communications design
// CLIENT //
Indian Summer Festival is a contemporary multi-arts festival that takes place over eleven days every July in Vancouver, Canada. The festival presents a combination of free and ticketed events, including music, ideas (writers & thinkers), visual art and public engagement (free performances/public art projects). From novelists to Grammy Award-winning musicians, international visionaries to oral storytellers, Indian Summer Festival has presented emerging artists as well as Nobel, Booker, Grammy and Oscar prize nominees on its stages.
// CHALLENGE //
The theme for this year’s festival was ‘Shapeshifting’. The challenge was to provide a unified visual motif that could be used for web and print materials throughout the festival run.
// SOLUTION //
Utilizing a new brand redesign by Mustaali Raj, the festival’s look this year leaned heavily on the beautiful linework of Artist-In-Residence Jag Nagra, which was overlayed with collaged photography of the festival and the participating artists.
identity design & poster illustration
// CLIENT //
The Rookery is a youth education program using the fantasy tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) to make learning accessible, engaging and fun.
// CHALLENGE //
Create a brand identity that would appeal to their young target demographic and include a poster for their marketing campaign that incorporated the 'module' or D&D campaign they created called "Heroes of Howe Sound," a fantasy adventure set among a fictionalized version of Howe Sound, an area that connects a number of fjords northwest of Vancouver, BC.
// SOLUTION //
The logo consists of a twenty sided die (D20), a nest, and a rook. The font Billyforges was used for the wordmark because it's distressed, handmade style gave it an adventurous feeling.
The poster has three generally androgynous heroes, steeped in the brand colours rather than any specific skin tones as to keep it as inclusive as possible. It’s illustrated in a more cartoon inspired style, giving it a more youthful look, helping the target demographic to see themselves in the heroes.
poster design, festival key art
// CLIENT //
Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival takes place every June on the waters and shoreside of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is North America's largest and most competitive dragon boat festival with over 200 crews competing from around the world, with roots stemming from Expo 86.
// CHALLENGE //
Create a poster for their marketing campaign, using their existing brand identity, that can be used as the key art for the festival. In the brief, it was requested that the Vancouver skyline be used in the design, however none of the most famous landmark buildings could be used due to legal reasons.
// SOLUTION //
Forgoing the standard city skyline in place of the Twin Sisters mountain peaks (Ch'ich'iyúy Elxwíkn), otherwise known as the Lions, worked to solve the legal issue however it also incorporates the ancient Chinese myth of the water dragon who was said to come down from the mountains to bless the dragon boats before the games could begin. A street art heavy style was used that reflects Vancouver’s burgeoning street art and mural scene, that could then be easily extrapolated to separate elements for use in other media throughout the festival.
album cover art
// CLIENT //
38 Spesh, is an American rapper and producer. His musical style is highlighted by one of the most unique rapping voices in the game and his strong punchlines. Notable rappers who have worked with 38 Spesh include Styles P, Jadakiss, Fred the Godson, AZ, Noreaga and Kool G Rap. He has worked with several high-profile hip hop record producers among the likes of DJ Premier, Pete Rock and The Alchemist.
communications design
// CLIENT //
Indian Summer Festival is a contemporary multi-arts festival that takes place over eleven days every July in Vancouver, Canada. The festival presents a combination of free and ticketed events, including music, ideas (writers & thinkers), visual art and public engagement (free performances/public art projects). From novelists to Grammy Award-winning musicians, international visionaries to oral storytellers, Indian Summer Festival has presented emerging artists as well as Nobel, Booker, Grammy and Oscar prize nominees on its stages.
// CHALLENGE //
‘Culture Lab: Artist as Healer’ is a new multi-year initiative by Indian Summer Arts Society. The project invites and resources South Asian artists in Metro Vancouver to work collaboratively with other artists, mentors and members of the medical and wellness communities to develop healing methodologies through art.
The initiative required a look and feel that is reflective of the ISF brand, but distinct enough that it’s clearly not a part of the festival proper.
// SOLUTION //
A conscious effort to keep the branding simple by using already established ISF colours, but focusing on the least used branded colour and allowing it to flourish. Discussions were had to make the branding reflective of the health and wellness community (ie: syringes, etc.), but in order to keep it simple and malleable to other media a graphic was created that resembles a liquid (or medicine) entering water. This graphic could then be abstracted any number of ways across all necessary collateral.
vinyl jacket design
// CLIENT //
Kurious is an American hip hop recording artist from New York City who emerged in the 90s as a contemporary of MF DOOM among others.
