Author Archive

The Impossible Project Nears Completion. No, seriously.

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

I know I’ve posted this is in the past. To my credit, January 1 was supposed to be their launch date. I was as disappointed as anyone when that day rolled around and still no new Polaroid film. However, in 18 short days The Impossible Project is scheduled to hold a press conference in NYC. I’m rubbing my hands in anticipation of what’s to come. In lieu of actual film coming off the press Polapremium issued the last Original Polaroid Film in a Special Edition designed by Paul Giambarba. There are still quite a few left, and the aesthetic is quite nice. If you want to lend me a few hundred to spruce up my home I wouldn’t be opposed.

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A Golden Glow

Monday, March 1st, 2010

While the Olympics may have officially come to a close, this country continues to bask in the glow of 14 gold medals and 1 tremendous Olympic showing. I know the smile has not yet disappeared from the face of yours truly. Having been to Vancouver in July of 2007 for the first time, I felt much a part of the city over the past 2 weeks even from over 2000 km’s away. That’s the beauty of the Olympic games. The tale of Sidney Crosby’s game-winning goal and the heroics of Team Canada will be take on a life of it’s own in the coming weeks, months and years. What I know for sure is that this particular goal was simply the icing on the cake. Long before the most anticipated hockey game of this generation our Canadian athletes had lived up to their hype, shouldered the pressure and made us all very proud. While the debate will continue over the successes, failures and every minute detail in between, I feel the world has seen the best we have to offer. And right now, it warms my heart to be Canadian.

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Photo courtesy of The Last Minute Blog

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Our True (North Strong & Free) Colours

Friday, February 26th, 2010

I’ve been working up to this post for some time now. As an avid (or maybe rabid) Olympics supporter and a general sports enthusiast, I’ve been exceptionally proud of the way Canada has embraced these Olympics and the way our athletes have performed under pressure. I’ve been even more impressed, however, with the way Vancouver has branded itself for these games. Perhaps our success over the past two days (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) has put a little extra glow in my heart, but I can’t help but tip my hat to those responsible for executing the vision for these Winter Games. At first I was only moderately excited at the Vancouver 2010 brand. I perceived it’s vector illustration style as less-than-original. Seeing it’s full execution, however, I’m extremely appreciative of the attention to detail. Look no further than the green-and-blue coloured houses of the curling rinks, Canada Hockey Place with it’s green and blue painted stairs, or the halfpipe’s green and blue markings. The placement of the cameras has been addressed with extreme attention to detail as well. The gates of the downhill events have been carefully planned for impact with the home audience, likewise with the Bobsled track placement of “Vancouver 2010″ on prominent turns and Canada Hockey Place displaying the Olympic rings on top of the net for the camera to broadcast to the public. On top of this, I’ve found the typography to be excellent as well. The type chosen has been clean and clear, with one of the best examples being the numbers on Speed Skater’s helmets. Here are a few examples of branding done well, courtesy of Boston.com.

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Inglorious Artwork

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

This seems like a ton of unreserved fun. A series of artists have created alternate poster art for the film Inglorious Bastards to be displayed at the Upper Playground Gallery in LA. All proceeds will be donated to The American Red Cross to help the victims in Haiti. To top it all off, each print will be signed by Quentin Tarantino himself. What Inglorious fun!

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Matthew-Lyons

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

On the topic of great illustrators, here is another in Matthew-Lyons. Again, this link has been kicking around in pen form in one incarnation or another for some time, but it is completely worth saving.

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Brent Couchman

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

A myriad of topics and artists to blog about have been piling up on my patented monitor-of-sticky-notes for a few weeks now. It seems as though we’ve been just busy enough that I can’t quite put thoughts to paper (or in this case, screen). I can’t remember where I came across Brent Couchman’s illustrations, but he has fantastic work. I love his vintage colour palettes, and his site is perfectly fluid. It’s another great example of simplicity in design.

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The Wooden Sky

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

I had the privilege of attending a show last night at the West End Cultural Centre for The Wooden Sky and headliners Rural Alberta Advantage. If you haven’t listened to The Wooden Sky before, you’re missing out. Great live, great vocals, great songs. Simply put, I like them and I enjoy their cover art.

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It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

We’ve had this little book in our library for some time now. Callum recently took a journey to Scotland, and he brought back with him a pirate’s bounty – in book form. Somehow a few of these books got lost in the shuffle, and it wasn’t until I needed some creative energy this past Tuesday that I discovered “It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be”. The aforementioned book, written by Paul Arden, is an anecdotal look at creative processes. Many of these anecdotes may be obvious, however they are often overlooked in everyday life. I found the book to be the shot in the arm I needed to continue creating and be inspired to do so. I recommend reading the book, as it serves as a reminder that altering your perspective can keep us fresh and help us to continue to progress as individuals.

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Box Office Breakdown

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

This is something I’ve wanted to weigh in on for a long time. This year’s Oscar nominees were announced today, and to no one’s surprise, Avatar was nominated in 9 categories including Best Picture. Now I’m not here to project my opinion on whether or not Avatar is the best picture of the year (it’s not), but rather to draw attention to the misinformation surrounding it’s record-smashing run at the Box Office. Avatar is set to topple James Cameron’s own Titanic as all-time leader in domestic earnings within the week. The numbers, however, are a little skewed. It’s difficult to compare apples to apples in this scenario, as the following 4 films have all been released in different eras under completely different circumstances. The process of promoting a film has undergone dramatic changes with the progression of mass-media campaigns and a smaller global community over the past 70 years. The competition has increased dramatically as well, with the saturation of movies at an all-time high. So for the time being, let’s shed a little light on these films and understand the numbers for what they are.

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Richlu Catalogue Nears Completion

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Another year, another fabulous Richlu catalogue. Last night I spent the better part of 7 hours press-checking this year’s version, and I’m happy to report everything went off without a hitch. Our client liked our Signature-Award-Winning cover design so much we decided to recreate the magic for another year. In lieu of the final printed piece, here’s a tantalizing taste of what’s to come.

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