Newest Work

How to be French: Logo Design

To kick off the year I’d like to show you How to be French en Alberta! How to be French is the latest documentary series from Productions Loft, an Edmonton-based production company; last year they made The Secret Life of Pianos, also featuring a logo I designed. The new How to be French series highlights Francophone Albertans and their stories from growing up French in the West. The film is currently in production, and once again, my role was to make a title logo!

Marie and Steve, Production Loft owners, wanted a modern-looking logo that they could use to market the series while it was in production. It needed to be minimal enough to overlay on various photo and footage backgrounds.

How to Be French is about connection and communities/cultures intertwining. I reflected that in the logo by having the words overlap (bit of a pun with “en” being inside of the other words). The tight layout is also meant to convey a sense of intimacy, as the series is showcasing real individuals and revealing a bit of their day-to-day lives.

A little fleur-de-lis inside a wild rose adds some interesting contrast to all the straight lines and letters. We figured it could also be used on its own here and there as a signature icon. Another little visual pun: the fleur is inside the wild rose, ie, French in Alberta.

Can’t wait to see this beautiful series and peek inside the lives of our French community!

Jazzy Block Prints

This month I embarked on some printmaking as part of an Indiegogo campaign. These are my latest attempts at block printing, which is like stamping if you made your own stamps.

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The process is pretty simple: you carve an image into super-soft rubber (though you can get blocks made of much harder material, the soft rubber is meant for beginners), apply ink with a roller, then stamp. Try to remember that your stamped image will be in reverse. Which I failed to do at first:

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But got it right eventually!

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My goal was to make some fun prints that are now part of a fundraiser. Local dance company/family business Sugar Swing is crowdfunding to build a ballroom in Edmonton that’s dedicated to jazz dance and music. So it was appropriate for the prints to have a jazz theme!

Swing Brother Swing and Shout Sister Shout are both swing dance tunes. I loved the symmetry of these two phrases. Also, it was nice to to have repeat words, because carving the letters was super tricky.

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It took a number of practice stamps and ruined prints before I was satisfied with the reproduction. Stamping was not as straightforward as I expected! The ink doesn’t coat the stamps consistently, and you have to be careful with how much pressure you’re applying to the stamp. But I do like the gritty look and texture overall.

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These prints are for sale on Indiegogo! If you’d like to buy one, or learn more about Edmonton’s newest ballroom and live music venue, check out our Indiegogo page.

Curitus.org Logo Design

I recently worked on a very special logo project for Curitus International — and am really happy to show off the results!

Curitus is a consulting company that helps NGOs become more effective and more efficient in their important and challenging work. It began as a one-time trip (or so they thought) to Southern Iraq to help an NGO get its new school off the ground. This trip had a profound impact on the founders, who now offer strategic reviews, professional development, and creative support to non-profits all over the world.

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My task was to make a logo for this company that captured the care, innovation, and international perspective of the team. Curitus also wanted a more modern look that reflected a reinvigorated approach to this field of consulting.

Out of a few concepts, this was the winner: a lantern resting on a stand, which carries the positive connotations of hope and progress. The style of the lamp is meant to look like a globe, referencing internationalism and travel; it’s also meant to look more like a lamp you’d see outside of Western culture. The red colour is symbolic of aid, and the lamp stand also makes a C shape which was a subtle nod to company name. This approach was meant to reassure audiences with a recognizable symbol while still looking modern.

Working with Curitus was a unique experience for me. I had a glimpse into the world of those who live to help others — and a look at the kind of warm, wise folks who ensure that those who care don’t burn out.

Learn about Curitus on their website, curitus.org.

“Grab Life” Typographic Illustration

What I did this summer! Among other projects, I made a fun typographic illustration for the Town of Devon. It was printed on some swag items and used to promote active living in the town. Devon proposed the typographic approach, and it grew further out of this magazine design for their summer guide. They provided me with the activities and places, and my little doodles helped show off these amenities. It was a collaborative development! Here’s what the overall design looks like:

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And here’s its appearance on a tote bag:

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It also landed on the back of t-shirt. Did you know there was all this stuff to do in Devon?

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Custom Illustrated Keds Shoes, Summer Edition

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This summer I had the chance to illustrate another pair of custom Keds shoes! This time I worked with Chris from Vancouver; like the previous pair, the shoes were a gift from a thoughtful boyfriend to his girlfriend.

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Lucky for me, Chris brought a really fun idea to the table! He wanted the shoes the feature the above kitty, which accompanies him and Kaylie on their travels and features in some of Chris’ photos of famous landmarks. I mocked up some ideas, ran them by Chris, and started pencilling in the design:

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Kaylie’s a fan of wine, coffee, and music, so those elements became part of the design too. Chris was so kind as to take some awesome photos for me (you can certainly tell which one is mine). He’s a professional photographer, and you can check out his work here.

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custom-keds3 Another fun project I was sad to finish — but then it’s really exciting to send the shoes off their their new owner! If you want to jazz up your own Keds shoes, give me a shout.

Summer Sketch Dump

Drawing is one of my favourite things to do, and I’ve been pretty good about keeping up with it over the last few months. Here’s a peek at some at some of the sketches I’ve made between projects:

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I discovered that it rain sideways in Newfoundland, and had to document the experience. On the right is me making do with a Cranapple lip liner crayon when I have nothing else on hand to colour with.

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Here I experimented with Scandinavian-style geometric design, but with a rural Alberta twist. And to wrap things up, some honest reflections:

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The Secret Life of Pianos

I’m very excited to show you my first film-related project! Below is the box art for a new documentary in the making called The Secret Life of Pianos.

