Montreal, Canada

INDIGO, the International Indigenous Design Network, is proud to announce that Robert L. Peters has been appointed as an INDIGO ambassador. Rob will bring invaluable design and consulting expertise to INDIGO as well as an extensive international network.

Robert L. Peters, Icograda President 2001-2003, is a designer and principal of Circle, a design consultancy he co-founded in 1976. In addition to practice, he has been actively involved in design education, writing, speaking, advocacy, and professional development for most of his career, including leadership roles within the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda).

As Koopman Chair at the School of Art, University of Hartford, Rob worked with Russell Kennedy in 2006 on INDIGO’s inaugural project, MIX06 (Migrant Indigenous Exchange 2006), developed as a collaboration between Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and the University of Hartford in Connecticut, United States.

Rob is active internationally as a consultant and design strategist, policy advisor, writer, juror, and guest lecturer and is based in Winnipeg, Canada.

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INDIGO Ambassadors are individuals committed to creating an awareness of the network, its projects and promoting engagement with designers, stakeholders and the public at large within their communities. INDIGO Ambassadors support the Secretariat in creating a collaborative environment for the exchange of knowledge and ideas. They offer the network local access and insights, help shape projects and initiatives and serve as resources to the network at large.

(reposted from INDIGO news, here) Photo thanks to Ian McCausland.

Winnipeg, Canada

Our longtime client, The North West Company Fund (NWC), held its Annual and Special Meeting of Unitholders today in the Muriel Richardson Auditorium of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Circle designed NWC’s annual report for the 17th consecutive year—the theme this time around was “More growth in store…” with illustrated stories revolving around that narrative. View the 2009 NWC Annual Report online, here.

Images: Front cover and several interior spreads from the printed report; principal photography (Canada and the Caribbean) by Ian McCausland; Alaska photography by Chris Arend; editorial/writing services by Blunn & Company Inc. of Toronto.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Yesterday evening, Adrian J.K. Shum, a graphic designer here at Circle, was honoured to receive his Kuro Obi Shodan (1st degree black belt) in Kyokushin Karate.

Kyokushin is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達). A very practical method of self defense, Kyokushin emphasizes realistic combat and physical toughness, and it is deeply rooted in the philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training. Adrian started his Kyokushin training not long after joining the creative team at Circle (some five years ago), and continues to train three to four times a week out of the Guardian Dojo. A milestone achievement, Adrian notes that this is only the beginning… quoting Mas Oyama, “One becomes a beginner after one thousand days of training and an expert after ten thousand days of practice.”

Osu no Seishin—the Spirit of Perseverance!

Lisbon, Portugal

The May/June 2010 (#374 Illustration Annual 51) issue of Communication Arts magazine contains a feature article entitled “Visual Communication Design in Portugal: Land of Discovery” written by Circle’s principal, Robert L. Peters. The piece investigates Portugal’s unique attributes, history, culture, and current realities in relation to visual communication—the article is accompanied by a selection of design and illustration by Portuguese designers.

Peters visited Lisbon in 2009 as a speaker at OFFF 2009 Oeiras (International Festival For The Post-Digital Creation Culture), an event attended by nearly 4000 enthusiastic participants. He then drew from dozens of attendees who contacted him following his talk to crowd-source opinions on Portuguese design and related issues, as well as suggestions for representative works.

Peters has been contributing in-depth foreign feature articles to Communication Arts magazine since 1994, including pieces on design and design events in Russia, Portugal (the XVI Icograda General Assembly in 1995), Uruguay, Australia, Korea, Japan, Brazil, China, Denmark, Cuba, and New Zealand. Copies of CA issue #374 are available at book stores and major news outlets around the world and may be purchased online from the Communication Arts website.

Read the full feature article (with full creative credits for works shown) or download the entire CA Portugal design feature here (1.1 MB). Note: this feature article from Communication Arts magazine appears with permission by Communication Arts ©2010 Coyne & Blanchard, Inc. All rights reserved.

A special thanks to the numerous Portuguese designers and design educators who enthusiastically contributed their insights, viewpoints, and suggestions regarding works that appear in the article, in particular; Sarah Chaves Brasseur, Carla Carrão, Aurelindo Ceia, António (Tózé) Coelho, António Costa, Ana Farinha, João Cardoso Fernandes, Antero Ferreira, Afonso Figueiredo, Margarida Fonseca, Bruno Franco, António Silveira Gomes, Carla Ponte Júlio, Ana Lopes, Miguel Macedo, Mário Moura, Fernando Oliveira, João Maio Pinto, Rosa Quitério, Luísa Ribas, Catarina da Silva, Paulo Silva, and Patrícia Sobral.

