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Alessandro Tomassetti is a fashion designer who likes to collaborate with other people, and he asked me to work with him to do some custom pockets for a clothing series he was working on based on James Dean. I wanted to do 4 pockets with words that could be interchangeable and work as a set of 4 or alone on a single butt.
“Will You / Miss Me” are the 4 words, and there are 3 variations on the jeans: Will You, You Will, Miss Me.
I imagined guys (they’re men’s jeans) standing at the bar with the command “You Will” on their pockets. Or the question “Will You” or simply “Miss Me” as they walk out the door.
The jeans come in 2 colours: dark blue and black, and they are a limited edition of 30 (15 each colour). More about them are here, and if you live in LA, you can buy them at Alessandro’s cool store All Purpose, at 144 south flores street.
Jeans Pockets
Embroidery (from vector)
April 2007
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The New York Chapter of the AIGA asked me, among others, to design some packing tape for their Christmas Party, with proceeds going to the AIGANY Mentoring program. I was happy to; mine says “Open Me First”. I’m also pleased to inform you that my tape and the tape designed by Marc Alary were the only ones that sold out.
It is yet another black and white design. I had wanted it to be gold ink on clear tape, but they couldn’t do gold. Well, it’s quite handsome anyway, and you can open things first all year ‘round.
Packing tape
Vector art
December 2006
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Rick Valicenti approached me in August to do a mini portfolio of my work on Fox River Paper. I readily agreed and this 36-page + cover booklet on Fox River Sundance was born. Rick curated and designed with Gina Vieceli-Garza at Thirst. I just tried not to get in the way too much.
It includes a number of old familiars, some things that would otherwise not see the light of day (like the sketch above) and a few custom pieces I made for the project, like this lace, below.
Yummy paper, rich double-blacks, flourescent inks (below, rick gets Thirsty) ... These are “arty” shots I took of the piece, as I don’t want to spoil it for the 15,000 or so of you who will get one in your studio.
Don’t forget to feel the emboss on this sugary piece, “Indestructible,” which I also made for the project.
If you’re a designer and paper reps visit you, you maybe got one of these from a paper rep, or picked it up at a Fox River Paper table at some event.
He may just have been flattering me, but Stefan Sagmeister told me this is the only paper sample he’s ever kept.
The booklet includes some nice reproductions of pieces that I’m happy to have, as I’ve sold the originals, and I kinda miss them.
It also includes one of the pieces I wrote for Speak Up, and a fairly lengthy interview with me by Rick. Yeah, I know, it’s just massive ego overload.
And there’s this, my favourite favourite page in the whole book: black foil on black: last year’s Hallowe’en piece.
Below, a new take on an old piece—thanks, Rick, for pushing me to include it.
And for those who have been nagging me for a copy of my “Influences” piece, here it is.
And oh, so much more. Thanks to Thirst and a special thanks to Kathy Kemps and Fox River Paper for the opportunity.
Portfolio booklet
7.5×11.5, 40 pages
November 2006
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I wanted to make sure Christine Dewairy was safely married before I posted this. She is. Congratulations, Christine. (And thanks to Brian Morgan.)
Letterpress Invitation
Vector art
August 2006
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This was my contribution to the New York Times Square Urban Forest Project which “brings 185 banners created by the world’s most celebrated designers, artists …” and … you can read more about it there. Mine is on 53rd St. by the Sheraton Hotel.
My message has 4 meanings.
1) for Ray Hrynkow, friend and fellow designer, who is battling cancer.
2) for everyone who sees it who is not feeling well for whatever reason.
3) for the environment
4) as a message from a Canadian to America.
Thanks to MS for the photos.
Banner
June 2006
Vector art
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... well, because I do.
and because my peonies were wilting and sighing, and I decided to immortalize them, on a whim, one sunny afternoon.
Bonus: the room smelled of peonies all day.
Peony petals
June 2006
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FontShop likes me, I think. In this issue of Font magazine they’ve reprinted my Speak Up article, “Critique: The Alphabet” (slightly updated) which I then typeset and drew kooky drawings for.
Piles o’ fun. If you’re on their mailing list, it should reach your mailbox soon, if you don’t already have it.
Writing/illustration
ballpoint pen drawings
April 2006
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Wallpaper* magazine asked me to be one of the 10 Canadian designers represented in their 10-country X 10-designers “Global Edit” at the 2006 Milan Design Salon, on the occasion of their 10th Anniversary.
I decided to make a custom piece, and time was short. When time is short and you want to make something that will be 4 metres high, output on transparent plastic: pattern and reflect. Of course, I still had to design and build the pattern and then make matching custom text, compose the whole thing and add custom loops. A snap!
“You are in my thoughts.” Well, you are!
