METRO GUIDE PUBLISHING
Metro Guide publishes over 25 magazines, and I’ve been lucky enough to work on a few different titles.
One of those is Unravel, is a Halifax-based magazine about Halifax. It’s published by Metro Guide, who I’ve been happy to work with on a few of their publications. But this was my first time working for Unravel, and they asked me to illustrate for a piece called “Where are the workers?” It’s important to me that the images I use are created to compliment and amplify a message I believe in. So I was thrilled when I read the piece and it aligned with my belief that the workers are in the right in this whole “worker shortage” discussion (more like “proper-respect-and-fair-compensation-for-the-worker shortage”).
As much as I was fist-pumping and “damn right”-ing while reading this article, the imagery it evokes isn’t exactly thrilling. CERB cheques, Zoom calls, job interviews, it’s the kind of stuff you dread thinking about in real life so how am I going to illustrate this? I landed on an idea that combined these images with signs of protest. I riffed on UPA style illustration and mid-century modern motifs. These flat rectangular images fit perfectly with the aesthetic and created beautiful patterns with strong imagery.
I particularly enjoy working on jobs that give me a chance to put a little extra flavour into the layout, and really make the article feel like one with the illustrations. In this case, that was a simple solution. I created these blank signs in the same MCM/UPA style for the designers at Unravel to put pull quotes over top.
There have been a few other opportunities for me to work with Metro Guide publications that don’t quite necessitate their own section in the portfolio, so I’ll end things here by showing off a few of these other small pieces I’ve created for them.
This piece was the cover for Saltscapes Food and Travel. 2022 was a big year for the slightly longer distance stay-cation. A lot of folks were comfortable venturing out but air travel was still such a mess that it was more often than not by car. Saltscapes wanted to highlight the possibilities of adventure, leisure, and all the delicious things that come along with them in the Maritime provinces.
In the same year, cruise ships were returning to Halifax ports for the first time since pre-COVID. As anyone in Halifax knows, this is a huge part of our summer economy, especially downtown, and there was plenty reason to be both nervous and excited about the news.