Toronto, Canada

Sorting through some old files at the office this week we chanced across a one-page response Rob had submitted to Applied Arts back in 2001—in answer to the question by Sara Curtis, the magazine’s editor at the time: “What do you keep in your work space to inspire you?” The resulting piece was featured as the last page of the May/June (Vol. 16, No. 3) issue…

“What inspires me most are encounters, experiences, and exchanges with other creative people I meet around the world. When I travel, I collect meaningful mementos, visual artifacts, and small mnemonic objects—steeped in memories, rich in semiotics and ready to trigger recall in an instant. Back in the studio, these tactile little collectibles act as icons for experiences and invite the Muse. Here are some items from my bulletin board and the corners of my office…”

(see the full page as a PDF  [204 K] and read the image captions here).

Winnipeg, Canada

A handsome presentation box from Nova Scotia Crystal has arrived at the office… containing the sand-blasted crystal trophy for the Icograda President’s Award presented to Robert L. Peters on 26 October 2009 at the opening ceremonies of the Xin: Icograda World Design Congress 2009 in Beijing. The 35-cm-high piece is now on display in Circle’s forum area—due to logistics complexities (involving the “import of creative works” to China) Peters had been presented only the framed diploma portion of the award at the ceremony in Beijing.

Winnipeg, Canada

Digging through some old files in the office recently, we came across this 17-year-old clipping from the Winnipeg Free Press, which ran just before we moved from our original studio on Albert Street to the space we’ve occupied here at the corner of Princess Street and McDermot Avenue since 1993. Our saying “No” to a cattle-call RFP by a prospective client caught the attention of journalist Martin Cash, who penned a mostly complimentary story about our design practice and ethos (read the whole piece in a 252 KB PDF here, if you like)…

Mr. Cash described Circle as “having become known for a certain thoroughness and a high level of quality”—traits we would like to think have remained with us to this day.

Winnipeg, Canada

We wish you and yours the very best!

Taipei, Taiwan

Circle’s founder, Robert L. Peters, is in Taiwan for a week as part of the three-city 2009 Conference of International Design Competitions lecture tour; Taipei, Taiching, and Tainan. The two other international presenters are Nakanishi Motoo (one of the great corporate identity masters, responsible for creating and/or managing the image of over one hundred top-500 companies worldwide, among them Bridgestone, Kenwood, Mazda, Asics, Kirin beer, etc., etc.), and Hiroshi Tsunoda, a talented young Tokyo-born product designer with a burgeoning practice in Barcelona, Spain. Peters reports that audience response in the packed-out venues has been enthusiastic and warm (and Taiwan temperatures in the high 20s have been a full 50 degrees warmer than back in the ‘Peg).

Images above: Taipei 101 (the world’s tallest skyscraper when it was completed five years ago); delegates with Rodin’s Thinker at Asia University in Taiching; Peters in Tainan.

Winnipeg, Canada

Amdocs Inc. provides primary physician services in remote and Northern Canadian communities. Its community-based approach fulfills the vision of Dr. Anthon Meyer to develop mutually rewarding relationships with First Nations communities by delivering high quality family physician services, chronic disease management, practice consultant support for nurse clinician services, and related continuous medical education services in full compliance with both College of Physicians and Surgeons and Governmental standards.

Over the past month we’ve been delighted to work with Dr. Anthon Meyer and his team at Amdocs (now located in Gibraltar House alongside long-time client The North West Company) on the design of a corporate identity, recruitment ads, print materials, and a website. Learn more about Amdocs and the good work the organization is doing here.

São Paulo, Brazil

Our talented colleagues at Oz Design (one of our co-design worldwide partners) were featured this week in the leading Brazilian weekly magazine Veja by means of a 10-page article introducing them as the graphic design professionals who “Give the city a face.” A piece of well-deserved recognition, we think, regarding the efforts that Oz has invested over the past 30 years to promote the value of design in Brazil. If you understand Portuguese, read more here.

Keep up the good work!

Beijing, China

Circle’s founder, Robert L. Peters, was honoured today to receive the Icograda President’s Award from outgoing Icograda President Don Ryun Chang of Korea. The presentation took place at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (the ultra-modern opera house also known as “The Egg”) in Beijing, with an audience of several thousand present for the opening day of the Xin: Icograda World Design Congress 2009.

Beginning in 1970, the Icograda President’s Award has been presented on a biennial basis by the Icograda President. The award honors an outstanding contribution to the work of Icograda. A listing of previous recipients is available here.

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The presentation transcript follows:

“Before we start the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, I have the pleasure of announcing the second 2009 Icograda President’s Award and it gives me great pleasure to introduce Rob Peters and to recognize his many contributions—from his distinguished stewardship of our council during his term as President and board member, to his numerous published articles featured in important design publications, but today especially his significant role in nurturing and promoting design in China and Asia.