Banner
Vector art
April 2006
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This is one I’ve been wanting to get up here for a while because I really love it, but I’ve been waiting for it to come out in print in “Ladies & Gentlemen” Magazine. It’s out, it’s printed, and it’s available at www.lagmag.com.
Here it is in context:
The mag ships with a vinyl record … I know! Cool huh?
You can see that, right? It says “How are you”. It does!
Ballpoint Pen / Digital
March 2006
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I worked with Stefan to create one of his installation pieces of “20 things in my life I have learned so far.” (His life.) Part of a series of pieces he does creating sentences from a list of things he’s learned. (Here’s an example.)
Photos courtesy of the Kunsthaus Bregenz.
This project covers 6 billboards, which are approximately 11 feet by 11 feet, postioned along this busy street near the Kunsthaus Bregenz museum in Bregenz, Austria. The installation will be up Jan 26 2006 – March 19 2006.
Stefan conceived the project and the medium, and I created the text and ornament under his instruction to make it “beautiful & legible”. Printed in reflective silver foil on a red background, it says, in Bregenz dialect: “Jömmara isch blöd. I söt eappas tua odr’s vergessa,” (Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.)
I nailed the ornament on the first sketch. Then we went through 7 rounds on the text style until I came up with the “furry type.” Fur got a really positive reaction in Stefan’s New York office, so with a little more improvement, the goaty, tufty fur type made its way into the world.
Thanks Stefan, this is surely one of my proudest moments.
Billboards
Vector Art
January 2006
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This T-shirt was once for sale at Veer, proceeds of which helped raise funds for hurricane victims in the United States.
Printed in cream on cranberry cotton Ts. I can attest to its comfort.
T-shirt
Vector Art
November 2005
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I was hired by Stefan Sagmeister to create this ornamentation for Douglas Gordon’s The Vanity of Allegory : a box of Gordon's postcards for the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin.
Stefan conceived this box with a wedge cut in the lid. One side of the wedge has a strip of mirror-foil to mirror the other vertical half of the word “Vanity.”
I worked with Matthias Ernstenberger at Sagmeister Inc. to create the custom type, and cover this postcard box with ornament.
Including a matching booklet on the inside.
A thoroughly enjoyable experience. Stefan and Matthias are sweet, sweet guys.
And, this is still available on Amazon if you don't mind a little wait for delivery.
Illustration
Vector Art
August 2005
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This project came from close to home: Bowen Island’s own organic chocolatier. I designed the box, the text, the ornament … everything except the logo.
Chocolate box
Vector art
September 2005
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My initial response to the call to create an invitation to an art show of all female artists at the Nucleus gallerty in LA, was “hair.” And hair I did. The following was my first drawing.
But after delivering it, I had a new, brilliant idea, involving hair, beads and an integrated design.
It would connect front to back …
and on the back, each letter of the artists’ names acts as a bead, collecting the hairs together.
They chose the first design.
Sigh.
Invitation
Ink
September 2005
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Society of Graphic Designers of Canada / BC Chapter Annual Report for 2004:
This AR has a long story, which you’ll have to get me drunk to tell you. Printed on a full press sheet, with the AR on one side, and a poster by Rick Valicenti on the other (our guest speaker at our AGM), the AR folds to show part of each side.
I chose 10 blackletter typefaces to print this report. Because I wanted to. No one ever reads these things anyway, but for the record, it was perfectly legible. It just happens to look great as well.
A work of staggering beauty. Now which side do you like better? Mine, or Rick’s? Answer carefully, now.
Annual Report
January 2005
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I designed the Vancouver Review in 2004, and was the designer for it for its initial 2 years. The above cover features a work in sequins by myself. It was fun working with Mark Mushet and Gudrun Will on this.
The page spread below also has an illustration of mine.
Cover
Sequins
March 2004–March 2006
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This was one of my last projects as a straight-up designer: a catalogue for The Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon. I really just wanted to work with my friend, Dan Ring.
This was for an unusual exhibition of Prairie Modernism, or, as we later coined it, “home-made modernism.”
So it called for a slightly quirky flavour to the typography.
The Mendel Gallery is the civic gallery of Saskatoon, Sask.
Catalogue
Spring 2005
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This was a concept for the St. Bride Bad Type Conference.They loved it! But something happened and someone got cold feet and this never made it into production, alas. It would have been a brilliant T-shirt. Tears have been shed on many continents.
This, however, eventually became the basis for my font "Restraint".
Concept
Vector Art
October 2004
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September 23, 2004: The day I met Rick Valicenti.
This is a small selection of the 26 “Letters to begin thoughts rather than sentences” which were my contribution to Rick Valicenti'’s Playground project.
"Alphabet"
Pixel art
2004
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The famous Speak Up T-shirt design for Armin Vit – Speak Up .
Silkscreened in silver on black (bitchin’).
T-shirt
Vector Art
2004? or 2003?
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