Saturday September 18th 2010, 7:40 pm
Filed under: portfolio
The last major project I completed at Cossette was a complete overhaul of the Germain Group’s boutique hotel websites. Starting with the new hotel at Maple Leaf Square in Toronto, the design was quickly being rolled out to the rest of their hotels (Germain Calgary | Germain Dominion).
The sites feature luxurious full-screen photography, seamless integration of google maps and a concierge page that advises users on events and nearby attractions. As always props to my former team, and to our client who bought into the concept right from the get go. As I leave my day job for an uncertain (albeit exciting) future, this is a very nice project to leave with.
We’re very excited (freaked actually!) to present Uncle Bad Touch‘s first Montreal show, with guests Desert Owls and Griefer, this Friday night at La Sala Rossa. The show is a fundraiser to help us put out our next issue which is very nearing completion (also very exciting after a year and a half of hard work!).
So please come on out and show four minutes some love, these bands really rock, and it’s going to be a kick-ass night to remember (or not)!
For those that know me personally, Sept. 3rd will also mark my very last day at Cossette. I’ve decided to leave the day job behind to focus on teaching and my own projects. More on that soon, but for now it’ll be another good reason to celebrate!
On Friday, I received my much anticipated copy of Ruud Linssen’s Book of war, mortification and love in the mail. Published by one of my favourite typefoundries, Underware, the book, which consists of a collection of personal essays on the concept of “voluntary suffering”, also acts as a type specimen for their Blackletter typeface Fakir.
The book is beautifully designed and crafted, which is not a surprise given the quality of Underware’s work. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Fakir reads as a text face though, since I had always considered it a bit of a playful display typeface. Even more impressive is how well it sits in such a serious and sombre context, accentuating the darkness of the essays with its jagged edges.
To make up for the negativity of the previous post and the recent lack of activity on this site, please enjoy this series of lovely murals by Steve Powers in Philadeplhia. Much love!
Last weekend, I was in Toronto to protest the G20 summit and the now all too obvious emergence of a full-out police state in Canada. During most of the weekend, and especially during the evening jail solidarity demonstration, I was fortunate to be with friends far more reasonable than myself, and I owe them a debt of gratitude for keeping me out of trouble, out of jail. Considering what I’ve now seen and read, my weekend was spent in relative safety and I left Toronto unscathed and unharrased. The same cannot be said for many friends, comrades and random passers-by.
Much has been written, recorded and revealed over the last week. Many disgusting and disturbing things about the excessive force exerted by the police/state. The assault on basic democracy and civil rights. It’s a disservice to gloss over it, but also rather pointless for me to address here. Do the (easy) research yourself and see how much you can stomach.
Imaging Apartheid, a project I’ve been working on for the last few months is getting set to launch this Wednesday evening at Casa del Popolo. Despite my long-standing beliefs on the issue (and on the implicit ideological implications), taking a vocal stand on this; by calling apartheid apartheid and working actively for the cause of Palestinian liberation, is not an easy position for me to take. Which in my mind, makes it all the more important to do so now, clearly, firmly, and lucidly.
The Otesha Book: From Junk to Funk! was one of the first books I ever designed from start to finish (on 100% post-consumer stock and printed with vegetable inks no less), circa 2004, and I’m still very proud of it.
Six years on, the Otesha Project (official site | facebook page) just posted a pretty little photoset of the books hanging out in the wild and I was reminded of all the hard work and fun I had while designing and producing it in collaboration with Colin, John and the Otesha girls. This was a great, efficient, effective and worthwhile project that is still paying dividends (of the social variety) today. Thanks Otesha!