Raised and schooled in Europe, Robert was educated in Switzerland, Germany, and England. He is a graphic designer, communications strategist, and principal of CIRCLE, an award-winning design consultancy he co-founded in 1976. Robert is active internationally as a design practitioner, advisor, juror and lecturer.

Following the 1991 Icograda World Design Congress in Montreal, Rob was designated as the GDC’s official delegate and liaison, representing Canada to Icograda General Assemblies in Glasgow in 1993, Porto (Portugal) in 1995, Punta del Este (Uruguay) in 1997 (where I first met him), and Sydney in 1999 where he was elected to the Icograda board for a six-year term from 1999 to 2005, serving as President from 2001 to 2003. Significant achievements during Peters’ six years on the Icograda board include: development of our first content-rich portal, rejuvenation of the network ‘Friends of Icograda,’ launch of both the Icograda Design Education Network and the Icograda Design Media Network, co-organization of Icograda congresses in Seoul (‘Oullim’ 2000), Johannesburg, South Africa (‘Continental Shift’ 2001), and as President of our Council in Nagoya, Japan (‘VISUALOGUE’ 2003—with some 3700 delegates from 49 countries in attendance, the world’s largest ever congress of graphic designers). Rob also served as official liaison between Icograda and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as well as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 2001 to 2005.

Peters joined the board of the international humanitarian organization Design for the World (DW) in 2000 and was appointed as a Vice President in 2002; in 2004 he was named an Honorary Member of the Brno Biennale Association; he was also a member of the founding executive of the International Design Alliance (IDA) from 2003 to 2005.

For nearly 30 years, Robert has lived in a low-energy, passive-solar house he designed and built in the woods east of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is an avid climber (rocks, ice, mountains) and he enjoys nature and human-powered outdoor pursuits. His interests include art, architecture, photography, visual language, and travel, and he has written many important articles for prominent design publications such as Communication Arts (like the memorable article that introduced Chinese design to many readers all over the world).

Rob has been a great role model, a friend to me over the years, and he has given me great advice—it is a special honor for me to recognize his achievements here in China today.

It gives me sincere pleasure to present the 2009 Icograda President’s Award to Robert L. Peters.”

Winnipeg, Canada

We’re excited about a significant product launch happening next week here in Winnipeg. For nearly two years we’ve been working intensely with a visionary client team from Conquest Manufacturing Ltd. and a number of leading architects on the conceptual development, ideation, planning, and design of an exciting new product offer—eco-smart, sensibly-sized, precision-built homes reflecting best practices in sustainable design and offering future-proof comfort and convenience.

We’re currently launching the brand (an initial website went live this week here) and the new line of Challenger homes will kick off in dramatic fashion next Friday at the Autumn Home Show in Winnipeg. The Cube, an innovative, modern, two-story home designed by architect Ed Calnitsky, is being assembled right on the Convention Centre floor (from four precision-built modules delivered to the venue). This leading-edge demo home will act as the event’s feature attraction, and will show off innovative products from many of the show’s other exhibitors.

Find details about show hours, etc. here. If you’re in or near Manitoba, we’d encourage you to drop by Booth #217 (right across from The Cube) and see what the future of smart living will be like.

For more information about this launch, contact Robert L. Peters, FGDC
(Tel. +1 204 943 3693).

Morden, Manitoba

Over the past few months, a new small-space ad for Boundary Trails Dental Centre (a Circle client for over two decades—see a previous campaign here) has appeared each week in the local paper, the Morden Times. Designed as a low-cost, 13-week, awareness-building campaign, the small ads (which have a common look and appear in the same position each week), offer tidbits of engaging information, interesting statistics, factoids about teeth, etc.—all the while lending increased visibility and conveying the specialized services and expertise offered by the area’s leading dental practice.

Feedback has been favourable, and response to the ads’ subtle yet persistent “New patients always welcome” call to action have been impressive—some days have seen as many as 15 new patients!

Toronto, Canada

The latest issue of Applied Arts, Canada’s Visual Communication Magazine (Vol. 24, No. 4, August 2009) has just arrived—in it an in-depth article by Pamela Young on “Green Design” that includes excerpts of an interview with Robert L. Peters. The article by Young acts as “a guide to some of the fundamental issues and options you need to get a handle on or to go green” and lists a variety of accreditation bodies and professional resources to help designers become more savvy.

Winnipeg, Canada

Our latest Canadian Recording Artists stamps (that launched a week ago) have garnered a fair bit of early attention, and there’s been a steady stream of feedback from both near and far. Locally, Robert L. Peters was interviewed on 3 July by Margaux Watt on the CBC radio afternoon show, and on 4 July the Winnipeg Free Press ran an article about the stamps’ design in the Business section (view a larger JPG of the article here or read the piece online here).

