As I was going through my archives tonight, I realised I had never properly posted about this small pamphlet we produced and distributed back in 2008. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the new directions I want to take the magazine in (and the 2356 project generally), and this is a telling touchstone from the past to some of these ideas.

The pamphlet is a transcript of the speech delivered by cultural critic Brian Holmes at the Democracy in America exhibition, presented by Creative Time in New York in 2008. In it he compellingly argues for artists to engage with the radical opportunities presented by the financial crisis. A message as relevant today as it was then.

I first met Brian as part of the Declarations of Interdependence and the Immediacy of Design conference at Concordia University almost ten years ago. It was a heady time for me, with a lot of thinking about the relationship between design, art and activism. As a decade since then rounds out, I find myself thinking deeply about this again, and the position I’m now in to enact those ideas. So, many thanks Brian, for inspiring me in the first place, and allowing us to publish this important work!

Download Financial Crimes by Brian Holmes.

In Bb 2.0 is a collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls, and developed with contributions from users.

A simple idea, perfectly executed, beautiful and relevant… This project gives me some interesting ideas for the future development process of the Fugue. Could a similar approach be applied to collaborative poetry and its typographic expression?

Bloom Digital Platforms is a Montreal-based online advertising technologies company. Having worked with the team before while at Cossette, I was happy to have the opportunity to develop their brand identity and website. They’re some of the smartest people I know, and who doesn’t love smart clients…

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Poster design in collaboration with Kirsten McCrea

Four Minutes to Midnight is excited to co-present the second Howl! concert, featuring saxophonist Jason Sharp, harp duet Sarah Pagé and Robin Best, and a quartet lead by Nick Kuepfer. The Howl! concert series highlights and celebrates Montreal’s fiercely independent arts communities and the strong ties they share with social justice struggles here and abroad.

The concert takes place next Thursday, March 24th, at the beautiful Sala Rossa, advanced tickets are only 5 bucks and available at the usual fine record stores/venues.

More information on the facebook event page.

UPDATE: Stefan talks with Vince about the musicians and ideas behind the Howl! concert series on CKUT.

I designed this typographic poster at the request of my good friend Sarah Boris, for SoUp (East London) and Joiners Arms “Make Soup Not War” exhibition/event at Cordy House. Given the theme, I was inspired by the revolutions happening in North Africa and the Middle East and decided to pay tribute with this design.

I’d been looking for an occasion to use Non-format’s Otto typeface for a while, and it does most of the work here, paired with a few well chosen words and a heart-felt sentiment. The A3 posters were beautifully Risograph printed by London’s Ditto Press.

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I had been meaning to write a post about my obsession with typography for a while now, as I feel it’s something I’ve neglected on this site, but unfortunately I still haven’t found the time. Then I discovered Sam Winston‘s beautiful, poetic, obsessive, intelligent and meticulous art work. Winston’s explorations mirror a lot (if not all) of my interests in type and language, but his execution is far more exacting, patient, and painstaking I imagine.

I’ll save my intended post for another time, there’s certainly much more to say, but for now, enjoy Sam’s work.

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Our project Imaging Apartheid is featured in this week’s Arts and Culture show on CUTV. Also in this episode a great feature on Concordia’s Co-op Bookstore and some amazing and inspiring footage from the revolution happening in Egypt.

Thanks CUTV! I really need to learn to speak slower on camera!