The above photograph, taken just prior to Eric Drooker’s performance at the mighty Sala Rossa, does a pretty good job of summarising my feelings on the year that’s been, and my outlook for the one to come. The anticipation of an empty stage, the co-mingling of art, music and politics, and that damn nagging fear that people won’t show up, no matter how much work you put into something. In the end, that night was a beautiful night, but also a striking reminder of how much work still needs to be done.

2011 was an eventful, tumultuous year, personally, professionally, and obviously in the world all around us, filled with equal parts inspiration and tragedy. It was a year of transition for me, from full-time work to self-employment, from the world of corporate advertising and design to a renewed commitment to art and activism, from a long, grey heartbreak to finally feeling good about myself again, from Montréal to Europe (Berlin, how I miss you…) and back again.

Over the course of the year, I completed many design projects of which I am genuinely proud (e.g. see Cinema Politica, Comme des machines, Vox Versus, Bloom, and Cosmodome). With the Howl! Arts Collective, I helped to bring challenging new music to the community, putting on a series of concerts that I hope will become an integral part of the fabric of the independent arts scene here in Montreal for years to come.

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An early Christmas present from Barcelona-based design studio Atipus! They’re offering a free download of Blanch, a beautiful modular typeface that balances 50s modernism with a unique contemporary flair. Blanch was designed for the striking visual identity of organic fruit business Fruita Blanch, which you can check out here.

Thanks guys, I’m looking forward to using Blanch in future projects. Download the Blanch font family here.

Found via David Airey.

UPDATE: Blanch has just been released by the amazing Lost Type Co-op, which features a slew of stylish pay-what-you-can typefaces.

Vision Diversité came to us looking for a visual design for their musical project Arometis that would embody the diversity of the 17 Montreal musicians and composers that collaborated on the album.

Looking to move away from the stereotypes and clichés of the world music genre, we used scans of old wood type lettering, ink splatters and a unique colour palette to reflect the vibrancy of the music, paired with restrained and nuanced supporting typography. The art direction of the CD packaging has been extended across all platforms, giving a cohesive identity to this unique project that weaves musical styles, and musicians, together.

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We don’t often do this on here, but I wanted to share with you a recent poem by Vincent Tinguely, a long-standing ally and friend. It beautifully captures where my heart and mind are at these slow, wintery, Montréal days…

ONE

The swing dance of
The car plants
Bodies interpose themselves
Between arc welded parts
Crashing crushing
Crescendos of consciousness
Swinging through feverish
Interlocking machinery

Electronics and tooled machine parts
Send signals in syncopation
Audience receives the shock wave
And dances

Pyramid schemes
Men at the top
Control a few men who
Control a few more men who
Control a few more men who
Control a few more men who
Know nothing but what they are told

So they invade your country
Or they break your arm
With a police baton

Something in me wouldn’t click
The grain of sand in the gears
Never pulling my weight
I could never fit
In the clack clack machine racket
Flowing through
Work and
War

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As part of its project entitled Promiscuous Infrastructures, the Artivistic collective invites submissions for the second phase of the project, which will take place from March 9 to April 14, 2012, at Skol, an artist-run centre in Montréal.

What Artivistic is up to
Artivistic is currently in the research-creation phase of a publication tentatively entitled Promiscuous Infrastructures: experiments in art + information + activism. Rooted in the work of Artivistic’s friends, allies, and past participants, the publication sets its sights on “autonomous infrastructures” by looking at radical education & the production of knowledge, intergenerational support systems, as well as sustainable financing.

For Phase 2, we will set up a temporary printing workshop at Skol. This intervention is meant to collectively visualize our concern, obsession perhaps, with what lies behind art, activism and knowledge production: (1) the ways in which we relate to each other, (2) organise to work together, and (3) the conditions in which things are being done. In other words, we are asking:

How do we build value in affective relationships?
How do we organise for that (models, processes, strategies)?
How do we in turn outstretch these in the long-term?

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The Cosmodôme is Canada’s only world-class museum devoted entirely to astronautics and space exploration. In advancing it’s mission to “stimulate the interest of the young… to space science, scientific literacy and careers related to the world of astronautics”, the museum is engaging in a massive overhaul of its philosophy and infrastructure, highlighted by the development of three interactive ‘missions’, projecting the visitor into the role of engineer and cosmonaut.

This overhaul includes a stellar (pun-intended) brand platform developed by Parallèle, and in partnership with BBDO/Proximity Canada, I was in charge of the art direction for the new Cosmodôme website.

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