Ro Data is a DJ and producer based out of Vancouver, BC.
// CHALLENGE //
Create powerful imagery and layout design for the album Koncrete Jungle, to be used on a limited vinyl release.
// SOLUTION //
Blending a wild mandrill with a dark and moody city and using sparse type and layout for the album design, also included was an obi strip, a special feature for the collectors.
CD jacket design
// CLIENT //
The Colony Farm Band is a Vancouver based hard rock band.
communications design
// CLIENT //
Indian Summer Festival is a contemporary multi-arts festival that takes place over eleven days every July in Vancouver, Canada. The festival presents a combination of free and ticketed events, including music, ideas (writers & thinkers), visual art and public engagement (free performances/public art projects). From novelists to Grammy Award-winning musicians, international visionaries to oral storytellers, Indian Summer Festival has presented emerging artists as well as Nobel, Booker, Grammy and Oscar prize nominees on its stages.
// CHALLENGE //
The theme for the 2019 festival was ‘Trickster’s, Magicians, & Oracles’. The challenge was to provide a unified visual motif that could be used for web and print materials throughout the festival run.
// SOLUTION //
Sara Khan, the ISF2019 Artist-In-Residence, is an artist that predominantly works in water colour. Her piece ‘Dancer’ was used in the main ISF2019 logo and the festival poster, inspiring a watercolour theme mixed with black and white imagery of the featured artists, creating a striking contrast and giving the feeling of movement and transition.
poster design
// CLIENT //
The Vancouver Classic Guitar Society is a Vancouver based arts society who’s mission is to build community among guitar enthusiasts, and to educate and increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of classic guitar music.
// CHALLENGE //
Create a series of posters for their International Artist Series, a series comprising five international artists performing in Vancouver over their 2019 season.
// SOLUTION //
A unified colour scheme and elements, including a rosette that connects all five posters, the posters were designed to avoid your standard classical music tropes and instead lean into more modern flourishes to appeal to a newer, wider audience.
poster design
// CHALLENGE //
Create a gig poster for a show featuring the bands The Colony Farm Band, Dirtbag Soul, and musician Jacob Seyer.
// SOLUTION //
Being that it was right around Christmas, the anti-Santa Clause demon Krampus was incorporated into the poster with a nice wavy font to keep things fresh and festive.
tee shirt design & logo redesign
// CLIENT //
Mary's Gunns was a classic rock n’ roll four piece who’s influences included Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, and Mötley Crüe.
poster design and web banner
// CLIENT //
The Vancouver Classic Guitar Society is a Vancouver based arts society who’s mission is to build community among guitar enthusiasts, and to educate and increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of classic guitar music.
The Orontes Quartet are a guitar ensemble from Damascus, Syria. Forced to flee their homeland when civil war broke out in 2011 , they are the first group to be brought together in a safe country by the Artist Protection Fund, a New York-based program that supports threatened artists around the world. They are currently fellows of the University of Victoria, in British Columbia.
poster design
// CLIENT //
The Vancouver Classic Guitar Society is a Vancouver based arts society who’s mission is to build community among guitar enthusiasts, and to educate and increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of classic guitar music.
CD jacket design
// CLIENT //
Mohamed Assani is a sitarist and composer, known for his genre-defying approach to music-making. Trained in both Indian/Pakistani and Western Classical music, his music-making seamlessly draws from different genres and cultures with depth and authenticity.
brand identity design
// CLIENT //
Kristina Lao (she/her), is an Artist-Advocate from Hong Kong with over 15 years working internationally as a consciously multi-faceted singer/songwriter, actor, writer, and curator.
// CHALLENGE //
To create a brand identity that encompasses all of Kristina’s vocations.
// SOLUTION //
To create the logo, the monogram shapes of a K and L have been turned on their side and distorted to resemble an open book with a loose page. In combination with the pen nib, the logo reflects Kristina’s passion for the art of songwriting and the written word. A simple colour palette of black, white, and gold, with a splash of red, was used to create a minimalist design that could be easily adapted across all media.
