Conversations Through Mediums | Sahil Mroke
Sahil Mroke is a Communication Designer whose practice focuses on Collaboration, Creative Direction and Branding.
“Conversations Through Mediums” explores how the processes of art / design can be integrated into the processes of making music, creating in response to one another.
To view Sahil’s Grad Thesis project, “Conversation’s Through Mediums”, please click here.
Fern | Emma Brickstock
Working to protect and promote British Columbia's vast biodiversity.
Fern is a non-profit organization that works with British Columbia based environmental non-profits who’s goals are to protect, promote and preserve the biodiversity of British Columbia. Fern creates the branding and marketing collateral that the non-profit organizations need in order to raise awareness, funding and the opportunity to continue to develop and grow.
The Big Picture
British Columbia has a diverse ecosystem and biodiversity, as it is home to more species than any other Canadian province. Unfortunately, many of the species in British Columbia are at risk of extinction. My goal was to create a platform to promote and bring awareness to local organizations that work to tackle environmental issues within British Columbia.
Bring awareness
Generate conversation and bring awareness to environmental issues within British Columbia.
Inspire donations
Inspire donations and funding towards environmental based organizations.
Encourage connection
Encourage a sense of connection to the natural world.
The Chosen Non-Profits and Their Branding
Below you can view the three British Columbia based non-profits that I chose to rebrand and create marketing collateral for. You can view the style sheets, the information about each non-profit and the products created.
Ancient Forest Alliance
The Ancient Forest Alliance is a registered non-profit organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
Living Oceans
Living Oceans mission is to inspire the global community to become Ocean Wise by increasing its understanding, wonder and appreciation for our oceans. Achieving this by engaging in scientific, social and economic research to ensure campaigns are grounded in fact and their solutions are science-based.
Marmot Recovery Foundation
The Marmot Recovery Foundation works to bring the Vancouver Island Marmot back from the brink of extinction, and ensure it has a sustainable future. The Vancouver Island Marmot lives only in Canada, and is just one of five mammals to occur nowhere else in the world.
Fern's Website
Fern’s website is where you can access information about what it is Fern does and the objectives and goals they have. You can learn more about the non-profits they support as well as donate through their shop section.
Click on the images to see a more in-depth look through the website.
Hi, I'm Emma!
I am a Communication Designer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. I am an adaptive creative thinker who focuses on communication design as a tool for creating modern design solutions. My work is often inspired by natural elements and my love for the outdoors.
Objects That Talk! | Wan-Ya (Megan) Chen
Overview
Objects that Talk! is a print publication that is dedicated towards re-examining the souvenirs in our lives. How do everyday objects, practices, foods, and rituals become anchors for cultural histories — both personal and shared amongst a collective group of individuals?
By sourcing stories from the community, Objects That Talk! is a publication series that showcases how everyday diasporic objects can be reclaimed in a way to shape alternative ideas of cultural history and authenticity. With each newspaper taking on the form of an individual’s story, audience members are invited to read and collect the stories to take home.
Stories sourced from multiple people in the community. Many thanks to Alex Bloom, Carol Yin, Byron Camacho, Selena Ho, and Pablo Clairmont Salvatierra for taking the time to share their experiences with me!
Scroll down to the very bottom to read each story!
Final Deliverables: Series of six 22″ x 17″ single sheet newspapers, RISO printed on newsprint and Canson 20lb paper, editions of 100
Creative Direction, Typography, Print & Publication Design, Copy Editing, RISO Print Production, Illustration
This project was awarded the John C. Kerr Chancellor Emeritus Award for Excellence in Design
how can I employ design to share stories about cultural identity in a way that is reflective and representative of their complexity, humanity, and individuality?
Some objects in my life that inspired me to think about the nature behind everyday objects and the stories they tell.
(Left to right) a jar of tiger balm, lucky cat statue, and Taiwan’s famous ChiaTe Pineapple Shortcake
So what?
Growing up, I remember being constantly annoyed and slightly embarrassed at how “Asian” I was…which led to me spending lots of time pushing away my heritage – so much so that by the time I became interested in reclaiming that part of my identity, I felt a bit hopeless, given the fact that I knew almost nothing about the Taiwanese part of myself. Was it too late? It felt like it was. Years of stubbornly refusing to pay attention in Chinese school had led to broken mandarin, which just widened the communication gap. Years of awkward teen angst also meant not wanting to talk to my parents – much less inquire and listen to their immigration stories.
Which brings us here today. I was curious about this question of “is it too late? Because, if I’m being honest, it wasn’t like I knew absolutely nothing about my Taiwanese heritage. How had I come to possess these different fragments of my culture? As I began to dive deeper, I thought about how, growing up, and even today, I often associated the “Taiwanese” part of myself with certain practices, rituals, foods, and objects.
As someone who has come to associate her cultural identity with certain objects and practices, I was curious to see if that was the case for others with hyphenated identities as well.
I also think about what it means to live in a country like Canada that is often touted as a multicultural ideal. While we are lucky in so many ways, it seems like national multiculturalism only values cultures as novelty acts, food in the ethnic aisle, and costumes on holidays, while skipping over the often turbulent history and unresolved narratives of lived experiences. In fact, we don’t often think of personal stories as a part of Canada’s history at all. Although often used as signifiers of our own alienation, perhaps everyday diasporic objects can be reclaimed in a way to shape alternative ideas of cultural history and authenticity.
Process
Large format newspapers gave me room to tell each person’s story (with the depth and detail I wanted), and also allowed for accessibility when it came to reaching a wider audience. By not creating a precious and expensive singular book object and instead opting for a lo-fi mass produced newspaper, I could print out multiple copies on a small budget and distribute them quickly — all without sacrificing any quality, since the RISO inks always turn out pigmented and bright.
