Stadia

John Shukin

Stadia is an exercise playing with space and history. Inspired by the massive “paintings” of Julie Mehretu, this piece is meant to be reorganized and reformulated, reconfigured according to each player. Each component was artificially aged to give it the appearance of having a history, something that is intrinsic to all material and space. Drawing on Mehretu’s work, this piece explores how spaces can be made into stadiums, that is, political arenas composed of various actors and acting forces.

Wood
40 in x 20 in x 20 in

Pigmentower

Philippe Caron

Andy Sherman

Sebastien Giasson

Pigmentower is a creative and immersive video game. The player finds himself in an open staircase tower that seems infinite. He can interact with the position of the stairs in order to make their way up the tower. Each staircase has a unique colour, and the player clicks on buttons to keep in their mix. In order to move forward, the colours must be activated. The object of the game is to find the perfect combination of colours.

Unity 5

Increscent

Hailey Turcato

Increscent is an adjustable and customizable lamp. It gives a choice to the user to add more or less light, thus allowing the amount of electricity used to be controlled. All the pieces can be reorganized to customize the shape of the lamp. Increment was made using 3D printing and CNC milling. It uses electromagnetic connections to attach each piece.

ABS Plastic, Russian Birch Plywood, Birch Wood, Magnets, LED
5 x 9.5 in.

Doors

Francis Goodship

Doors is inspired by Thomas Demand’s piece named Abgang (Exit). Abgang evokes a very strong sense of mystery with a very minimalist aesthetic and construction. The familiar construction of stairs, placed in an infinite blank space, pushes the question of where they lead. Doors attempts to recreate this sense with another familiar structure. This project consists of a series of ajar doors in closed-off rooms that serve to replicate the intrigue and frustrations in Demand’s pieces. The open door brings viewers to look inside only to find the intrigue is perpetuated to what seems to be a near infinite extent.

MDF
10 x 17 x 9 in.

Derelicte

Sandra Alexandre-Aimé

Sabrina Emanuele

Anna Luisa Lopes

Cassandra Carosello

Emilie Kehm

This project evaluates a current social issue while using the context of a wearable. The concern lays with current consumption habits taking over consumer culture. This dress was made to comment its emergence in the post-war era and how it resulted in negative environmental outcomes. The many pockets serve as storage for the daily waste an individual produces. This action changes the elegant shape of the dress and how they are seen. The way they feel about themselves also changes, making them more mindful of their personal daily waste.

Organic Linen
34 x 24 in.

Stripped

John Shukin

Julie Tremblay

Jeremy Karl

Tess Kuramoto

Lucas LaRochelle

Stripped is an exploration of identity and first impressions through the lens of clothing. By making transparent apparel, attention is focused on how many stereotypes and conclusions we, as everyday strangers and passers-by, draw from what we put on our bodies. By removing the substance from these signifiers, these conceptual containers, we are forced into a state of discomfort, searching elsewhere for ways of categorizing and understanding. Suddenly, the body becomes packaged within this plastic, stripped of its outward “face” and displayed as imperfect and raw.

Plastic, string
Two outfits

/.\

Julie Tremblay

Sandra Alexandre-Aimé

Cory Landels

John Shukin

Alexey Lazarev

Ketlin Martins

Inspired by Japanese stone gardens, /.\ is a wearable and transformable garment bag that recreates the intimacy and meditative characteristics of nature. Although the stone garden is intensely controlled (raked into a precise pattern), this garment provides the wearer with an experience that brings one in closer harmony with nature by evoking a quasi-spiritual state of being, of proximity, and of attention to nature.

Linen, screen-print, rock
40 x 40 in.

Women of Syria

Fanny Marcoux-Lebeau

This book of photographs shows the situation and condition Syrian women refugees must face daily. The book layout is minimal in order to focus solely on the beautiful portraits taken by Adnan Sharbaji and Giulio Magnifico. An image is worth a thousand words. The little amount of information is also chosen to engage the viewer in doing their own research, especially when we are constantly being fed false information from several media outlets. The book was also done in the hope to give agency to these women.

Mayfair, Strathmore paper
5 x 8 in. (closed), 10 x 8 in. (open)

Uprooted – The Syrian Refugees Crisis

Joey-Christophe Gravel

Uprooted discusses the Syrian Refugees Crisis. Evolving from deep conceptual and content research, this project is a social study, divided into several age groups, that focuses on the challenges of being a refugee. These people’s constant struggle is reflected in the book through a simple and efficient design, captivating photographs, and the informational content. The book is entirely handmade.

