Julien

Totally smitten for the font Julien by Peter Biľak (Typotheque), who also created another favourite of mine, History.
(via Typographica's Favourite Typefaces of 2011)

Desiderata

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. 

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. 

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. 

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. 

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. 

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. 

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. 

Strive to be happy.

-Max Ehrmann, 1927
(Thanks for the reminder, Auntie!)

Type around T.O: Public school edition

 

NEUnited

I was contacted back in August of 2011 to create a logo for a new online forum for Northeastern University (in Boston, Massachusetts). NEUnited is a blog for students & alumni to share stories about LGBT life at NU.  Huge thanks to Greg for contacting me - it has been an honour working with you and Joe these past few months. I wish you both the best of luck!

Check out the site here.

Winter

It's a snowy day in Toronto this Friday the 13th. I hope you all have a warm, lovely weekend.

-CR

Alphabet 100

This year, I decided to devote more time to 2 of my favourite things: sketching and lettering.

I'm happy to announce a new project called Alphabet 100. I designed this sheet to help me organize my ideas (based on this exercise from my art school days). Every week, I will print out this template, choose one glyph, and create 100 rough sketches. From there, I will place the best / coolest / most interesting solution in the top corner, and then render it in Illustrator. My plan is to post the roughs and final version on the new blog every Wednesday. I should be able to cover all 52 glyphs (26 upper case, 26 lower case) in the 52 weeks of 2012 (fingers crossed!)

Let me introduce the first letter: capital A!

And, the final refined vector drawing:

Please subscribe to the new blog if you'd like to follow the progress.

And if you'd like to try it yourself, please download and print the free template here.

Let the fun begin!

Words to live by

-from "The Power of Side Projects and Eccentric Aunts" by Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka @swissmiss.

Housekeeping

Nothing feels better than have organized, inspiring workspace. After surviving the holidays and catching up on sleep and RSS feeds, I finally got around to dusting and tidying my office. The last time I changed up my wall was 2 years ago (!), so it was about time for a fresh look. Below are a few close-ups!

Here's Po the Teletubby, and my Love letterpress print I created with Tanya at snap + tumble.

This is an awesome alphabet exercise book (also from Tanya!) and some porcelain kitties from Grandma.

This is a watercolour I found from grade 6 (who knew I'd end up living in Toronto?)

This is an antique Speedball alphabet book I found back in 2009, a Rubik's cube, and a white serpentine stone.

This is a postcard from my trip to Istanbul, a photo of my grandparents, and some letterpress blocks.

This is a name block (from my Veer days), another kitty from Grandma, a letterpress print from Tanya, and some antique date blocks I found at the St. Lawrence Market.

And this is a framed version of my alphabet print, available in my shop.
(Special thanks to everyone who placed orders over the holidays!)

Looking back, moving forward

2011 was a busy, awesome year, filled with some big changes, exciting landmarks, and new beginnings. As I move into 2012, I'd like to take a moment to look back on some of the goodness of this amazing year:

• In January, I started a side project called 12 over 12, where I planned investigate the numbers 1 through 12 - one per month - from January to December, 2011.
• On February 1, I launched my professional website, christopherrouleau.com (with the help of my ridiculously talented friend, Chris Roberts). I also created my first batch of handmade business cards to get things rolling.
• In March, I visited my grandparents in Saskatchewan. It was lovely.
• April rolled around, and I was thrilled to design the identity and season posters for Shakespeare Toronto. I even saw my first poster outside MuchMusic headquarters, which was awesome. (Huge thanks to Peter McHugh for this opportunity!) I also got to design a scripty wordmark for 32blades.com, a syncronized skating blog/forum. (Thanks Chelsey!)
• June was ridiculously fabulous when I launched the Official Gay Card into the world, a fun website and print piece created to celebrate Pride 2011. The project went viral after it was picked up by Dan Savage at the Slog,  Andy Towle at Towleroad, Trendhunter, and NOW Magazine. After one month, the site had almost 70,000 page views from 137 countries, 2450 PDF downloads & 1575 iPhone downloads. So much fun!
• In July, I was fortunate enough to visit two Canadian National Parks for the first time - Niagara Falls and Banff. Stunning². In between trips, I was asked to design and hand-bind a series of chapbooks for David Bateman, which were a lot of fun. (Thanks David!) July also marked my 5 year blogoversary.
• In August, I was able to visit Montreal - and take lots of pictures.
• September was a busy month. I launched a promo piece called "10* reasons to work with me" - you can see pictures here and here. I also got to design some super fun typographic art prints for a young lad named Lincoln. (Thanks again Stacey!) And finally, I launched two fun task-managment print pieces: the "Let's Get Sh*t Done Sheet" and the "What The H*ll's For Dinner Sheet".
• In October, I designed a logo for Fulcrum Group, an HR consulting company in Alberta. (Thanks Gary!) I also had the joy of creating my first oil painting for some good friends, Hugh and Tracey. It was a lot of fun. At the end of October, I also announced that I would officially be pursuing freelance graphic design full-time in 2012. Exciting!
• November was another busy one. After a lovely, relaxing visit to Ottawa, I saw my first non-fiction book cover design come to life. It was so exciting to see the book at the launch, and get a copy in my hands. I also launched my shop and made my first art print available for sale.
• And, December. On the first day of the month, I launched the Toronto Etiquette Project. This little passion project exploded in the national media, and I found myself on CBC Radio,  CTV National News, and on the cover of the Toronto Star newspaper. It was a shock and an honour. Feel free to read the exciting progression on my blog here. As of today, the blog has been viewed just under 20,000 times, and the cards have been downloaded almost 3000 times.

As I transition fully into my new freelance career, there are a lot of unknowns about what 2012 will bring. But having said that, I could have never guessed how 2011 was going to unravel one year ago - and I couldn't be happier. Here are some exciting things to watch out for:

• another annual blog project(s) - announcement(s) coming soon
• Toronto Etiquette Project 2.0 - coming January/February (hopefully!)
• more art prints in the shop - as soon as I can
• Official Gay Card 2.0 - June 2012
• more typographic love on this blog (as well as some possible collaborations...)

If you or anyone you know needs a designer, or you want to chat about cats or fonts, do not hesitate to send me an email:
hello [at] christopherrouleau [dot] com

And if you are on Twitter, let's be friends! Find me at:
@Chris_Rouleau

Thanks for making 2011 the best year ever. Here's to another great one!

xoxo,
CR

Happy

Sorry for my blog absenteeism! The last few days I have been filled with sharing food, drinks and memories with great friends and family in Calgary. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this month also marked an exciting career transition in my life, as I ready myself to pursue freelance design full-time. I think it was perfectly fitting that yesterday was the winter solstice, a day that symbolizes both an ending and a beginning. As I look backward, I am so grateful for everything that has happened this past year, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store in 2012.
I want to wish everyone (friends old and new) a wonderful holiday season, and a happy-filled new year.

xoxo,
CR

(Thanks to Ale Paul for the new year's advice, pictured above, via @araadt)

Twelve over twelve

Twelve months after the first post, 12 over 12 (my side blog dedicated to the numbers 1 to 12) is complete! Click here to check out all the numbers.
(And if you love the alphabet, be sure to check out 26 in 52, where I profiled each letter of the alphabet over the course of 2010.)

UPDATE: Toronto Etiquette Project, one week later

One week ago, I hit "Publish" and launched the Toronto Etiquette Project into the world. I emailed the link to a handful of Toronto friends, sent out a few tweets, and continued my day as usual. Since the project was so small and fairly specific (ie. for and about Toronto), I expected that the blog would circulate amongst friends, and that would be that. Little did I know...

After the first two days, the blog had gotten 3500 hits and had coverage on BlogTO, Global Toronto, Treehugger, Newstalk 1010 and CBC Radio 1.

On day 4 (Monday), things went berserk. The project was featured on the cover of the Toronto Star, I had four radio interviews (CBC Radio Metro Morning, 96.9 FM Radio Humber, AM 680 Radio, AM 640 Radio), my first on camera interview on Global TV (at my apartment!), and the hits jumped to 7300.

