have to take a streetcar somewhere, you can bet you'll be late. This is actually a gridlock problem, but the streetcar's dependance on a single lane of tracks is a huge disadvantage.
- The inside of the average streetcar will more often than not smell like a gross wet dog.
- They get packed. Tight.
But alas, the iconic Red Rockets have reached the end of their service life and are about to be upgraded. More train-like than streetcar, the newer models are much sleeker and longer:
 |
| http://torontoist.com/ |
Toronto, like much of North America, doesn't have the best track record when it comes to historical landmarks. The tear-it-down-and-re-build mentality usually wins over consistent restoration work.
A lesser known victim to this attitude is the Toronto Transit Commission's custom designed typeface. The TTC font is absolutely beautiful, but its usage has become somewhat chaotic over the years. With extensive renovations at some stations, it becomes obvious that typography is the last thing on people's minds. For example, the Rosedale subway station's name is incorrectly displayed in Univers:
 |
| http://joeclark.org/ |
This only gets noticed by a handful of people since, as was the case with the people in charge of renovations, typography isn't exactly the first thing on the common commuting Torontonian's mind.
As ambivalent I am about calling Toronto home, I'm alternatively happy that Toronto will be getting an upgraded streetcar system and already a bit nostalgic about what is about to become the old Rocket.
So! In an effort to make myself a bit more at home in Toronto, I went with an urban theme for my 6 Degrees postcard and support some local artisans in the process. The card uses the painstakingly recreated TTC font by David Vereschagin, Toronto Subway(tm) Regular, and was risographed at Colour Code Printing by Jesjit Gill.
Check out Light Grey Art Lab's online shop if you'd like a postcard or print!
So! In an effort to make myself a bit more at home in Toronto, I went with an urban theme for my 6 Degrees postcard and support some local artisans in the process. The card uses the painstakingly recreated TTC font by David Vereschagin, Toronto Subway(tm) Regular, and was risographed at Colour Code Printing by Jesjit Gill.
Check out Light Grey Art Lab's online shop if you'd like a postcard or print!
11.21.2013
10.29.2013
postcard peeks!
No bird again yesterday (sorry!), I was busy getting my first ever risographed postcards back! Signed and numbered, they're ready to be shipped to Light Grey Art Lab for their 6 Degrees show/care packages.
Stay tuned!
7.11.2013
floods & handsome ransoms
I picked up the latest issue of UPPERCASE magazine yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see that my little handsome ransom made it to print! "Barefeet in a heartbeat", my life motto :)
***This is a really nice time to support your local/indie peeps!***
Jeanine, the editor of UPPERCASE, got affected by the Calgary floods - so if you've never picked up the magazine, get on it! Read more here.
AND!! If you're in the Toronto area, you can pick up UPPERCASE at Type Books in Toronto. Their Queen W. basement (and the stock kept down there) unfortunately got affected by Monday's freak rain storm and floods. But the store itself is up and running so please go give them some love!
2.14.2013
12.24.2012
11.28.2012
corus quay marketplace 2012
We had a special marketplace event at work today where artisans could sells goodies! The good people of Kids Can Press were also part of the party, and there was a bake sale, gift wrapping, and we sold cards on behalf of a handful of Nelvana artists. Can you recognize anyone's work?
On the photo above, you can catch sneak peeks of work by Sunita Balsara, Ben Hu, myself, Lettie Lo, Halya Mychaskiw, Mike Shiells, Rachel Chalk, Ron Pitts, Eduardo Espinoza (where's your blog, Eddy?), Jason Groh, and Kirk Jorgensen!
I also had some of my fancy pants screen printed greeting cards on sale - handmade with ♥!
11.19.2012
12.18.2011
12.16.2011
christmas card exploration
The final thing's done, but I'm thinking of still waiting a bit before posting it up here. How does December 24th sound?
3.12.2008
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