N O U N : A design blog by Oliver Oike

via Craig Rennie.

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I have the good fortune of attending ICOGRADA’s Design Week 2010 in Vancouver at the end of April. The GDC is a Host Partner for the event, and a few good friends have been logging a ton of extra-curricular hours to ensure a world-class event. I’m really looking forward to it (not to mention the [...]

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Douglas Coupland handed me my degree at the convocation for the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design (as it was called back then) Class of 2000. He, along with Lynn Johnston and Japanese-Canadian artist Takao Tanabe, were honorary graduates (pretty great, no?). Whenever I feel homesick for my five years spent in Vancouver, I [...]

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The RADIO CANADA concept is a homage to the cultural significance of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This radio console design was inspired by the dedication of the many CBC listeners who keep their radio dials permanently set to our national broadcaster. After setting the radio to local CBC frequencies, [...]

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I like the mind to be a dustbin of scraps of brilliant fabric, odd gems, worthless but fascinating curiosities, tinsel, quaint bits of carving, and a reasonable amount of healthy dirt…

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Souvenirs (2008) Three short films which trace the shifting identities of a city called Winnipeg and the people who call it home.
* colour, black & white
* archival photos & sound
* 8 & 16mm film
* Hi-8 digital video, DigiBeta, Beta SP NTSC
* 4:3 letterboxed
* stereo
Created through the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Public Art Program during an artist [...]

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I missed the boat on this yesterday, but wanted to share a cool Manitoba-related resource called “This  Was Winnipeg.” It’s updated regularly was all kinds of interesting bits & pieces of useful information, photos and observations. Well worth a visit.

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This new sculpture by Gordon Reeve was just installed. Lucky for me, it’s directly across the street from my office, in Assiniboine Park. So I dodged the morning rush hour yesterday and captured a few shots.
I famously (not) dropped out of Gordon’s sculpture class way back when I attended the University of Manitoba. It had [...]

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My alma-mater (2000) just became a University! The video above shows BC Premier Gordon Campbell making the official announcement.
What does this mean? From the site:
This is one of the most significant changes in the 83-year history of Emily Carr. We will over the next year be planning and implementing the transition to a university [...]

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Census data is coming now, with lots of coverage on the federal site, as well as this nice summary Flash piece on the CBC site.

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The PPS (Project for Public Spaces) website has recently posted a list of 60 great places around the world – a shocker that Winnipeg was left off! It’s one of those lists you get to hear gushy travel-show hosts spill on about: “you *have* to go in the fall, and sit in the cafe on [...]

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Philips’ focus on design & simplicity in its branding efforts is highly visible on their site. They have a large area devoted to talking about their “Sense and Simplicity” brand promise, including the announcement of their formation of a “Simplicity Advisory Board,” made up of professionals from around the world, including my hero John Maeda.

Back [...]

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My old boss, and all-round great guy, Kevin van der Leek sees his hard work come to fruition with a beautiful new stamp for the Vancouver Aquarium’s 50th Anniversary. Congratulations Kevin!Full press release below:
Vancouver Aquarium: 1956-2006
Article published in Canada’s Stamp Details (Vol. XV No 2; April to June 2006)
As a frequent visitor to the Vancouver [...]

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Friendly Manitoba rebrands with “Spirited Energy,” a new positioning statement and accompanying campaign designed to re-introduce the province to the world. Completed over two years by Interbrand (NYC), the new idea was launched yesterday at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
More from the site:
Spirited Energy
Manitoba’s rich history of diverse cultures, varied climate, and northern location has instilled [...]

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Don’t know why I didn’t link this earlier, but I just noticed that they recently released some fun old-school items and so deserved a link.
See everything here.

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I was browsing the CBC site and came across an article about a (former) Winnipeg artist – Micah Lexier – who has reprised a project he began ten years ago at the Winnipeg Art Gallery entitled “David.” In his original exhibition, he displayed full-size black and white photos of males named David, with one representative [...]

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Well, the Vancouver 2010 logo was officially revealed in Vancouver on Saturday, much to the chagrin of Canada’s professional graphic design body, the GDC (Society of Graphic Designers of Canada). The GDC website has several articles relating directly to competitions of this nature. The rest of the professional design world stood up to support the [...]

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Had a great time in Toronto. Met some great folks, took in some excellent presentations, and walked and walked and walked. Some folks are posting reviews here. Also, you can find presentation materials here, and attendee photos here & here.

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