Paper
6.5 x 8 in. (open), 13 x 8 in. (closed)

Therefore Lamp

John Shukin

Therefore Lamp is an attempt to make a friend out of an object and to imbue it with as much agency and character as possible. This light is finely crafted, but also hides a secret and a cheeky personality. The hope was to give an object such individuality, or at least the potentiality for it. Thus, a long-lasting and sustainable relationship between the user and the lamp might be formed.

Wood, aluminum, paper
60 x 30 in.

Show&Hide

Laurie Goudreau

Murielle Dufort

Marie-Élaine Grant

́Émile Archambault

Show&Hide reflects on the contradiction and tension that lies in the function of body wear in our society. Clothing has a duality between decency and dare, between unveiling and isolation. Sometimes geometric and cold, this unisex outfit hides the face and torso, creating an isolated space. Other times organic, fluid, and bold, it reveals the body and its figure. Show&Hide questions the real function of body wear in its extremes. Until what point are we willing to hide behind a piece of fabric? Contrarily, to what extent can we reveal ourselves to draw attention?

Tinted wool, recycled leather, magnets
2 x 1.5 ft.

The Survival Kit

Lauralyn Lamarche

John Bigsby

Sydney Cornett

Louise Heng

The Survival Kit is part of a collaborative research project. The challenge was to create a transportable, collapsible, and personal creative space, open to customization, sharing, and multi-functionality. The group was inspired by their own needs of organization. After researching the problems with traditional organization methods, the item that was created could be transported and shared between peers. The result is a multi-functional backpack with detachable compartments. Its concept comes from the shape of the cocoon or seashell with its numerous layers.

100% organic cotton canvas, screen-printing
14 x 19 in.

Helvetica No More!

Maya Moufawad

This project is a post-conference poster called “Helvetica No More”. The concept is to distort the typeface Helvetica and represent it in a different way. The manipulation is exaggerated to make a point that Helvetica is overused, and shows that it is not necessarily the most legible or the best solution. Bold colours for a bold message.

Paper
33.11 x 46.81 in.

Copy

Laurence Pilon

Copy is an experimental, typographic project that focuses on the existing interrelation of content, form, and material. It is based on the idea of deterioration and of censure. The typeface was created by generating data loss with a photocopier. It is used in the context of Nicole Brossard’s poetry to illustrate women’s censored speech. The author’s feminist text “E muet mutant” (Silent Mutant E), published in 1975, deals with the oppression of the female literary discourse in Quebec.

Paper, ink, poetry
24 x 36 in.

Helvetica No More type talk poster

Desislava Davidova

This poster is based on Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer’s typography talk entitled “Helvetica No More.” The poster had to be expressive while the concept had to reflect the idea behind the talk. A limited palette of maximum four colours had to be used and no figurative illustrations or photographs were allowed.

Paper
24 x 24 in.

Année internationale de la protection des sols

Anne Moncion

This three-poster series was created for an SDGQ competition to publicize an exhibition at the McCord Museum about the International Year of Soils. The hand-drawn illustration, paired with the watercolour, accentuates the materiality of the theme. Furthermore, the hourglass as a symbol is used in three different ways and serves as a reminder of the urgency of changing our exploitation methods, from deforestation and the usage of pesticides in farming to the overharvesting of agricultural lands.

Numerical print, ink, watercolour
24 x 36 in.

2015 – Année Internationale des Sols

Joey Christophe Gravel

This three-poster series was designed for a contest organized by the Société des Designers Graphiques du Québec (SDGQ) to promote 2015 as the International Year for Soils. The concept is to bring attention to the critical situation of soils, while encouraging a change in our habits, through a simple but communicative and efficient design. The evocative and self-referential visuals at the core of each poster, the consistency of the layout, and the simplicity of the colour palette in relation to the subject are key elements to convey the main message.

Paper
24 x 36 in. (1) x 16 x 24 in. (2)

International Year of Soils

Dina Bakalova

This series is composed of three posters created for the International Year of the soil, declared by the 68th United Nations General Assembly and under the auspices of the SDGQ, the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec, the McCord Museum, and Publicité Sauvage. They seek to raise awareness of the importance of better soil management on a global scale to contribute in food security efforts, hunger eradication, adaptation to climate change, and reduction of poverty, through sustainable development.

Paper
24 x 36 in. (1) and 16 x 24 in. (2)

EHS campaign poster series

Philippe Caron

The Environmental Health and Safety Department of Concordia University selected this poster series for their 2013 lab safety campaign. This series explores the relation between typographic and photographic compositions, merging the two together. A vigorous colour, a striking model pose, and a refined composition quickly attract the attention of the viewer. The series was printed offset on a five-colour press. Each accent represents a unique spot colour, while the rest is printed in black.

Paper
4 posters, 18 x 24 in.