The Globe And Mail ran an in-depth story (online here), CTV gave the issue quite a bit of coverage as did Radio-Canada (highlighting that this is the first time that Canadians who perform in French are being lauded by Canada Post), and the stamps and related stories have appeared on numerous websites and blogs (including Bryan Adams’ website here) and philatelic collectors’ sites such as Stamp News International.

Canada Post (our client) and the featured artists all appear to be pleased. Stompin’ Tom says he’s “delighted, humbled and overwhelmed by the ‘stamp of approval;’” Édith Butler (whose great grandfather was a postmaster and who sent us photos of the stamp launch in Paquetville, NB—where her 92-year-old cousin was the first in line at the post office to buy a souvenir sheet) called the stamps “the greatest thing that ever happened to me;” a chuffed Bryan Adams responded “It is a wonderful honour to be amongst the great men and women who have graced our Canadian stamps… I am humbled by the recognition;” and Robert Charlebois stated: “I wish my parents would be alive to see this, because when I started 40 years ago, I never thought I would land on a stamp… I probably will send all my friends postcards with my own face on it, especially to my friends in Belgium and Switzerland—they’re going to faint, they won’t believe their eyes.”

Paquetville, NB / Timmins, ON

On 2 July 2009 the latest set of commemorative stamps we’ve designed for Canada Post will launch concurrently—in the small Acadian village of Paquetville, New Brunswick, where chanteuse Édith Butler was born and raised—and in Timmins, Ontario, where renowned folklorist Stompin’ Tom (Connors) was first granted a 14-month contract to play at the city’s Maple Leaf Hotel. The set of four stamps also includes international rock superstar Bryan Adams and Robert Charlebois, a pioneer of French-Canadian rock.

Building on the market success of the Canadian Recording Artists series we designed two years ago (featuring Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray, and Paul Anka) this set of stamps adopts the round CD-shape precedent for booklets (each artist is featured on a separate booklet cover) and the gummed souvenir sheet (popular with collectors and philatelists)—the latter also appears with dual cancellations with date of issue on the Official First Day Cover (OFDC). Booklets of pressure-sensitive stamps include envelope seals and information about the individual artists.

We also designed a set of postcards—each of these includes an additional performance image of the featured artist. We initially decided to create monochrome portraits for the artists (using a vector-conversion process based on sourced photography of dramatically varying quality levels) and then brought them all into the same dynamic visual “performance space,” a spotlit simulation of how they might appear live and on stage. As we did in the 2007 series, we incorporated a distinctive MetalFX® process of under-printed metallic inks into backgrounds and selvedge areas, adding a lustrous sheen that helps convey the feeling of shiny vinyl and “gold album” prestige.

These limited edition stamps will be available through post offices across the country as of 2 July 2009, can be ordered online by following the links at Canada Post’s website www.canadapost.ca, or by calling toll-free: 1-800-565-4362 (Canada and the United States), or 902-863-6550 (from other countries). Read the feature article published in Canada’s Stamp Details (Vol. XVIII No. 3; July to September 2009) here.

For more information about the stamps’ design, please contact Robert L. Peters, FGDC at Circle: +1 204 943 3693.

Images: the round souvenir sheet; the four postcards, each featuring an enlarged stamp/portrait; the OFDC with dual cancellations.

Winnipeg, Canada

The North West Company (NWC) today held its Annual and Special Meeting of Unitholders at the Winnipeg Convention Centre—President & CEO Edward S. Kennedy was happy to announce the Company’s ninth consecutive year of achieving record sales and earnings (no small feat, given the global economic downturn in the past year).

We were once again pleased to design NWC’s annual report (the 16th consecutive year we have done so), and this year we were also involved in producing a Flash version of the report (viewable online here—high speed connection required). The design approach for NWC’s 2008 Summary Annual Report fleshed out the theme of “sustainable growth” and uses the Company’s major retail banners to convey the story: “favourable industry fundamentals; remote market expertise; an enterprising culture; community-centred retailing; and opportunity in new markets.” You can view an online PDF (2.4 MB) of the 2008 Annual Report here.

Images: The front cover and several interior spreads from the report; principal photography by Ian McCausland; additonal photography by Chris Arend (Alaska) and Herman Crisostomo (Guam); editorial/writing services by Blunn & Company Inc.

São Paulo, Brazil

Our co-design worldwide partners at Oz Design are celebrating their 30th Anniversary, replete with a move into new offices… here’s a congratulatory toast to our talented southern friends from the great white north…

Cheers!

Winnipeg, Canada

We’re delighted to have senior designer Susan McWatt FitzGerald, MGDC back at Circle—after a year of maternity leave. Following many months of searching (we concur that access to quality daycare in this country is seriously lacking) Sue’s been able to find convenient in-home care for wee August… three days a week for the time being. Welcome back, Sue!