Winnipeg, Canada
We’re very pleased to have had the opportunity over the last six months of working with an exciting new First Nations initiative—TIPI (TWCC Insurance Partners LP)—on the creation, naming, and design of branding and communications materials. TIPI fulfills the dream of a single, national pension and benefit plan for Aboriginal People and First Nations organizations, and holds the potential to bring together more than 490 separate plans currently scattered across Canada.
Combining pension assets into a single plan will dramatically lower fees charged to First Nations pension accounts. This in turn means that more money stays in the communities, reversing the “economic leakage” that is currently the norm. TIPI will also lead to the creation of numerous jobs for Aboriginal people; and TIPI raises the bar with ethics based on honesty, openness, social responsibility, and regard for the well-being of People (vs. the well-being of the “corporate bottom line”).
Part of Circle’s work on behalf of TIPI has been the design and development of a launch website, where you can learn more about this exciting initiative.
Shown above is a screen-shot of the new WordPress-powered TIPI website, along with some of the key messages that appear on the splash page.
Taipei, Taiwan
Robert L. Peters has just returned from the 2011 IDA World Design Congress in Taipei (IDA = the International Design Alliance, comprised of Icograda, Icsid, and IFI) and the 24th General Assembly of Icograda, the International Council of Communication Design.
The sold-out benchmark congress event drew together over 3000 delegates from around the globe, and was accompanied by a successful Design Expo (which enjoyed over 1 million visitors); scores of parallel exhibitions, conferences, and seminars further illuminated the city of Taipei’s position during this time as the centre of attention in the world of design.
The 2011 IDA Congress lived up to its billing as a unique gathering of thought leadership exploring the intersection between design and five key sectors of global relevance: economic development, the Internet, biotechnology, urbanism, and international migration. As such, it brought together designers with non-design stakeholders to promote the value of design and explore design-led approaches as an enabler of innovation. “The Congress theme—Design at the Edges—highlights the edges between design practice and other fields having a stake in design; the blurring of the boundaries between the design disciplines, as well as their unique attributes; and ‘cutting edge’ work and ideas—thinking that pushes the boundaries of all disciplines.”
Over the past two years, Peters has had the pleasure of acting as an adviser to the Taiwanese hosts/organizers, and he was also pleased to have the opportunity of presenting a keynote lecture in the ‘Economic Development’ stream. He’s learned a lot about Taiwan (this was his 7th trip there), in no small part through the process of researching and writing a feature article that appears in the current issue of Communication Arts magazine (November/December 2011 issue, download a 1.7MB PDF here).
A huge ‘thank-you’ goes out to the local hosts in Taipei; the Taiwan Design Centre, as well as to the visionary Taiwanese ministries whose mission for sustainable economic development has placed Design at the center of their strategic thinking for the future. Thanks also to the many Taiwanese designers who contributed their works and viewpoints to Peters’ CA article… 謝謝!
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Opening next month at a Beta location in the Exchange District… thousands of (admittedly still-rough) square feet on the 3rd Floor of 125 Adelaide St., featuring 24/7 access to some remarkable rapid prototyping and 3D printing equipment, as well as a supportive “community” of good, passionate folks who are into unapologetic ideation and iteration, embedded system design, woodworking, metalworking, and a variety of creative disciplines related to “making.” Expect to encounter opportunities for collaborative project development, mentorship, and skills transfer in this non-profit environment…
We were pleased to be involved in the design of AssentWork’s corporate identity. More information on how to become a part of AssentWorks here.
See you there?
Winnipeg, Manitoba
In preparation for the upcoming provincial elections in Manitoba (slated for 4 October) we’ve contributed design services to neighborhood community organizations in Winnipeg’s West End for three posters promoting the 2011 Provincial Election Forum—your vote counts!
Montréal, Quebec
We’re delighted to announce that the latest set of commemorative stamps in the Canadian Recording Artists series that we have designed for Canada Post is launching today. This series of stamps features black & white portraits of the artists, supported by typographic tapestries comprised of song titles. The iconic Canadian artists featured in this series are Bruce Cockburn, Robbie Robertson, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, and chanteuse Ginette Reno. CD-shaped booklets of 8 die-cut, pressure-sensitive stamps (along with envelope seals and information about each artist) are available in four styles, with individualized covers for each of the four artists. Also available are souvenir sheets, postcards, and an Official First Day Cover (OFDC, popular with philatelists).
