Pasted Posters

When I walk around Toronto I am never looking down but always at the things around me (thanks for the lesson on how to see Vince Sowa!). I have two paths that I take to work (on my bike or the streetcar) and even though I read the posters I see almost every day, there is always something new or different. A great example is a bus stop ad I pass for Gap, it features a model with a gap in her teeth. For a while the ad was left alone, but then someone added white out to fill the gap. The day after that someone drew back over the white out with black to put the gap back. I found it very interesting to see how people were interacting with the poster, fighting with one another as to whether the imperfection should be fixed or flaunted.

Last year I remember seeing the posters for Design Thinkers all over poles in the downtown core. Their vibrant colour (and the fact that I interned with the studio at the time they designed them), really attracted my attention and inspired me to look more closely at the posters around town. Since, I have enjoyed a variety of posters. Some are humourous, others help me better understand the neighbourhood I'm in and still others pop out with sheer ugliness.

While looking for images of the Design Thinkers 2011 posters, I came across a very interesting poster campaign/installation. In 2009, artists Sean Martindale and Eric Cheung attempted to liven up public space by attaching cone shaped planters to a pole at Queen West and Spadina. The result is visually intriguing and I am sure their goal to engage the public was successful.