I’m very pleased to announce the launch of the new Secret City Records website. This amazing Montreal-based independent record label hosts a small but incredibly talented roster of artists including Patrick Watson, The Go! Team and Plants and Animals. The site design and build was the result of a fruitful collaboration between LOKi design and Delmarr, featuring some very tight css scripting by Chris Desjardins.

We’re still working out a few kinks and getting all the content in place, but please check it out and let us know what you think. Welcome to our little corner of the web, your ears and eyes will thank you…

James Jean for Prada

Stunningly beautiful illustrative artwork by James jean over at Process Recess. His site is engrossing and I love seeing the process through which his sketches turn into finished works. Seeing his work makes me want to draw a lot more while at the same time gets me asking, “why even bother?” A very, very talented individual…

Also check out his professional portfolio and his collaboration with painter Kenichi Hoshine over at a polite winter.

Mentioned previously on this blog, Oubliette’s cute and sinister skull keychains/magnets are now available through the interweb on the amazing craft site etsy.com. They make the perfect end of winter gift, so please visit her shop and support the indy crafts revolution.

On Oct. 3, 2007, Patti Smith visited Montréal as part of the Pop Montreal Festival and performed a “secret” show/poetry reading accompanied by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra… For a mere 5 bucks, we were witness to an intimate, honest and impassioned performance by the legendary punk princess at the Ukranian Federation. Silver Mt. Zion’s instrumental accompaniment worked beautifully with her words, sometimes billowing into frenetic waves of noise, while at other times just sparkling in the background. Truly kindred spirits at work.

Yesterday I stumbled across the full show downloadable as mp3s on BigO’s ROIO (Recording of Indeterminate Origin of the Week). Needless to say, I was ecstatic and wanted to share…

PS. Silver Mt. Zion will be returning to Montréal to play a show on March 20th at la Tulipe in support of their new album, 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons. Anyone who wants to come by for some pre-Zion drinks, give us a holla…

PPS. Title and image stolen from BigO zine

At the Musicians are Cowards event, John and I were pleased to give an interview for The Wednesday Morning after, a current affairs show broadcast on ckut 90.3 FM. Our interviewer Mike had some great, pointed questions, and we hope you’ll find our answers about design, activism, etc. interesting, educational, or at the very least, entertaining.

Unfortunately, the last few minutes of the interview are really garbled. I’m not sure if they were trying to enact our ideas of dissonant dialogue or if it was a technical foible. Nonetheless…

Download the show here (.mp3) or Stream it (.m3u). Our interview starts 38 minutes in, shortly after Democracy Now (is that crazy or what?). I love you Amy Goodman!

Jason Gillingham (issue 9 contributor) just sent me this beautiful image, composed with rub-down lettering at our launch party.

Critical Engagement Thesis, 2002

In 2002, I wrote and designed this extended essay as part of my Graduate Certificate Degree at Concordia University. Taking cues from literary criticism and political economy, it addresses the interrelation of formal strategies in (graphic) design and their socio-cultural implications, casting a critical eye on design’s central role in fostering a harmful, commodity-based culture.

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