Chris Blog

Today's Parent

Here is some recent lettering for Today's Parent magazine. Thanks again to Sun for this fun opportunity. Available in newstands and online now.

Please mark your calendars, lovebirds! I’ll be offering custom live lettered cards and prints at “Made for Love”, a special edition of City of Craft.

Sunday, February 11
12-5pm
The Workroom (1267 Queen St. West)

See you there!

Wall calendar

This 27” x 49” wall calendar helps you keep your whole year in perspective.

Can be used once, or in perpetuity. Great for teams and families. Perfect for home, school or office.

Designed and printed in Toronto on 20lb. architectural grade bond paper. Available on its own, with coloured adhesive note set, or laminated with dry erase marker. Standard shipping fees apply.

Options:
A) Basic: (no adhesive notes)
B) Standard: includes 4-pack of coloured adhesive notes
C) Premium: Laminated, includes dry erase marker and 4-pack of coloured adhesive notes

Free delivery within Toronto may be available; please contact me for details.

Custom colours, sizes, and digital files available upon request; please contact me for details.

Purchase your calendar here.

Communication Arts

I am thrilled to accept this Communication Arts Award of Excellence for the 3D mural I created at Cutler & Gross in fall 2017. Check out the mural (with 3D glasses!) at 758 Queen St. W., and see the full feature in the Typography Annual, coming next month!

Looking back, moving forward

I've been struggling to find a word to sum up 2017. Marathonic? This year, I am particularly grateful to friends, family and the creative community for their unending support. As in previous years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), here is my annual recap of how my year unfolded.

January started at a slower pace, getting things lined up for the year. I took some time to archive my Alphabet-a-Day project. I also created a meaningful and memorable sign for the Women's March.

In February, things went from a jog to a sprint. I released a new screen-printed Valentine cards. I zipped over to Regina to teach a Ligatures brush lettering workshop. Then, I was invited to speak at Creative Mornings Toronto; you can listen to the talk here. I completed my largest mural to date for Chocolats Favoris in Aurora, ON. I also had a super fun time doing a Ligatures sign painting workshop at Honest Ed's for Toronto for Everyone!

In March, I painted two charming signs for Sweet Gale Gardens, lettered a book cover for Shawn Hitchins, and created a new hand-lettered wordmark for UPPERCASE Magazine’s Make it Worthwhile project.

On April 1st, I invited my first intern to the studio. Chloe Develle joined me from Paris, France, where she is studying graphic design at l'École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d'Art. Chloe used the studio to practice her lettering, and help me with a few cool projects (more in June…) I was also interviewed by TFO, a publicly funded French language educational television station and media organization, serving the province of Ontario. You can view the interview here. We had a quick set of Ligatures brush lettering workshops at C Studio. I also shared a new hand-lettered wordmark for Bay Street Bull.

In May, we took Pixel & Bristle to the Drake Devonshire in Prince Edward County.
I also did some branding for CdnStudio & Spider Web Show Performance. I was also a judge at the Adobe Creative Jam at OCADU.

June was exceptionally jam-packed. The highlight of the month (and the year!) was the launch of my first monograph, ABC250, in conjunction with a companion art show and book launch at Black Cat Artspace in Toronto. And for extra fun, I also unveiled my new 2017/2018 collection, which included dozens of new prints, postcards, greeting cards, apparel, and a special collaboration with SIGG water bottles. I also had a booth at Roncy Rocks!

In July, I co-curated and participated in Pixel & Bristle at The Drake Hotel, designed a logo for Cookie Dough Stand in Calgary, and completed my second mural of the year: an optimistic message in Toronto laneway. I also shared hand-lettering for a tasty new book, Brad Long on Butter.

August was surprisingly busy this year. I had the privilege of designing three cups for Sorry Coffee in Toronto. I shared my final mural of the year: an epic 3D mural for Cutler & Gross on Queen Street. But the biggest event of the month was attending my first TypeCon in Boston, where I had a table of offerings at the Marketplace, and a live lettering demonstration. So fun!

