ECU Gradshow

Tak and I enjoyed the opportunity to see the work of this year’s Emily Carr University grad show. This group is close to our hearts, having had the opportunity to instruct them on their fall semester projects, and it was nice to see them show off their hard work and creativity. The work is solid this year, and it’s always surprising how polished the final solutions are presented. 

This time of year, there’s always debates and politics around design programs as everyone tries to measure who’s doing what best. An evening like this reminds us that at the heart of all the work is people, all on different parts of a journey, that will lead to many different destinations.

Congrats ECU grads of 2009.

Ginger Ngo, a talented typographer who we had the privilege of having in our office for the better part of 6 months.

Joomi Choi and Mi Hyun Sung presenting their game that deals with the topic of death.

Chloe Lan and her project on the Plantilions (a must see to understand what they are).

Don Williams.

Getting back to basics

During these days where we’re all out pounding the pavement, better be sure you’ve got enough business cards. Well, it just so happens that Free Agency Creative has an antique letterpress in the studio for situations such as these. Actually, we like to use it for more than just cards, but today we kept it simple with this one colour job using magnesium dies and typeset in Blender from Die Gestalten Verlag.

The letterpress has always been a passion of mine. Jim Rimmer, my early design school mentor, found it for me in 1997, and after 8 months of repairs I had my own press. I have also enjoyed sharing my passion for letterpress with students at Emily Carr University and Langara College. Most recently, Kristin Liu brought her class in from Langara’s design program for a 4 hour workshop on Free Agency’s press.

For the next few days the studio will smell of that glorious aroma all designers love, ink and paint thinner. Then it will be gone and all that will be left is the steady hum of the x-serve on the rack beside it.

Don Williams