And since Monday, I had an interview with Post City Magazine, an in-studio interview with Stephen LeDrew at CP24, and 3 minute Q&A interview on CTV News (which got national coverage?) Yesterday, things came proverbially full-circle when I was asked to do a morning interview on CBC Radio Saskatchewan's Morning Edition. I was shocked that the story has somehow made it back to my home province, but so honoured to be able to reconnect with my roots. (Plus, I got to give a shout-out to my grandparents, which made them very happy.)

So, why full-circle? I am very proud of my small town roots, and unbelievably grateful for the support of my family through the last 29 years. I wouldn't be who I am today without them.
They taught me the importance of hard work and discipline.
They taught me to respect others, and respect myself.
And they taught me to say 'please' and 'thank you'.

As the blog surpasses 10,000 hits and 1300+ downloads this morning (just moments ago), I humbly thank everyone for embracing this project. At this point, the numbers don't really matter. It's not about the cards. What matters to me is that there are good people are out there (in Toronto, and everywhere) actively trying to make life better, just by being nicer to our fellow citizens. I think this inspires more hope than any statistic possibly can.

Take care. And thanks.

CR

UPDATE: Toronto Etiquette Project (or, The Power of the Media)

Woah.

Let me first say that growing up in Saskatchewan, I never even imagined living in Toronto. And then yesterday, I see myself on the cover of the Toronto Star. What a crazy 24 hours it has been! Here are a few quick updates on this exciting project.

Yesterday, I had five interviews for the Toronto Etiquette Project:

• CBC Radio Metro Morning
• 96.9 FM Radio Humber
• AM 680 Radio
• AM 640 Radio (with Arlene Bynon)
• Global TV

And then I found out that my Toronto Star interview from the weekend was featured not only in the morning Metro paper, but also on the cover of the Toronto Star.


Also, in the past 24 hours:

• the blog has jumped from 4300 to 7300 hits, and
• the PDF download of the cards has jumped from 555 to 1042 downloads

Needless to say, I am blown away with the response. I cannot thank everyone enough for the kind words of support. To me this project is already a success because it has sparked a conversation in the name of good. Even if you don't agree with the premise, you can't argue that Torontonians are overwhelmingly in favour of making positive change for their city. And I think that is a great sign.

Thank you again.

CR

UPDATE: Toronto Etiquette Project (or, The Power of the Internet)

What an amazing 2 days it has been...

The Toronto Etiquette Project has made its debut - in a huge way. After launching Thursday morning at about 10am EST, we have gotten major coverage online (BlogTO, Global Toronto, Treehugger), on the radio waves (Newstalk 1010, CBC Radio 1), as well as innumerable mentions on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. And as far as I can tell from my tracking and analytics, in the last 48 hours:

• the blog itself has gotten over 3500 hits, and
• the PDF of the cards has been downloaded (or at least viewed) over 500 times

I could not be happier with these results. A project of this nature doesn't work without people, and these numbers seem to indicate that Torontonians are interested in making positive change - together. Thank you everyone, truly.
(continued below)





I am especially pleased with the comments and feedback that are generating on forums, messages boards - and my email inbox. I'd like to take a moment to address some of the common concerns:

"What about a Cyclist card?"
Yes - there seems to be a concern for cyclists' road behavior. I actually drafted a Cyclist card in an earlier version, but I decided to exclude it for a couple reasons: 1) it seemed impractical because of how hard (and not to mention, dangerous) it could be to interact with a cyclist on the road, and 2) it was important that the cards all fit vertically on a letter-sized sheet to ensure the cut-and-accordian-fold format, and 6 cards just didn't fit. If you still want a Cyclist card, let me know, and I'll whip one up!

"What about cards for other cities?"
I hear you. I was going to mock up an alternate set of cards entitled "Urban Etiquette Project", but as the design took shape, the cards took on a very distinctive Toronto esthetic, which seemed like it would be incongruent in other cities. But having said that, the project itself remains flexible and could be easily adapted to take on any city's particular flavour. Want cards for you city? Let me know, and I'll see what I can do.

"What about cards that congratulate good behaviour instead of pointing out bad behaviour?"
I think this is a great idea! And I think it is even greater that this project is sparking new ideas. My hope is that this project will grow and evolve in unexpected ways that empower people to do more good, in Toronto and everywhere. The greatest changes have always started with a small idea.

