FIGO Fabrics is the modern division of Northcott, a wholesale fabric company that distributes internationally. FIGO produces fabric with a current aesthetic, embracing what’s trendy and modern.

This is the second of two lookbooks FIGO has produced for it’s two collection releases. I am responsible for designing lookbooks and other marketing materials, including social media, for each release. I collaborated on the art direction for both lookbooks and carried out the photography and layout design independently. View the full lookbooks here: Fall 2018 & Spring 2018

This small division launched in April 2018 and has been doing extremely well for its short lifespan and going strong. The division won “Best Multiple Booth” award during its debut at International Quilt Market Portland 2018.

Banyan Batiks by Northcott

Northcott Silk Inc. is a wholesale fabric company that distributes internationally. Banyan Batiks is a division of Northcott, offering handmade batiks from Indonesia. The company distributes fine cotton printed fabrics for the quilt, craft and home décor industries.

As the lead marketing graphic designer for Banyan Batiks I am responsible for designing catalogues for each release, occurring quarterly. Banyan Batiks' launch began with it's September 2017 Catalogue, where in I created engaging spreads featuring fabrics and quilts created for that release. I produced two catalogues for the January 2018 release. One catalogue featured the ongoing and re-orderable collections called The Essentials. The second catalogue featured the January 2018 collections.

I also designed the unique branding and title artwork that represent each collection. These catalogues are used by both fabric shop owners and sales representatives. The catalogue is used by the reps as a selling tool and as a visual aid to ease the process of reordering for the shop owners. The charts featured in the back of the catalogue detail how much fabric needs to be purchased for each pattern kit. View the full catalogues here: January 2018, January 2018 Essentials & September 2017.

The Banyan Batiks Fabric line offers a variety of batik fabrics in a multitude of shades and designs. A prominent collection within their Essentials is "KETAN" featuring a rice motif which is offered in 80 different colours. From these 80 different fabrics, groupings were selected to create six different lines of Ketan Precuts. Precuts are used by quilters when they prefer to buy multi-coloured packs of fabric that are cut into specific shapes for their quilting needs, rather than buying cuts of fabric from a bolt.

I created the packaging for six Ketan Precut lines. Ketan Confetti, Ketan Pink Skies, Ketan Mint Mocha, Ketan Shades of Dark, Ketan Sugar Sprinkles and Ketan Washed Ashore.

I worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario in the Spring of 2016 for three weeks to fulfill the internship requirement of the YSDN program. I was also asked to come back for their Summer Education Program in the late summer 2016 for six weeks.

The main departments that I worked with were the Design Department, the Marketing Department and some members of the Publishing Department. The graphic designers I worked with design the signage within the gallery, gallery posters, pamphlets and signage for events. They also create the identity of temporary exhibits and the way-finding signage that accompanies these exhibits.

The below images are from some of the bigger projects that I contributed to. I was a part of the Small Wonders exhibition team where I worked with graphic designer Marilyn Bouma-Pyper to create illustrations of the miniature boxwood carvings. I was supplied with high-resolution photos of these miniature carvings and I traced the elements that the information panels highlighted. You can see how small the carvings are within the prayer beads featured in the images below. I created all the illustrations in the exhibition. This exhibition received an award from the Registered Graphic Designers Association in November 2017. 

My most recent freelance project has been in collaboration with Parks Canada. This ongoing project consists of creating illustrations of animals and plant life. These illustrations are used on trading cards, paper hats and within work booklets which are used as educational tools.

Species named as they appear: Black Legged Tick, Cedar Juniper Rust, Cylindrical Blazing Star, Eastern Kingbird, Fringed Puccon, and Meadow Jumping Mouse. 

This illustration was created for a contest hosted by, my home town, Orangeville. This design and two others were chosen out of many applicants in the year 2016 for the Utility Box Art Display Program. This program aims to incorporate more locally produced art work throughout the city.

My inspiration for the Utility Box Art Display Program started with my admiration of the beautiful architecture in Orangeville. The architecture throughout Orangeville represents the town’s historical heritage and the unique architectural forms found across town are distinct features that are the prime identifiers of Orangeville. I decided to replicate iconic buildings throughout the town through the medium of digital art, because graphic design is my area of study. Deciding which building to replicate was a more in depth process, taking into consideration the more prominent and unique architectural forms as well as what each building represents, I decided on four distinct buildings. These buildings include: the Court House, the Westminster United Church, Town Hall and the Public Library. The buildings each represent important symbolic pillars of support in any community. The court house represents the government and the justice system of the community. The church represents faith and religion. Town hall represents, again, the government but also art and entertainment of the community. Finally, the library represents education and knowledge. All of these concepts are crucial components of the foundation of any community. These buildings are also the more unique architectural buildings of the town. I also added the founder’s statue of Orange Lawrence as well as the clock towers, because these are important features of the town’s historical heritage and of the main roadway – Broadway. 