Circle has been designing the Canadian Recording Artists stamp series since 2007; the first series featured Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray, and Paul Anka; series two featured Édith Butler, Stompin’ Tom (Connors), Bryan Adams, and Robert Charlebois.
These limited edition stamps are available through post offices across the country as of today, 30 June 2011. They 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).
For more information about the stamps’ design, please contact Robert L. Peters at Circle in Winnipeg: +1 204 943 3693.
Images: the round souvenir sheet on gummed stock; the four “postage paid” postcards, each featuring an enlarged stamp/portrait; and the Officidal First Day Cover (OFDC) with date-of-issue cancellations.
Vilnius, Lithuania
Circle’s founder, Robert L. Peters, has spent the better part of the past week in Vilnius, capital city of the Baltic state of Lithuania, as an invited speaker and active participant in the Spring: Icograda Design Week. Official activities included attendance of the Icograda Regional Meeting, delivery of a lecture entitle Welcome Change at the International Conference held at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and acting as a presenter at the European Design Awards 2011.
Highlights of Peters’ week included numerous design exhibitions that ran in the old city (concurrent to the Design Week), meeting with old and new designer colleagues from some 20 different countries, and spending time in some excellent art galleries and historic cultural venues. A big thanks goes out to the organizers and to Gediminas Lasas and his colleagues at the Lithuanian Graphic Design Association in particular…
Photos (by Ines Subtil): participants of the Icograda Regional Meeting outside the Vilnius Academy of Arts; an on-stage group shot of all of the winners and presenters of the European Design Awards 2011; Peters and MTV hostess Ugne Skonsmanaite presenting a silver award to Beetroot Design Group from Greece for their packaging work “Konva.”
Ottawa, Canada
(from a piece in CBC’s Arts & Entertainment)
…Canada Post has announced that a new stamp featuring the celebrated singer-songwriter will be issued on June 30 as part of the third instalment of its Canadian Recording Artists series. His stamp will join the previously announced stamps of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Robbie Robertson and Ginette Reno.
“This is very exciting,” the Ottawa-born Cockburn said in a statement. The stamp’s design—a black and white image of him against a red background featuring titles of his hit songs—is “beautiful,” he added. Over the years, the folk-rock singer and activist has won multiple awards for his music, which includes hits such as The Coldest Night of the Year and If I Had a Rocket Launcher. His original songs have inspired covers by a wide range of artists—from Jimmy Buffett to the Barenaked Ladies.
He released his 31st album, Small Source of Comfort, in March and is currently touring the U.S. Cockburn, who is also an officer of the Order of Canada and member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, is slated to publish his memoir in April 2012.
We were happy to have the honor of designing this latest set of stamps featuring Canadian singer/songwriters (our third such series)… look for more news and image releases in the weeks to come.
Toronto, Canada
Circle’s founder, Robert L. Peters, gave a presentation at FITC Toronto 2011 earlier today… exploring “why” we as designers do what we do, and “to what end.” His talk included a personal existential narrative (tracing back to the 16th-century Holy Roman Empire) wrapped in a “big-picture exposition” on the power of design to shape culture and influence our tomorrows. Thanks to Shawn Pucknell for bringing Peters back to FITC on this special 10th-anniversary occasion (his 8th time giving a talk at FITC).
DesignEdge Canada has a writeup of Peters’ talk in its May 4th news, here.
Winnipeg, Canada
We’re looking forward to the gala black-tie dinner fundraiser tonight at the Hotel Fort Garry on Broadway—the special honoree is Manitoba’s former Premier, and now Canada’s Ambassador to the USA, Gary Doer. This event is the 28th annual for the Concordia Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to preserving the high quality of health and wellness services provided by Concordia (Concordia Hospital, Concordia Place, Concordia Hip & Knee Institute, Concordia Wellness Projects and Concordia Village).
Circle is a sponsor of the gala event, and we also designed the related graphics and collateral materials. Find out more about the Concordia Foundation at the recently-launched website we designed, here.
Postscript (6 June 2011): The fundraiser proved to be a resounding success, with over $100,000 raised. View a summary by the Winnipeg Free Press here.
