We thought we’d weigh in on The CDR’s open call for thoughts on
the Best Canadian Design 2015 (Follow #BESTCDNDESIGN2015 on Twitter for more results). We decided to limit our choices to projects & people we featured on our site last year. Disclaimer – This list is purely subjective, flawed and incomplete!
BRANDING
Sonos
Bruce Mau Design
This year it was particularly hard to choose one branding project that beat out the others but the SONOS identity by BMD was fantastic. It repositioned tech / audiophile speciality products into a more accessible brand for the general public. The SONOS brand is now a living and breathing entity, full of character and energy – and as BMD have proven in their work to date – it’s got plenty of potential to grow and develop over time.
Runner Up : Curling Canada – Hulse & Durrell
ILLUSTRATION
Justyna Stasik
The person who’s work we liked best in 2015 was Justyna’s. Her style is so unique and unlike anything else we saw over the year. She’s able to keep her illustrations simple in terms of concept but fill them with a visual richness by using geometric lines, texture and pastel colours.
Runner Up : We are going to cheat here and name two – Tavis Coburn & Tom Froese
TYPE DESIGN
Moriston – Riley Cran
The Lost Type Co-Op published a real gem here by Riley Cran. At lighter weights it’s a really solid grotesque, however at the heavier end of the spectrum its character grows into rather interesting display typeface. It’s numbers are particularly beautiful.
Runner Up: Echo – Ross Milne
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE
Super Natural British Columbia – Dare Vancouver
2015 had a nice start to the year with the introduction of the new tourism identity for Destination British Columbia. SNBC utilizes a custom typeface, copy writing style, great photography and shows a real commitment to engaging visitors through brand touch points. Is it perfect, no. But it’s a really good start.
Personal Project / Self Promotion
Hiné Mizushima
We love Hiné Mizushima’s work. It’s bizarre, intriguing and extremely well crafted. The work is hard to pigeon hole, is it illustration / sculpture / craft? Which for us makes it all the more interesting. On top of all that Hiné has a real eye for photographing her miniatures, which brings them to life. Her site is well worth a browse and the work there will say a lot more than we can here!