Future Tomb

Jamison Lightfoot

Cemeteries contain gravestones from centuries ago, showing crumbling and deterioration, to the modern laser-cut ones, pristine and photorealistic. Gravestones from a hundred years ago have begun to return back to nature, weathered from years of harsh winter, while the graves of the present may remain long past their owner’s death. Furthermore, tombs of the future may exist in binary, devoid of tactility or materiality. This typeface aims to take inspiration from the structure and form of bevelled stone. However, it is brought to the digital and deconstructed, so as to understand the progression of the medium of mortality.

Vector Illustrator (Adobe), ink print
24 x 34 in.

Morfología

Camila Jordan

The idea was to create a puzzle that is both aesthetically appealing and functional. This lamp’s design is inspired by nature, more specifically the organic shape of a tree trunk. The line of thought behind it is that light is an essential component for life in nature, as are trees. Playing with the concept of it being a puzzle, this lamp can be taken apart and put back together with different piece configurations and angles.

2015
Birch plywood and metal
70 x 15 in.

(UN) DONE

Milin Li

Kara Stone

Amanda Tom

(UN) DONE is an intimate, non-linear narrative game that follows a couple’s relationship as they tie and untie each other while wearing capes with attached ropes. Tying lets the players hear a happy memory, taking turns listening to one side of the story. Untying allows them to hear ways people change, grow apart until they drift away. Special charms symbolize the category of the memory. The ropes on the cape are made with conductive threads, wire, and yarn that are attached to a LilyPad Arduino. The two transmit and receive signals from each other to communicate which ropes are tied, untied together and sends the data to the computer to trigger the corresponding audio chips of the story.

2015
Macramé, threads, fabric, arduino
70 in.

Chinatown

Sam van der Walde

The goal of this info-graphic project was to create something attractive and easy to understand while maintaining the essence of Montreal’s Chinatown with an updated style. The info-graphic poster shows facts about Chinatown in comparison to other Chinese communities in Canada. The origami fortune cookies are meant to act as a souvenir that visitors can take home after frequenting Chinatown. They each contain a bag of tea with a fact about a local business to encourage visitors to explore and discover new places.

2016
Paper, cardstock
7 x 9 in.

Longhand

Le Nguyen

Maria Mahdessian

Mel Palapuz

Julia Panchyzhna

Hailey Turcato

Longhand is an attempt to explore the complexity of our identities and how we can express them in a moment in time. Stemming from Taiye Selasi’s TedTalk on the 3R’s – Rituals, Restrictions, and Relationships – identity is much more than “where” we are from, it is where we are a “local”. With this in mind, Longhand aims to explore identity through gestural expression at a specific moment: how do people express their identities through writing and contributing to a greater, public space at Concordia’s Spectrum Year End show? By interacting with the piece the participant is encouraged to contribute, play, and question this very intention. #LONGHANDPROJECT

2016
Translucent paper, wire, indigenous rocks
20 x 4 x 10 ft.

Collective Design

Abejane Lou Alvarez

Luis Aretuo

Tia Besser-Paul

Marie-Andrée L’Italien

Johnson Ta

Communities are built through the efforts of each member. Every person contributes by sharing skills and ideas, and drive to help enrich one another. This mutual support leads to the empowerment of each member, which creates positive environments for him or her to grow in. As a community, we thrive, we succeed, and we build bonds that will take us to the next stage of our journey. With this visual time capsule, we celebrate the community that brought us together and that has given us the tools we require to go forth and build greater communities.

2016
Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Adobe Premiere and After Effects

Food Play: A Critical Exploration

Angelina Doherty

My intention is to redirect adult behaviour and beliefs towards the food industry and production, by means of seemingly simple visual and tactile experiences. I aim to further expose practices behind food production that are still not sufficiently on the public radar. This is not solely an exposure of ethics, but rather a more mindful approach of consumption. These are meant for adult use, as they make decisions when it comes to the food industry and production. I have chosen to do this through toys because they seem entertaining, but they are also instructive and have the potential for a greater shock value and are therefore subversive. Through research of the effects of sensory responses in all age groups, this project aims to cater to an all-encompassing human need for tactility and mindful eating approaches that will encourage us to contemplate and be more conscious of food systems and networks.

2016

Wood, string, paint, paper, cardboard, plastic, wire, fabric

8 x 10 ft.

Learned Synesthesia: Discovering the Periodic Table via Music

Mandi Morgan

By drawing upon the principles of learned synesthesia, 45 elements from the periodic table will be transcribed into new meaning by binding audible and visual senses together to create an engaging kaleidoscopic animation. The project is meant to propose that traditional forms of learning can also be learned in non-conventional and creative ways – namely through learned synesthesia.

In collaboration with Hexagram

2016

Film