Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver pre-opening press

MOV Conservator Carol Brynjolfson working on The Blue Eagle Café sign in the Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver exhibit | photo: Kirsti Wakelin 2011

The opening party for Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver is tonight (Oct 12, 2011), the exhibit opens to the public tomorrow, and already the show is getting a lot of press. Here is a Global BC segment on the exhibit with MOV’s Marketing Officer, Amanda McCuaig, as well as an article in the Vancouver Sun.

If you would like to see some photos of the exhibit (before it opens), the blogger preview has resulted in a few articles with lots of pictures of the show – the signs do make good photography subject matter:

• On Vancouver is Awesome

• On Ariane C Design

• On The modline

Announcing Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver

Owl Drugs @ Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver | © Kirsti Wakelin 2011

Our newest exhibit design project is scheduled to open to the public on October 13th at the Museum of Vancouver. Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver showcases a selection of neon signage from Vancouver past, and explores the controversy surrounding the aesthetics of a changing city.

Drake Hotel @ Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver | © Kirsti Wakelin 2011

The exhibition process has afforded us a fascinating look into Vancouver past – there is a nostalgia these days for Vancouver’s old neon, but the signs didn’t all have the iconic charm of Save-On-Meats, The Only Seafoods and Hellen’s swinging girl – there was a virtual signage free-for-all and, as curator Joan Seidl puts it, neon was the lightening rod for the critics of the signage jungle. Within the exhibit, the passionate arguments both for and against are woven in amongst a selection of signs from the Museum of Vancouver’s collection, as well as photographs of Vancouver street views of the past by Vancouver Sun photographer Walter Griba.

For the full experience, we recommend taking one of the curator talks and tours (the first one is November 3rd, 2011):

Did Vancouver’s flashing neon signs signal glamour, excitement and big city living?  Or was neon part of a tawdry display that disfigured Vancouver’s natural beauty?

Joan Seidl, Director of Collections and curator of Neon Vancouver, will delve into this question an more, in this in-depth talk and tour. Learn more about the history of the signs in the exhibit, Vancouver’s evolving hate/love relationship with neon, and how MOV came to hold a significant neon collection.

- Events: Curator’s talk and tour - Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver

Drake Hotel, Chops & 'Rant @ Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver | © Kirsti Wakelin 2011

further reading:

• Museum of Vancouver - Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver | Advance release | July 26, 2011 
• Vancouver Is Awesome - Vancouver Was Awesome | The Old American Hotel
• Vancouver Is Awesome – Helen’s Swinging Again in the Heights
• Vancouver Is Awesome – Vancouver Was Awesome | The Only Cafe’s Neon Seahorse 
• Vancouver Is Awesome – Vancouver Was Awesome | The Pigs of Save-on-Meats

Ar Ne Kr Xe

We’re designing a new exhibition for the Museum of Vancouver that will open in the fall of 2011. More details soon. But until then, here’s a hint:

2011 takes a surreal turn

2010 was notable for us as it became a year of exhibit design, beginning with full scale exhibition design for the Museum of Vancouver shows The Art of Craft and Fox, Fluevog and Friends: the Story Behind the Shoes and continuing with graphic and colour design for The Modern Woman: Drawings by Degas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Other Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris and In Dialogue with Carr: Douglas Coupland, Evan Lee, Liz Magor, Marianne Nicolson.

Continuing on that trend, 2011 sees us working on the exhibition design for the slightly more succinctly named exhibit The Colour of My Dreams: the Surrealist Revolution in Art for the Vancouver Art Gallery. We are very excited to be working on this exhibition and after spending months working with digital images of the artwork, we are looking forward to seeing the works in person when they arrive in Vancouver for installation and the opening on May 28, 2011. The exhibition includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Man Ray, René Magritte, Joan Miró and more. So many more.

For more information on the exhibition, please see this Vancouver Art Gallery press release.

on an interpretive tip

NEW WORK | BRITANNIA HERITAGE SHIPYARD

Residential experience video for Britannia Heritage Shipyard | View video here

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Another project in our shift this year to diversify our storytelling was an interpretive video for Britannia Heritage Shipyard. The work documented the varied experiences, across social and ethnic bounds, of residential life at the former cannery and shipyard site.