In September, I started a series of 12 new Toronto the Great prints, starting with Queen Street West.
I released a new print each Monday for 12 weeks; you can see them all here. Then, I headed to Montreal for ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale), where I taught a digital lettering workshop, and then presented a new talk called "From stroke to screen"; you can view the full talk here. On Sept. 23-24, I participated in the Queen West Art Crawl, one of Toronto's largest outdoor art markets. I also refreshed the store front of Telegramme Prints & Framing on Ossington.

In October, I took a couple moments to breathe. A new UPPERCASE magazine hit the stands, featuring a fun abecedary that I wrote and illustrated. I also revealed a companion print.

November began with a big announcement. My art had been selected for City of Toronto's King Street Pilot project. (#major) My work was also featured at the Buddies in Bad Times annual Art Attack auction, which raised money for Canada's most exciting LGBT theatre. I also shared my first lettering project for La Maison Simons, one of Quebec's finest department stores. The month wrapped up with the annual Pixel & Bristle holiday market at The Drake Hotel, where I unveiled my showcard-inspired sign painted holiday cards.

December was the most wonderful time of the year, with pop-ups at Gloria cafe, holiday deliveries a-plenty, and then Toronto's favourite market, City of Craft. It was a perfect way to bookend the year.

As you can see, this year was epic. It most certainly would NOT have been possible without the support of YOU – those who purchased a print from my shop, liked one of my Instagram photos, attended a talk, or visited my live lettering booth. I am grateful to continue doing work that I love. THANK YOU!

I wish you all the best in this new year.

CR

City of Craft 2017

Let the craftiness begin! I’m honoured to be one of the vendors at City of Craft, Toronto’s favourite holiday market. Stop by The Theatre Centre in the next three days to check out the best local artisans and craftspeople.

The Theatre Centre
1115 Queen Street West
Fri. Dec. 8, 6-10
Sat. Dec. 9 11-6
Sun. Dec. 10 11-6

Distillery

This 12” x 16” print was hand-lettered using brush and ink and printed in Toronto on Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Ultrawhite 120lb matte fine art paper, using an HP Indigo 7800 Digital Press.

Available for purchase here.

King Street Pilot

I am honoured that three of my designs were selected for the King Street Pilot Project, an ambitious transit program by the City of Toronto that will change the way we move across Canada's largest city.

From my proposal:

King Street is one of the most historic corridors of Toronto, dating back to 1793 in the original ground plans of the Town of York. It has had many transformations in its 224 years, but has always served as a vital artery, moving masses East and West across the Canada’s capital.
As Toronto continues to grow and change, it is important to remember this rich history. Inspired by colourized vintage postcards, my design for the King Street Pilot Study brings the past into the present by incorporating historic photographs from the Toronto Archives. With the use of directional shape and colour, these photos are brought to life for a contemporary setting. The barriers become colourful windows into the past.
This design can be applied to the corridor more broadly. The concept is highly flexible and scalable, and could easily be extrapolated for other uses. This bright, bold design will add energy and dynamism during the King Street Pilot project, while reminding passersby of the Toronto’s long history of as a leader for growth and change.

Below are the three final designs for the concrete barriers. Be sure to check out the King Street Pilot in action from Jarvis to Bathurst, snap some photos, and send them my way!

Area 1: Bathurst to Simcoe

Area 2: Simcoe to Yonge

Area 3: Yonge to Jarvis

Many thanks to Bruce, Karina, and everyone at the City of Toronto for this incredible opportunity to improve the way we move in Toronto.

More information on the City of Toronto website.
CBC article here.

Leslieville

St. Lawrence Market

Danforth

Kensington Market

Little Italy

Annex

Junction

Liberty Village

Atypi Montréal 2017 recap

A tremendous thank you to Liron, Shani, Tamye, and the entire ATypI team for allowing me to participate in this year's exceptional conference. Special thanks to Alexandre for his encouragement and support. I hope to see you all next year in Antwerp!

You can watch my presentation here:

Queen West Art Crawl

A post shared by Christopher Rouleau (@chris_rouleau) on Sep 18, 2017 at 1:23pm PDT

I'm thrilled to be a vendor at the much-anticipated Queen West Art Crawl this weekend at Trinity Bellwoods Park. Please stop by my table and say hi (Booth M31, at roughly 1:00 on the park loop 🕐). Event runs Saturday and Sunday from 11-6. See you there!