Author Archive

Match Made in Heaven

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

First of all, I love all things vintage. Vintage packaging, however, is my absolute achilles heel. I find it rather serendipitous that I stumbled onto a fantastic collection of vintage European matchbooks this morning a few months in advance of our journey to Europe this fall. My fiance and I are already small time collectors of matchbooks (among other things) and I find myself constantly amazed at the simple solutions artists and designers alike are able to fit on such a small amount of real estate. Truly graphic design in its purest form. If you like matchbooks, here’s a little video by Navigators I found sometime late last week which fits nicely into the “match” theme.

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Pittsburgh-er w/ Fries

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

I’ve now been back from my stag in Pittsburgh for almost a full week, and I think I’ve finally recovered. But let me tell you, this is more than just a clever headline folks, it’s a way of life in Pittsburgh! Fries, fries and more fries! “You want fries with that?” does not come with a question mark in the city known as Steeltown. Let me set the plate for you: A group of 7 guys (including myself) spent 3 days in Pittsburgh this past week celebrating the end of my life as they know it. While dodging from restaurant to restaurant, we were more than a little perplexed at the way they heap fries on, in, and around your food. The most extreme example came when we tried to order healthy one afternoon at a Greek restaurant. I asked for a grilled salmon salad, thinking I’d beat their system. Boy was I wrong. My salad consisted of one layer of lettuce, one heaping layer of fries, topped off with a large hunk of (delicious actually) salmon. Can anyone say “inevitable heart-attack?” Conclusion: good city, bad food, great times.

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Wedding on Fire!

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Now obviously I’m not a copy-writer, and I certainly hope our wedding this coming June does not catch fire, but I’m more than proud to announce that our wedding invites have made their way onto the Studio on Fire blog – Beast Pieces! I decided I am so proud that I’d attempt a little cross-blog-pollination by posting our invites to this blog as well! (photos courtesy of Studio on Fire) Now you can get all the printing details at Beast Pieces for yourself, but I’ll mention that this job was described to me as a “nightmare on press” for it’s registration demands and large areas of solid colour. Good thing we had nothing but faith in the talented staff at Studio on Fire, and now, nothing but praise!

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Sig Vicious

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Until today I’d never heard of Siggeir M. Hafsteinsson, AKA Sig Vicious. Sig combines pop culture icons, among other subjects, with wild and sometimes unpredictable colour combinations and a somewhat disturbing compositional style. His work gave me an immediate longing for my seemingly more idealistic college days and reminded me a lot of my own stylistic leanings in what seems like a lifetime ago. The following images are part of his incredibly vivid Halftone Series.

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Spring Has Sprung

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Well, perhaps it hasn’t sprung just yet, but it certainly feels like it’s about to. As our weather continues it’s unseasonably warm trend I think it’s appropriate to divulge a sneak peek at our about-to-launch Garden City Shopping Centre spring campaign. Not all of the photoshoots for this campaign had the same characteristics. Some items were large, and some items were very small. Some had challenges in maintaining light quality, others with positioning, and of course – photoshopping. In the end, we certainly had a lot of fun completing the final design, and we’re very pleased to make them public. If you’re in Winnipeg, be sure to look up to blue skies in the warm days ahead and you’re sure to spot these fun billboards.

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Letterheady

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Donna sent me this link the other day with the subject “More of a Tyler blog.” How right she was. Letterhead isn’t something I’ve held close to my heart before, quite often I view it within a certain lens and approach it from a clean, informative angle. There are some gems, however, on the Letterheady Blog that make me want to re-investigate my thinking.

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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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