Documentary narrative and interpretive work is a direction I’ve been wanting to explore further for some time now, and we’ve managed to work elements of it into previous projects when we can. All our storytelling aims to be experiential, but relating an historical sense of place is an entirely different challenge to relating a lifestyle one.

And as much as I enjoy traveling to exotic locales for photoshoots, it was nice to work on a project so close to home and learn more of the incredible history of our area – I certainly gained a greater sense of my place.

type as image

NEW WORK | REPLAY RESORTS MOTION DESIGN

View motion design here

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I had the chance recently to help two of my good friends, Trevor Johnston and Jonathan Mentzos of Thought Shop Creative, with motion design on their video for Replay Resorts. In the past, we shared some great times as a team, creatively and socially, so it’s always a welcome opportunity to reunite on a project. And they provided me a much appreciated venue to do some fairly involved motion design – what I enjoy creating more than anything else.

It’s nice to move from type and image storytelling to type as image storytelling. Developing extended sequences like these also allowed me to integrate transitions and edits much more than the short, isolated motion design sequences typically seen in our videos. I’m seeking out more opportunities for this professionally, in addition to developing some ideas personally, so expect to see more diversity in my motion design featured on this blog soon.

design of a different kind

NEW WORK | MOV Studio

Completed MOV Studio space | view more photos | read more about it on Kirsti’s blog

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While my focus and passion in design has centred on motion design for some time now, I’ve had the opportunity to work in many varied media over my career. Kirsti Wakelin and I recently had the chance to get back to a little experiential design with the newly rebranded Museum of Vancouver. To help introduce their new direction and identity, we transformed the existing, cluttered orientation gallery into the new MOV Studio.

and now for something completely different

NEW WORK | THE GEEZ’S ROCK N’ ROLL ROAD AND STRIPPER REVIEW SHOW

View motion design here | View full trailer here

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Best line from creative brief: Warning. This program may contain coarse language, scenes of nudity and general badassness. A pretty good indication that this would be slightly different than my recent real estate work.

I came to creating the motion graphics for The Geez Show trailer through friend, and producer, Jeff Griffiths. He’s helping Keith “The Geez” Giesbrecht pitch a 13-episode television experience rather unlike any biker shows seen before. I think the trailer pretty much speaks for itself, but my favourite description of the show so far is this: If Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round and Peter Fonda’s Easy Rider had a drunken one-night stand, The Geez Show would be their bastard child.

Check out thegeezshow.com for a more detailed description of the show.

You’ve been forewarned.

Hacienda

NEW WORK – HACIENDA 30-SECOND TV SPOT

Opening screen | Hacienda 30-second TV spot

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I just had the refreshing opportunity to complete a project with a quick turnaround. Seeing as our project timelines are often counted in months rather than days, it was nice to have some near-instant gratification.

And, even more refreshing, the piece itself was counted in seconds (30) rather than minutes. The constraints of a 30-second piece were actually liberating rather than limiting. I was able to focus on selecting only the best images and spend time refining the motion design and editing to a finer degree than a 7-10 minute film usually allows. The focused amount of time you have the viewer’s attention also keeps you acutely aware of information overload and maintaining balance in the layering of graphics, imagery and narration. It was a nice little exercise in creative and strategic thinking for me.

Unfortunately, not being a Tennis Channel subscriber, I won’t have the chance to see it broadcast. Ah, the quirks of digital cable and niche marketing.

the real reason I like my job

Tacos al pastor taqueria signage | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

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Without a doubt, the most enjoyable perk of my job is the opportunity to travel. And working from home only makes those opportunities all the more welcome. 

But truth be told, beyond my advance research of the project and location, the thing I’m most likely to be Googling before my trip is food – regional specialties; unique or acclaimed restaurants; anything seemingly delicious.

I may not have the most refined palate, but when it comes down to it I just really like to eat. Maybe too much at times, but it’s still something that can bring me a great deal of simple pleasure. And I think that simplicity is what appeals to me so much about my favourite Mexican food. Fresh ingredients, prepared and presented simply. Add a Bohemia or margarita on the rocks and I will most certainly (and simply) be pleased.