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This film is a gorgeous, emotional, and quirky look into the world of Edmonton’s piano tuners. I’d gush more about the subject, but the film’s not done yet and I don’t want to give anything away!

The Secret Life of Pianos is being produced by local film company Productions Loft, owned by my clients Marie-France Guerrette and Steve Jodoin. Check out some of their beautiful work over here. Their film is supported by Telus, Edmonton Arts Council, and the City of Edmonton and will be released on Telus Optik.

My role has been to make a logo and box art for the film, plus supporting graphics including supers and end credits. With the logo, I went for a balance between elegance and quirk; this was important because the film highlights the eccentricities of a very niche industry. The result is genteel but not perfectly polished. I was absolutely spoiled for this one: producers Marie-France and Steve provided me with stunning interior shots of pianos to work with. If you’ve never seen the inside of a piano, it’s mesmerizing.

One of the best things about this project is that I’m working with my friend Krystal Moss, a brilliant film editor. I’ve seen some rough cuts and they’ve made me want to squeal! I have tremendous respect for her ability to draw out the gems hidden in countless hours of footage, and then weave them all into compelling stories.

Another special note about this project is the number of women behind it. I’ve heard that having a female producer, editor and designer is quite a rarity in Alberta’s film industry! My whole team — Marie, Steve, and Krystal — has been wonderful to work with. It was my first experience with the film industry, and learning about it from these warm people meant a lot to me.

Stay tuned for the film’s release date!

Sketchy Summer Guide

Summer’s approaching! In a couple months. But it’s never too soon to start planning your summer.

I recently completed work on the town of Devon’s summer program guide! This will be the third year I’ve designed this fun publication. The 2016 guide was a little extra special to me because I got to make some hand-drawn doodles for the cover and inside:

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The guide goes out to town residents so they can start registering for summer programs and be informed about town events. As for one’s heartstrings, the guide is meant to inspire summer nostalgia. Residents are encouraged to remember the sprinklers, popsicles, and sidewalk chalk of childhood — and create new memories by being active and outside. Devon included a summer to-do list, where my doodles made another appearance. As someone who can’t stray too far from modern amenities, I think a backyard campout sounds perfect.

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All Stocked Up With Edmonton

Do you enjoy making sarcastic and/or saucy greeting cards? Then there might be a big opportunity for you!

Normally I like to talk about the more hidden places in Edmonton, and you already know about Whyte Ave’s Chicken Scratch. What you may not know is that the store is working toward carrying almost entirely Edmonton-made products! That’s something I’d expect to see in Portland — not from an oil town. But it just goes to show how many amazing artists and creatives reside in this city. Just look at these dog bowties:

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Of particular interest to me, a paper nerd, is this other local company, The Collective Scribble. They make handmade journals out of all sorts of paper media. I used to do bookbinding, so these tugged at my heart.

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But really, what draws most people to Chicken Scratch are their totally inappropriate greeting cards. Last I chatted with them, they had not found an Edmonton-based supplier. Maybe it’s you! Get some friends together, throw in a bottle of wine, and make some pretty cards that let us tell each other how we really feel.

Or, make a postcard of your neighbourhood and add it to the Edmonton postcards section. Buy local, everyone!

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Talking Shop at NAIT

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Last week was a fascinating trip to the past and look at the future, as I had the privilege of giving a talk at NAIT! I was in their Graphic Communications program, and my instructors wanted an alumni to come in and speak to the students about their time in the industry. It was a really great experience, and I loved sharing a bit of insight — and hopefully encouragement — on what a graphic design career is like. Also speaking was Brad Clark, an expert on printing and prepress who helped me properly set up many tricky print designs in my early years.

For my talk the students were encouraged to jump in with questions at any time, and it was interesting to note what they really cared about. While I could speak on working at a marketing company and publishing company, the students were by far most interested in my freelance business. After mentioning this to another friend who freelances, we’re wondering if this is a Millenial thing — this generation is more interested in striking out on their own than working for a company. Without bumming them out I tried to say that going into freelance straight out of school would be kind of brutal.

Preparing for the talk had me doing a lot of reflection. For one thing, I’m more appreciative of my earlier experiences and that there was room and grace for screw-ups at my first job. But I also made a few observations on what’s changed about the industry over the last 10 years, and what hasn’t.

What’s Changed…

Graphic design as a product, not a service. You can buy the files for a pre-made logo or web design, and while it won’t meet all your needs, maybe it’ll be good enough. This was not always a thing! Graphic design used to be a service only, and you consulted with someone to get just the right product.
Critical thinking has become…critical. Because people can buy design as a product, it’s no longer good enough that a graphic designer can assemble shapes into an appealing visual. That can be outsourced now. To succeed in the business designers must think about how to make the audience feel and do something. In the past this might have been the job of the Art Director, but most companies don’t have those. And when you hire me, only part of what you’re paying is going toward my ability to make a pretty picture! To find out what else you’re paying for, you’ll have to read my post about it, heh.

What Hasn’t Changed…

Educating people about the value of your service. Sadly, designers and other creatives get asked to work for dirt cheap or free with alarming frequency. Personally, the mindset I encounter is that creativity=fun, and therefore your job is always fun. But creativity is a kind of work mode, and it’s only a part of what we offer.
There’s still a need for print design! What?? Ten years ago people thought a paperless world was right around the corner, but it hasn’t arrived yet. We’re getting there, but it’s an even slower process than we imagined.
Everybody’s writing a children’s book. You know who you are, my lovelies. And who wouldn’t want to write a kids’ book! I’ve just noticed that it seems to be on everyone’s bucket list.