"Do you actually think this will work?"
You know what - I don't know. It just launched 2 days ago, and I have yet to use one of the cards in my wallet. The reality is I am not walking around like an etiquette crusader with stacks of cards trying to hand them out. All I can say is that I hope it works, and it looks like it could do something. Please allow me to add 2 quick amendments to the unofficial project manifesto:

• The Toronto Etiquette Project is a positive (not negative), active (not passive), collective (not selfish) way of thinking about our common condition. These cards are not weapons or violation tickets. They are not intended to offend, and should never be used in an offensive manner. And they are not a substitute for real dialogue. Please think of them as a conversation starter - a way to engage with your fellow citizens. As you carry the cards in your wallet/purse, think of them as a reminder that we should not be afraid to talk to people. If we can't find healthy ways to communicate with each other, we are in deep trouble.
• [And this might seem terribly obvious, but I feel like I need to say it] please use your common sense, and do not risk your personal safety if you decide to use these cards. I do not want people to get hurt. These cards will not always be appropriate. If you have any doubt about the safety of the situation, maybe reconsider. We don't want to see these cards used as evidence in court.

"This project/designer is rude/patronizing/pompous/passive-aggressive/condescending/self-righteous/etc."
Thanks for sharing. Haters gonna hate.

Toronto Etiquette Project

I love Toronto.

I first visited Toronto in the spring of 2007, and fell in love with this city. Growing up in a small town in Saskatchewan, and then in Alberta for 8 years, I had never experienced a living, breathing metropolis. This city was alive. And through a series of fortunate events, I was able to move to Toronto in June 2009. The love affair began.

Shortly thereafter, the honeymoon period subsided, and I started to notice that some of the stereotypes that Western Canadians purport about Toronto were kind of true; depending on the day, Toronto could be quite fast-paced, impersonal, and, well, rude. On a Friday afternoon in downtown Toronto in the middle of an August heat wave, you won’t see a lot of smiles or hear a lot of niceties; you’re more likely to hear car horns blaring and see the occasional middle finger.

But let’s step back and look at a few statistics. According to Wikipedia,

• Toronto is the largest city in Canada, and the the fifth most populous city in North America.     
• Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, with about 49% of the population born outside Canada.     
• Summer in Toronto is characterized by long stretches of humid weather. Usually in the range from 23 °C (73 °F) to 31 °C (88 °F), daytime temperatures occasionally surpass 35 °C (95 °F) accompanied by high humidity making it feel oppressive during these brief periods of hot weather.

In June 2011, a Toronto Star interview caught my attention. Entitled “Torontonians more and more rude: etiquette expert”, etiquette expert Linda Allan suggested that “indications of incivility are increasing”. But after examining the causes (which included our city's size, diversity and extreme temperatures), she ended the article with a glimmer of hope:

“...while many are quick to be rude, the rest of us are often too polite to say anything. […] Thankfully ... it’s perfectly polite to point out bad manners, so long as it’s done as discreetly as possible without raising one’s voice or using profanity. Indeed, it may be the only way things will change."

This paradox stuck with me. As Canadians, we seem to be programmed to resist confrontation, but at the same time, we are also known for our friendliness and generosity. We want to make things better for everyone, for the greater good. How could we align our passion to help with an obvious need improve overall public manners and etiquette?

I checked the interwebs, and as it turns out, this has been a common concern in Toronto. In 2006, the blog Torontoist released these 4 etiquette citation cards combating Parking Etiquette, Transit Etiquette, Entertainment District Etiquette, and Personal Hygiene Etiquette:
 
And then in 2010, the National Post newspaper unofficially formed the TTCC, the Toronto Transit Civility Commission, which included 4 transit-focussed posters aimed at transit users who trim their nails, don’t tend to their body odour, listen to music loudly, and hog seats on public transit: 
Even across the border, New Yorkers seem interested in this concept of urban etiquette. In June of 2006, New York Magazine released “The Urban Etiquette Handbook”, which thoroughly outlined a series of “rules for getting along in an endlessly wired, ruthlessly crowded, sexually libertarian city.” The topics included: The Office, Cell Phones / iPods, City Living, and Subway / Cabs. As well, New York artist Jay Shells has garnered some attention for his “Metropolitan Transit Authority” project, which included these 4 sassy installation pieces:  
And outside NYC, I would be remiss not to mention the valiant effort by Chicago-based studio Coudal Partners back in 2004, and their SHHH cards (the Society for HandHeld Hushing), which specifically targeted cell phone users:

