Design: Mario Merola and Pierre Osterrath
Client: STM Montreal Metro
Date:
Photo: Plata Stapper
In 1966, just before Montreal hosted its World’s Fair, Mayor Jean Drapeau ordered that art should be integrated into all the stations of the new metro. Today there are more than 150 sculptures, murals, and mosaics featured throughout the system. The abstract stained-glass window shown here, designed by Mario Merola and Pierre Osterrath, brightens up rush hour for Montreal commuters at Charlevoix. Station.
Design: Racquel Youtzy
Client: Tap Bottle Water
Date: 2009
Like most of us, designer Racquel Youtzy was growing concerned about the inceasing volume of plastic water bottles entering the trash cycle (only 10 percent of bottles make it to blue bin) and wondered about a solution. She designed this wonderful answer, a sensible retro bottle with vintage text and a straightforward stopper that can be refilled over and over (poignant message, given than most bottles water is already from the tap).
Simple for sure, but this is just what the marketplace was missing. With consumer options that feature stocky jock inspired designs and soccer mom graphics, a basic water bottle for daily use is the ideal product. As Youtzy says, “if you want a bottle that can be used on your table during a dinner party, on your desk at work, or even used when you are out shopping the “tap water bottle” is the product that is needed”.
The Petro-Canada glassware campaign exemplifies Calgary’s populist approach to the Olympics. In the lead up to the 1988 Games, Petro-Canada launched an extensive campaign, selling a line of souvenir glassware in support of Canada’s Olympic athletes. The project was a massive sensation, selling more than 50 million glasses – almost double the Canadian population in 1988. Despite this success, the design itself was rather humble. Perhaps this contributed to the accessibility of the campaign, but in the decades that followed the Games, the glasses have become ubiquitous dust collectors. Petro-Canada had significantly lower expectations for the 2010 glass campaign, but this recent television commercial perfectly captures the phenomenon.