Next Steps
Along with the newspapers themselves, I also printed some “extras” that would fold into each story. Below, you can see examples of what I eventually hope to produce for each story: large format reproductions of photos, illustrations, recipes, etc. will act as inserts to bring to life each featured object.
(Below, starting from the top) Illustration of tiger balm for Objects That Talk! Foreword, 8.5″ x 11″ poster
4-colour faux CMYK RISO print of my own family’s restaurant, an insert meant for Issue #5 of Objects That Talk! The Lucky Cat, 8.5″ x 11″
Hello there!
Megan Chen is a Communication Designer & Illustrator currently based in Vancouver, BC.
Her work includes print & publication design, illustration, creative direction, and type design. At the moment, she’s especially fond of collaborative projects that use design as a vehicle to examine cultural identity and social issues.
She’s worked with The Health Design Lab, G Day for Girls, Lunapads, Imagine Create Media, and Contrast Collective.
Pressed Ephemera | Christine Fwu
Pressed Ephemera
A Critical Look into “What Used to Be”
Pressed Ephemera examines the intention, meaning, and care behind printed precedents. It is a research and process based project that begins with an exploration of how history has affected the ideals and aesthetics of print design in each time period. The project then moves into the most meaningful and important aspect: the making & the experience. In order to capture the limitations of the past, I went on a journey of following old processes. Each period and its printing method has been meticulously researched, explored, and printed with different materials. The results are a series of intriguing and handmade ephemera.
View the presentation here.
View the process book here.
View the journal here.
The final project piece are two Pressed Ephemera metal stamps that I made for the foil stamping process! This logomark can be used on cards, and it would be used on the cover of my process book.
In this project page, I will take you through Ikigai Exercises that led me into my project, to creating Printed History pieces that take on the design styles of each period, and the Old Processes that show my process and experience of making. Then finally, the final Multimedia Posters and Process Pieces & Tags are displayed. The Postcards at the end are takeways for the project that give a sneak peak into the design styles and experiences of making from the multimedia posters.
I hope you will enjoy diving back to a time when creation was well thought out, cared for, and meaningful. Hopefully you will find appreciation and curiosity in being immersed in all of the printed ephemera, as much as I did.
Print, Handmade Processes, Research & Process,
Typography, Creative Direction, Critical Design,
Exhibition Design, Experience Design
Core Typeface
— Adobe Jenson Pro: Robert Slimbach, based on Nicolas Jenson (1470)
metal stamps: magnesium die + aluminum block
foil stamper · assorted metallic foils
Ikigai Exercises
Below are four project exercises aimed at exploring my thesis idea and diving right into making generatively. Ikigai is also known as “the meaning of life”; if one succeeds in each of these four sectors then one would lead a fulfilled, rewarding, and valuable life as a whole. These mini projects helped me to to reflect on the value and importance of my project through making. Through these explorations, I became certain that I wanted to do this project.
What You Love
I really love flowers and my thesis looks into design styles of the past. So I made a floral Tetley tea box redesigned in old style.
Paper packaging was popular in the past as they could be reused and recycled. Tin packaging was also used abundantly as they could be kept around the house to hold other objects. For future explorations, I could create a stencil and paint on a tin can or box.
What You’re Good At
I am good at planning, organizing, and making calendars. For this exercise, I made a daily challenge calendar of design’s past with prompts everyday to explore this topic.
Using the form of an advent calendar, which was first made in Germany in 1851, everyday is an open door to a new challenge that was helping me to direct my research.
What The World Needs
When thinking about what the world needs, I realized that much of the general public lacks appreciation and curiosity. To generate more of this, I decided to create a little exhibition that includes a typewriter, old books and objects, and an interactive section with metal type and foil stamp samples.
I made a Retro & Vintage Night poster, along with tickets to this little event. I also made a Little Book of Oldstyle Designs to showcase design styles through periods of time.
What Makes You Money
For what can me money, I was thinking about how dissemination to a wider audience can get people to start seeing the value in old objects and ephemera.
The website mockup I have created includes the history of each of the periods, designed in the style of that time. It would also have a shop section where people could purchase old style objects and ephemera.
Printed History
These Printed History (digital laser prints) showcase the design styles and history of each period. My project timeline begins with the Renaissance period (1400–1600), through to the Enlightenment period (1700), and ends off with the Decorative Arts period (1800). Through my research, I looked into the printed forms that existed each period, designed in that context, and included its history as text for these printed pieces of ephemera.
Old Processes
The Old Processes (handmade prints) display the printed history pieces that are remade by hand through Letterpress & Etching, Silkscreen, and Cyanotype. Through my experience of making, I learned to take time and to think critically about each design decision I was making. I became more careful and thoughtful in my work throughout all of these processes.
Letterpress & Etching · Process
Silkscreen · Process
Cyanotype · Process
Posters & Process Pieces + Tags
These multimedia posters invite you to interact and engage with each period and their handmade prints! The process pieces + tags will take you through numerous iterations, and they embrace the imperfections that are a result of these handmade processes.
Note: Many other print processes exist in each of these periods, but these are the ones I have chosen due to accessibility and my interest.
digital prints: colour laser prints
handmade prints: letterpress & etching, silkscreen, cyanotype
Multimedia Posters
Process Pieces & Tags · Letterpress & Etching
Process Pieces & Tags · Silkscreen
Process Pieces & Tags · Cyanotype
Postcard Takeaways
These postcards are the takeaways at my exhibition. The portrait ones with Design Style talk about type and how aesthetics were affected by history and ideals of the time. On the other hand, the landscape ones with Old Processes
talk about the making process with each of the printing methods.
