Side Tracked

I promise I will start posting my work, soon even. Rather than posting work today though, I decided I would talk about the lecture I went to tonight. At first I was hesitant about the new programming at the Design Exchange, but the Stefan Sagmeister exhibit and accompanying lectures have been great.

Tonight's talk C'MON GET HAPPY: Happy people and what they know, was a series of short talks from a variety of multi-disciplinary designers on what makes them happy. There were a number of different ideas about the pursuit of happiness as well as a unanimous decision that children are the greatest source of happiness. One of my favourite parts of the whole night was when Christine Ralphs of Lloyd Ralphs Design put up a slide of the Olsen twins. At first I was skeptical, then she gave her reasoning, she said she put the slide in because it is crazy that will all of their success they look so depressed in all of their photos. The host, Gabe Gonda, Editor of the Arts section at The Globe and Mail, talked about how mastering your craft and being passionate is a reliable path to enduring happiness. All of the speakers are well known in their field and their passion for their work came through in all of the talks whether that was their intention or not. There were a ton of other great moments that I will surely forget in a couple of days, but overall I think it was a great way to spend an evening.

The Happy Show

This past Tuesday an old graphic design friend and I went to see Stefan Sagmeister's The Happy Show at the Design Exchange. I received many emails prior to the show explaining what it was about, but I was still surprised by how much fun the exhibit was to visit. The first interactive asked visitors to take a gum ball from one of 10 machines representing how happy they were. This created an interesting visual that allowed you to see how happy other visitors were when they entered the exhibit (I kind of wish they had a second set at the end to see how the exhibit affected people). While my friend and I agreed that being with other people was likely to taint your decision, I was still excited to see that the 8, 9, and 10 machines had the most missing from them.

In lieu of panels, vinyl graphics and typography were applied directly to the wall with Sagmeister's hand written notes added below. The information presented was succinct and interesting, and I loved the streamlined illustrations accompanying the stats and stories. I thought that the interactives were a lot of fun and really enjoyed the personal touches such as Sagmeister's favourite candy and his stories that were added throughout the exhibit.

I would highly recommend this exhibit and am excited about the direction the Design Exchange is taking for the upcoming year.

The Basics

The talk I went to last week at the Design Exchange reminded me of my start in art and graphic design for a few reasons. First, I ran into a classmate who I sat beside for the entirety of my first year. Next the speaker talked about using a grid to enlarge a drawing or painting and finally they brought up the odd things you learn when you become a designer or artist.

I enjoyed sitting beside this classmate during first year, he asked a lot of questions but was also incredibly supportive and creative. I remember him being the one to pick me up for class when I was sick, the one driving me crazy when he asked for the third time when a project was due, and also the one driving me home after a late night working at the school. Our first year of college was very stressful, but looking back, I can't believe how much we learned. At the talk we reminisced about how our teacher Vince used that Karate Kid method of teaching. You never knew why you were assigned the project until you had finished and started using the methods on other projects. I will never forget our first project, we had to cut up photos and splice them together, if any white showed on the edges of the photos you had to start over. While this seemed incredibly tedious at the time, I learned how to properly use an Exacto knife and continue to use that basic skill today.

I often think about how far I have come, from grade nine art, to working at an architectural firm as a graphic designer. Then I realize how much further I can go, it's hard to start new jobs but I am learning so much and enjoying the process of getting comfortable again.

Expanding My Circle

Last night at the DX I was shocked when I ran into a friend from college. I was even more shocked when I recognized someone from my new work at the event. To top it off, this morning I rode past my boss on my bike ride to work. I often tell my friends that its hard to meet people in Toronto, that there are so many people that its actually worse than when you live in a small town. All of this is turned on its head when I happen to run into one of the 20 people I know out of the 2.5 million sharing Toronto with me.

This morning when I recapped the events of the past 24 hours with my co-worker he said that it must be that my circle is expanding and I agree. As much as I hated my bike ride home from work this evening (a 20 minute ride became a two and a half hour work out with my superb navigation skills), with each new place I go, I discover more of Toronto and am given to opportunity to meet more people. My biggest fear about getting a new job was leaving my work friends, but I guess I needn't worry, I still have them as friends and am broadening my circle with new co-workers.

Wood you like to be friends?

This week will be a busy one for me, but after getting my Design Exchange membership last week I couldn't help but go to another DXTalk. Tonight's talk was by Jim Taggart FRAIC, recent author of Toward A Culture of Wood Architecture. The theme of the book and tonight's talk was the importance of wood in architecture and how he would like to see things improve in the future.

The talk was very interesting, Taggart's illustrated many of the prominent styles in wood architecture with ample examples from Canada and around the world. While some of the information was a bit over my head (most of the attendees were architecture students), I especially enjoyed what he had to say about the renovations at the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. Taggart started by asking a simple question, "What do you do when you want to relax?" His answer was the same as mine, go to a park, go for a walk in a forest, enjoy the outdoors in any way possible. For people dealing with cancer, this may not be an option. The renovation (pictured below) allows patients and visitors to escape to a more relaxed atmosphere without having to leave the hospital. Further to that point, Taggart indicated that a study conducted by the University of British Columbia proved that including trees and wood in your environment improves general happiness. I suppose that explains why I have always loved walking down tree-lined streets and going on hikes.

Discovering the Wrong

Tonight I went to the Design Exchange for another DX Talk. I prefer this type of event rather than events where it is required that I meet new people and speak intelligently about things I don't know a lot about (often I end up studying prior to those sorts of events). At these talks I have the opportunity to mingle but can also go, enjoy the talk, then leave without being pressured to do anything but enjoy the speakers. I really like the relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to hear from designers from a variety of backgrounds.

Tonight Ann Thomas, Curator of Photographs at the National Gallery of Canada, spoke to Lynne Cohen about her work throughout the years and specifically about the pieces she is currently showing at the Design Exchange. Cohen's work consists of photographs depicting domestic, commercial and institutional spaces in cool, but welcoming compositions. Cohen creates her photographs by reframing interior spaces in intriguing ways. I say that the work is cool because the the photographs are generally devoid of life and the stark appearance of the spaces are uneasy in an almost wrong way (Cohen spoke a lot about how she is always looking for something that is wrong to photograph). One of the members of the audience brought up an interesting feature of the photographs, while they are cool, they are also welcoming because of the angle they are taken from. Cohen never creates barriers in the foreground, each of the photographs feel as if you could walk through them and into the space (Cohen thought perhaps that was the reason for all the nose smudges on the glass frames). The scale of her work also helps to create the illusion that you could walk through them. Rather than using a traditional film camera, Cohen works with an 8 x 10" view camera, and produces photographs that are approximately three feet by four feet, with both portrait and landscape compositions.

I found the talk very interesting and was happy to learn more about the photographs that I viewed beforehand. I find that when someone, be it the artist or a curator, explains the intention of the work it is more memorable and inspiring. I decided to get a membership for the Design Exchange after returning home from the talk, I realized that I really enjoy immersing myself in design and that having a membership will encourage me to go to as many events as possible.