Graphex is Canada’s Biennial Design Awards, put on by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC). As 2006 is also the GDC’s 50th Anniversary, I decided to explore a Canadian theme, in pursuit of an elusive “Canadianism” in design.

Long story. I decided to focus on nature, and the things that we all have in common in this vast country: plants and insects.

It was at the point of an 86-layer Photoshop file, and the realization that I was close-cropping a mosquito that I decided I’d got in a bit deeper than I ever intended to.

However, I’m immensely proud of it. It’s very beautiful, and it sports a swarm of blackflies spelling “Looking for the Canadian in Design,” ladybugs make the words “Call for entries,” and ants trace the deadline dates.

I made the logotype from maple leaves, which I painstakingly “nibbled” with my fingernails to make them look like they’d been chewed by the various insects that adorned the type.

Plus all-Canadian fonts.