Nor – a living and open commons of Canadian design

Right of passage: Unpacking the new Canadian passport design

What deeper meanings are woven into the fibres of the new Canadian passport?

In the paradox of trying to be a critical designer, I tried using memes to move past hopelessness and find connection.

Meming towards purpose in the polycrisis.

Dip me in maple syrup and throw me to the lesbians: Exploring the still-smoldering embers of unrealized queer revolutions.

Finding remnant possibilities of queer liberation imagined, hoped for, and built, from the material objects of The ArQuives with Craig Jennex, co-author of Out North.

A Cowboy Outfit De Luxe

Tracking the Construct of Canadian Cowboy Culture through 40 years of Eaton’s mail-order catalogues.

Everyone in every detail of every aspect

On the erasure and exclusion of Black, African and Caribbean culture and traditions in mainstream design spaces (including Nor)

A speech not given at the groundbreaking of a new commons for Canadian Design

Design culture, the space we’re in, is what happens when we let all of these approaches and ways of thinking and working sit together, and marvel at and learn from the threads between them. And note what’s missing. And do our best to find it. And preserve it, not in amber but in full critical view.

Toronto Streetwear: A Reflection of Black Experiences Through Too Black Guys & 100 Miles

At its root, streetwear is a statement, a very empowering one for Black communities. It’s not always easy for Black people to escape negative labels created by society, and it can form a desire to stray away from expressing your identity or experiences, to avoid standing out.

I think I owe you an explanation about the logo

An artboard filled with Experimental Jetset, MoMa rebrand concepts, immaculate, smoothed, infinite expanses of white and well-proportioned rectangles, housing negative space and art. I’d wanted a project like this for years. Coveted it, even.