The 2025 World Expo: A Sustainable Future project focused on the preliminary creation of an identity for the World Expo that would hypothetically be held in Toronto. The challenges faced in this project were including vital information about the expo and incorporating French as a second language, while trying to express a theme through imagery. 

My exploration started with three different themes.

The first expresses a sustainable future, with the overgrown greenery and electrical plugs, these two elements work together to suggest a future with greener energy. This method of approach was more of a representational style. 

The second poster suggests to focus more on sustaining life on earth rather than sustaining profit. This method of approach is in the symbolic style. This imagery was inspired by the saying “When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize you cannot eat money."

The third poster represents the earth melting, which suggests global warming as an issue. The sunk areas of the globe also mimic the imagery of a precious gem. This method of approach was inspired by abstraction.

The last poster is the finalized and refined poster for this project. I decided to use this treatment to create an identity for the expo by using this imagery in other settings, such as web advertisements, VIP passes, event tickets, digital tickets, a Website splash page with a mobile version and a brochure/pamphlet with details about upcoming event throughout the expo. 

Editing Thoughts is a visual exploration of how anxiety affects the body and mind. The objective of this project is to bridge the gap between those who suffer from anxiety and those who don’t comprehend the effects of anxiety. This book is meant to aid friends and family of the individual to more deeply understand the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. The book guides the viewer through a chaotic and disorienting visual journey, simulating anxiety at its worst with the aim of evoking empathy. Editing Thoughts also has a second purpose, this being to encourage healthier thought behaviour. This notion is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which aids the individual in identifying negative anxiety-triggering thoughts in the effort to correct and train the brain to think more positively, minimizing anxiety triggers. Editing Thoughts educates both the afflicted and the comprehensively challenged.

Editing Thoughts is a compilation of photographs that simulate the mental and physical strains of which anxiety inflicts. Motion blur is incorporated in many of the photos, imitating the never-still mind and the constant assault of thoughts and involuntary movements provoked by anxiety. The intense shadows used in the black and white photography represents the dark thoughts and the depression that often accompanies anxiety. There are also negative phrases throughout the book, which have been typed out and edited with pen markings that scratch out negative words. This is where CBT is incorporated into the visuals, these phrases become more positive be eliminating the negative words. The phrases are on ripped pieces of paper and are distorted, making them hard to read at times. This is to represent the frustration with anxiety and the ways in which anxiety can distort thoughts.

The yellow windows scattered throughout the book are used to highlight certain aspects of the images, as well as represent fear and happiness. The balance between fear and happiness is a constant struggle for many and it's important to comment on the duality of this chosen hue. Yellow represents fear and cowardice, but it can also represent happiness and light. This colour comments on the goal of becoming happy and the fear of succumbing to anxiety. The slightly irregular shape of the book and unusual material of the book cover is intended to be a little unnerving, causing minor discomfort. The cover of the book is wood painted a glossy black, the contrast between the visual glossiness and the texture of the wood is odd. The covers are left blank, giving no hint to what lays inside. The outward appearance is intended to be enigmatic and unnerving because anxiety also possesses these qualities. Newsprint was used to enhance the grittiness of the photos and add another layer of contrast of textures used throughout the book. The yellow acetate wrapper is used to tie in the yellow windows/boxes within the book as well. 

Editing Thoughts really evolved throughout the yearlong process of creating this piece. My initial thoughts on representing anxiety originated with glitch art and digital manipulation. The first prototype of this project was a very experimental book, which included many superfluous and convoluted elements. The prototype had flaps that hid and revealed negative phrases. The distortion was more prominent in the images, where the spreads were cut into three sections and the viewer could flip through the book and distort the images themselves. The project resulted in Editing Thoughts, which became an educational, yet artistic thesis piece, combatting stigma and raising awareness. 

Through this project I strived to explain and provide information about Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity. When this disease goes undiagnosed for long periods of time the symptoms the disease triggers takes its toll on the human body and in severe cases could lead to death. The goal of this pamphlet is to get people more aware of this disease and to encourage a standardized testing/ screening for celiac disease.

This pamphlet unfolds, revealing six panels of information, regarding Gluten Sensitivity. when the pamphlet is unfolded completely the backside will reveal a poster, “Treatment: The Gluten-Free Diet” which showcases a study of the quality of life outcomes in celiac patients by level of compliance with a gluten free diet. Extensive researching was done to create this pamphlet/poster in order to provide a well rounded quality of information. By grouping small portions of information and creating interesting infographics I have created an engaging and informative piece.

I also created a DPS using InDesign, which follows the narrative of the pamphlet and poster. Though the actions/animations that I accomplished creating in my DPS are simple, they involved a lot of steps and a lot of different layouts to accomplish.  The video is a screen capture of a user engaging with the content on an iPad.