More recently, an interesting not-for-profit campaign that popped up in large cities across Canada (including Toronto) was called the People For Good campaign, spearheaded by Zak Mroueh (of Toronto’s Zulu Alpha Kilo) and Mark Sherman (of Montreal’s Media Experts). With their large-scale posters and billboards (and a companion iPhone app), their objective was to “make the world a better place, one good deed at a time.” When asked for comment by the Globe & Mail in July of this year, Mroueh elaborated that “something like this can make people think differently, truly think more positively.” I couldn’t help but agree.

This is how Toronto Etiquette Project was born. I wanted to create a mini-campaign of my own, amalgamating the best parts of all these endeavours, improving upon their shortcomings, and incorporating my own creative sensibilities. My 5 objectives from the outset were always:

• usability & interactiveness - something people would feel compelled to use in real life   
• visual clarity & stylistic unity - a branded, flexible system that looked professional, legit
• succinctness - short and sweet   
• smart, but not smart-ass; polite, but not preachy     
• 100% fun & free - with a sense of play and lightheartedness that would make people smile

I also wanted to pay tribute to one of Toronto's iconic landmarks and, one of absolute favourite things about Toronto, the TTC subway stations:

Here are the final results:

I focussed on the aforementioned idea that it’s perfectly polite to point out bad manners, so long as it’s done as discreetly as possible. These 5 cards can be printed at home or work (in colour or black and white), and used discreetly in the most common violations of public etiquette in Toronto (as compiled from personal experience, suggestions of friends, and online blogs and forums).


As long as people approach this project with a sense of playfulness and reasonable discretion, I feel that these cards have the potential to 1) improve public etiquette in Toronto, 2) engage people in human-to-human discussion and 3) put a smile on people’s faces. Inspired by the words of Robert Wong, (Executive Creative Director at Google Labs) at the recent Design Thinkers conference in Toronto, designers should always strive to help and delight.

On November 10, 2011, the Toronto Star proclaimed that Toronto is still the most least-liked city in Canada, especially by our Western friends in Alberta. And while my love affair for Toronto continues, my Western roots can’t ignore some of the cold, hard, nasty truths of modern metropolises like Toronto. Call me a dreamer, but I don't believe this has to be this way. Did you know that Toronto used to be called "Toronto the Good"? My hope is that the Toronto Etiquette Project will offer a fresh perspective on Toronto’s infamous civility problems, and will reinvigorate people to engage in collective, positive change.

So, let's get this started. View the companion site here, or download the cards here. And please email and share the links on your social networks so we can get them in as many hands as we can.

Let's make Toronto Greater. Together.

CR

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” - Plato

--

p.s. I am always open to hearing feedback, criticism, recommendations or revisions. Please send me an email or find me on Twitter.

Food's greatest stage

Today marks the grand opening of the new Toronto Loblaws, located in the historic Maple Leaf Gardens. I wouldn't normally blog about a grocery store opening, but I am totally in love with the art deco-inspired renderings I have seen on billboards, the new website, as well as window signage on the outside of the new store. The style is perfectly in line with the building itself (which broke ground in 1931) and other era buildings on the block, including the Hydro Toronto building and College Park.

BlogTO also reports that the builders have also revived the original 1950s lettering for the marquee. This makes me very, very happy.

(Top images: Loblaws, Bottom images: BlogTO)

The shop is open

Big news! As promised, my first alphabet print is available on my new BigCartel site. These 18" x 18" alphabet posters are screen printed with black water-based ink on 245gsm pure white 100% cotton archival paper.

Special thanks to Bianca and Mike at Kid Icarus in Toronto for their impeccable printing work - I couldn't be happier with the results.

Know a typography lover? Spread the word, or purchase your limited edition copy today!

Thanks in advance for your support!

CR