OCW Magazine | Counterparts
Art Director (May 2011 to present)

OCW Magazine is a biannual interdisciplinary art project dedicated to the cultivation of new ideas, new voices and new ways of experiencing art. ocwmagazine.ca

Press:
Reviewed on Brown Paper Bag
Photo and mention in The Courier
Mentioned on Design For Mankind

Excerpt from Counterparts’ curatorial vision:

“The ‘coun­ter­parts’ theme was inspired by our choice to aban­don a one-format-fits-all approach and pub­lish the visual art­work and the lit­er­ary work in sep­a­rate book­lets. This allowed us more influ­ence on the ways in which read­ers would expe­ri­ence each dis­ci­pline, as writ­ten and visual work priv­i­lege dif­fer­ent types of inter­ac­tion — read­ing ver­sus looking.

The 8” x 10” booklet asserts the magazine as an object of art. The inner pages are printed on multi-coloured paper stocks, drawing attention to the paper itself. The page does not function simply to deliver the content, but instead becomes part of what is being viewed (the artwork) and actively shapes the viewers’ experience of looking. These colour pages were randomly pre-sorted by hand before printing, discarding the possibility of a “mistake” in favour of chance placement and the potential to discover a new interpretation of each work. This randomization allows each issue to facilitate a different experience of the artwork, which was chosen based on both artistic merit and the ability to withstand the intensity and vibrancy of this treatment.

The 5” x 8” booklet features the winners of OCW True Fiction Contest (Chris Urquhart and Will Johnson), as well as work by Adrick Brock, Anna Maxymiw, Jason Sunder, Leah Rae, and Paul Lionel Kitz. The design promotes engagement and ease of reading, using a small booklet format that lends itself to easier handling and portability, and simple typography and white space that invites the reader into an immersive experience.”