Design:
Client: Lebanese Canadian Heritage Association, Montreal PQ
Date:
What a well-designed logo! The colour-coded chevrons force the eye into the acronyms and the large midpoint dot fixes the eye into the center of the logo. The end result is a logo that gets literally burns itself into the memory. Solid and bright, this logo demonstrates the powerful legacy of Swiss design and its relevancy for most graphic design treatments, especially logo design.
-Todd Falkowsky
September 6th, 2007
Design:
Client: Artscape
Date: 2007
September 4th, 2007
Design:
Client: Dare
Date:
September 4th, 2007
Design: Walter Nugent
Manufacturer:
Date: 1950′s
A masterpiece work from the self-trained designer. The flat legs and angled reaching arms are reminiscent of tree roots and branches, further emphasized by a spiralling arrangement of parts that animate the work. Minimalist in construction, the result is a piece that is both dynamic and refined.
-Roan John Barrion, Modern Love
September 4th, 2007
Design: Tom Chudleigh
Manufacture: Free Spirit
Date: 2007
Free Spirit Spheres’ suspended spherical tree houses provide low impact, multi-person accommodation amid the tree tops. The idea for spherical tree houses came from a desire to enable people to live in amongst the forests of Vancouver Island without having to tear down the trees first. In effect, the canopy becomes the foundation of a house in lieu of clear cuts and concrete, and the local ecosystem must be preserved to sustain the foundation. Borrowing heavily from boat construction and manufacture, each sphere is constructed in much the same way as a cedar strip canoe or kayak using locally available Sitka Spruce, while the suspension and rigging is similar to that of a sailboat’s mast. Free Spirit Spheres currently has two models constructed and available for rental in the forests of Qualicum Bay, British Columbia.
-John Ryan
September 2nd, 2007
Design: Bruce Mau Designs
Client: Walrus Magazine
Date: 2006
Designed as a cover for Walrus magazine, this work was the visual output of Mau’s article Imagining the Future, where he presents the power of optimism. Available for sale from the Walrus Store.
-Todd Falkowsky
August 31st, 2007
Design: Sheri Wildhagen and David Greig
Manufacture: Wildhagen, Toronto, ON.
Date: 2006
This versatile, unisex hat is from Wildhagen’s Fall/Winter 2006 collection. With its distinctive (and very flattering) short brim and knit detailing that doubles as ear protection on cold days, Krys Cap has become one of their most popular designs. From their small, two person studio, Wildhagen have turned out over 150 of these hats since last year and dozens more were sold through Barney’s New York. Now The GAP has picked up the design for large-scale production, which would be pretty flattering if the mega brand gave Wildhagen any credit for their design. Shame – it’s not only a shady business move but also a missed opportunity: The GAP could easily afford to pay design royalties like everyone else and crediting the designers could be a real brand builder, giving the retailer a lot more fashion cred.
-Michael Erdmann
August 30th, 2007
Design: John Booth and Arounna Khounnoraj
Client/Manufacturer: Bookhou
Date: 2007
August 29th, 2007
Design: unknown (possibly John Furch)
Manufacturer: Altaglass Manufacturing Co./Continental Glass, Medicine Hat
Date: 1950′s / 1960′s
These tall vases were designed for gladioli, a popular flower on the prairies. The bases are heavy so the tall flowers don’t tip. They were mouth blown into molds and produced in a wide range of colours. They were first produced in the 1950s. The vases at the back, with the triangular bases, were actually produced by Continental Glass, which was started in 1961 in Calgary by a craftsman who had worked at Altaglass.
-Mary Coward, Altaglass.ca
August 29th, 2007
Design: Fritz Gottschalk
Client: Canada Post Corporation
Date: 1973
© Canada Post Corporation {1973}. Reproduced with Permission
In 1973 Canada Post celebrated the meeting of the main organizations concerned with the exploration of the earth (The International Geological Congress, the International Geographical Congress, the Congress of the International Society of Photogrammetry, and the International Conference of the International Cartographic Association). This cool modern postage series marks this incredible event and represents the various disciplines in a graphic and descriptive manner that would make Edward Tufte proud.
-Todd Falkowsky
August 28th, 2007
Design: Rad Rowdies
Date: 2007
August 24th, 2007
Design: Claus Gerlach, Terry and Bob Bigsby
Manufacture: Aspenware Inc. Lumby, BC.
Date: 2007
WÜN is intended as an alternative to single-use disposable plastic cutlery. The product is molded from diverted scrap wood (Aspen and Birch), laminated with natural bonders and finished with a confectioners glaze to prevent any slivers. As a result, the cutlery is completely biodegradable. The rigid wood construction also out performs plastic cutlery; this knife actually cuts meat.
Given the energy that goes into harvesting, producing, packaging and shipping products like this, throwing anything away after a single use is obviously not ideal. But, I think it’s safe to say that convenience and disposability are thoroughly ingrained in today’s culture. Designs that embrace this behavior have a much greater probability of consumer acceptance and WÜN’s well-considered design goes a long way to minimizing the impact of our bad habits. Still, the forms are so pleasing it’s tempting to try reusing them.
Incidentally, for those interested in the contributions of ‘non-designers’ in the realm of Canadian design, this product is another nice example; designed and prototyped by three shop teachers working in a home kitchen.
-Michael Erdmann
August 23rd, 2007
Design: Taxi (Art Director – Sam Cerullo)
Client: Canadian Tire
Date: 2007
Last year Canadian Tire was heavily critized for it’s next door neighbour styled campaign. These ads featured a dorky neighbour Ted, who presented his community with an endless dribble of products to improve their lives. Thank you big time to the Taxi agency for bidding farewell to Ted and in updating it with these smart and funny print and TV spots.
-Todd Falkowsky
August 22nd, 2007
Design: Mark Daye
Client:
Date: 2007
Beyond complaints about the rampant eye-guck of the commercial landscape, there are the ubiquitous signs that tell us what to do, so that we can “keep it together” as city dwellers: Signs for traffic flow: one way, don’t enter. Signs for bumps. Signs for parking, no parking, no standing, no stopping. no turning. Be nice. Clear your ice. Signs to the Gardiner, the 401, the DVP, so we can get out of town. Signs to the Art Gallery (in case they ever stop remodeling) and the ROM (in case you still want to go there). And then there’s the old stand by: Don‚Äôt be a litter bug.
This sign, spotted by Graeme Bacque on Baldwin St., just west of McCaul, takes the urban sign outside its banal convention, turning the invocation to keep Toronto clean into a softly-played reproach to all of us, making each of us responsible for the travesty that is homelessness. This is my kind of public art. Thanks to Lucy Costa for circulating it.
-Deb Wise Harris
August 21st, 2007
Design: Charles Thorson (concept: Bas Mason and Vernon Page)
Client: The Toronto Evening Telegraph, City of Toronto and Toronto Police
Date: 1948
Image: courtesy the Canada Safety Council
Elmer the Safety Elephant was created to educate children about road safety. At first, he looked like an ordinary jungle elephant, but Elmer’s simple lessons taught through song and reinforced with a unique flag program, proved to be an extraordinary success. When he first appeared in Toronto in 1947, the incidence of traffic accidents involving children dropped by 44%.
Noted animator and character creator, Charles Thorson designed the Elmer shown here in 1948. Thorson’s ultra cute, anthropomorphic design was so child-friendly that, in time, Elmer became a beloved character nation wide. Today, an updated version of Elmer the Safety Elephant teaches the same valuable lessons (plus one new one) that he first taught sixty years ago.
-Michael Erdmann
For more info about Elmer visit http://www.elmer.ca and check out this great story from the CBC archives.
August 20th, 2007
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