Meeting Nº 23: The Type Attack Recap!

https://vimeo.com/131556748 June 18th marked our inaugural “Type Attack!”, a head-to-head tournament-style battle for typographic supremacy. The stage was set and the battle were lines drawn: twelve creatives were poised to doodle their way to victory and the Type Attack trophies! These epic battles took place at Critical Mass in Toronto.

The matches consisted of a randomly selected letter that the two participants had to create in 3-5 minutes in their own personal style. To fuel the creative fire, each round of the tournament drawing time was shortened, until the final one-minute battle for the grand prize.

Prizes included “Just My Type” donated by Leslie Harrod, a vintage lettering guide donated by Benita Aalto, and four sets of Parallel pens, gratefully donated by the amazing folks at Wonder Pens.

The energy of the crowd was intense and electric. The creativity of each fighter was apparent: Mark Serrano flicking ink on the page, Veronica Wong using fire (literally flames – no joke), and Kiel Perchinig using tape and ribbon all to create beautiful and inventive letterforms. At the bottom of the post are all the letters that were created throughout the night.

Photo Credit: Liskovoi

Everyone fought valiantly, but there could only be three finalists. It was a close match for third place between Jesse and Veronica, but in the end, Veronica vanquished Jesse with her flourished script “P”. The nail biting ‘ampersand’ final was between Brandon Gore and Kiel Perchinig. You could see the pressure in this round – hands were shaking, sweat was dripping, the seconds passed too quickly. In the end, Brandon was crowned the first ever Type Attack champion!

We’d like to thank the competitors for signing up (without knowing any of the rules beforehand!), everyone that came out in support, and Leslie, Benita and Wonder Pens for donating such amazing prizes for our contestants.

We are already planning our next Type Attack event, so if you’re interested, please sign up for our newsletter and be the first to know. Who knows – it could be you that holds up the first place trophy next time!

#100in1day

 

This past weekend, Ligatures was invited to participate in #100in1day. From their website:

What if hundreds of people united, each taking one small action to improve their city, all on the same day? 100In1Day is a global festival of civic engagement returning to Toronto for its second year on June 6, 2015. Imagine the possibilities for our city if hundreds of people united to participate in small initiatives to spark change. Share your vision for a better city.

We gathered in Forest Hill Village neighbourhood bright and early on Saturday morning to help Suzanne Long revitalize Bilton Laneway & community garden. Along with doing a bit of cleaning & weeding, Kyle & Christopher created a few hand-painted signs for the exciting new space. Check out some photos below.

  

Thanks Suzanne for this great opportunity! We look forward to helping out more this summer!

Whitney Public School Lettering Workshop

Last week, the Ligatures team had the opportunity to teach lettering to a very enthusiastic grade 6 class at Whitney Public School in Toronto. As you may know, cursive handwriting has been removed from some curriculums and most of the younger generation's development is spent learning through the keyboard or tablet. Governments in both Ontario and Quebec have pulled cursive as a learning expectation and other provinces are following suit. With all that in mind, Ligatures co-founders Christopher & Leslie created a fun and interactive day that introduced these keen, young participants to traditional hand-lettering.

We spent the first half of the morning working on basic letter structure using the Crayola Brush Pen markers and our Ligatures tracing guides. With the lettering building blocks in place, the kids moved forward to using paint and brushes. The kids seemed to enjoy this transition and noted the difference in working with an actual paint brush.

As part of the preparation for the day, each student was asked to prepare a short 2-word quote that would be used as their final piece. The latter half of the afternoon was spent practicing the words from their quotes and creating colourful backgrounds for their final pieces. Although some kids were anxious to move forward and work on their final piece, some took the time to ensure that they had mastered their lettering. It was a great exercise in planning & composition.

What an amazing and rewarding day! Every student was so talented, creative & keen to learn from us and explore new ways of writing. A huge THANK-YOU to Ms. Diniz and her wonderful grade 6 students. Keep up the great work!

If you'd be interested in having the Ligatures team come into your classroom, please feel free to email us at ligatures.yyz@gmail.com and we'd be happy to discuss further.

Type Attack!

On Thursday, June 18th, we will be holding our inaugural “Type Attack!”, a head-to-head tournament-style battle for typographic supremacy. Prepare yourself for the typographic event of the year!

Each match, we will randomly select one letter, and two participants will have three minutes to furiously doodle their best glyph (in the style/material of your choice). After a snap vote by our panel of judges, the winners will advance to the next round. Winning participants will continue to advance from match to match, and move closer to the final duel. Prizes will be awarded to the top letterer, runner-up, as well as other fun categories.

Participation in the tournament is not mandatory to attend the event. Space will be limited. If you are are interested competing (all skill levels welcome!) please email us at ligatures.yyz@gmail.com

RSVP for the event here.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre yoooooooooooou reaaaaaaaaaady to RUMBLE?

Christie Antique Show

     Amazing lettering specimens at the Christie Antique Show in Dundas, Ontario this weekend.

Don't miss the next show in September!

Meeting Nº 22: Marquee Letter Workshop Recap

When the Ligatures team was working on the Swash & Serif type exhibition last year, we constructed the logo out of cardboard and created beautiful 3D lettering. It's success gave us the idea to run a workshop on marquee lettering and illustrate how easy and simple they are to make!

Despite it being the long weekend, a wonderful group of participants joined us at Shopify to create their own marquee letters. All the tools were provided and people dove right in!

Thank-you to those that came out to our workshop this afternoon. I think I can speak for the whole Ligatures team when I say it was a fun and exciting afternoon. We're really looking forward to seeing the final letters/characters so please share them online (Twitter / Instagram) and tag us (#ligaturesyyz). We'd love to see the final products!

If you're looking to add lights to these letters, DeSerres has a few options available and you can check them out here. If you're looking for more vintage lights, Home Hardware, Canadian Tire, or Michaels are other options. When looking for lights, ensure that they are indoor safe and have a battery pack that you can tuck away. Depending on the strand that you purchase, measure, mark, and cut points to which you can push the light through. Make sure that you're working with a sharp knife as this will help with cutting out the smaller holes. If you have any questions or concerns about this step, please feel free to e-mail us and we'll get back to you.

For future reference, you can purchase rolled corrugated cardboard from Rotblotts and any art store will carry larger sheets of cardboard.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hand Lettering & Calligraphy Demo with Anthony Trask

Calligrapher, lettering artist and graphic designer Anthony Trask will be offering FREE demos of his work on Saturday, May 23 at 11am & 2pm at 401 Richmond St. W.

Find his table on the basement floor of 401 (near Swipe & Spacing), accessible from the new eastern entrance to the building on Richmond.

Don't miss it!

Meeting Nº 22: Make Your Own Marquee Letters Workshop UPDATED

Join us on Saturday, May 16th for an afternoon of marquee letter making! We thought we'd give you a little sneak peak into the process that goes into making these fun and easy to make letters!

Creating these 3-dimensional letters is so easy using only cardboard, exacto knife, and a glue gun! As part of the workshop, you'll be provided all these tools to use and take home with you! You'd be amazed at how well the rolled corrugated cardboard adds a lovely stroke to the entire piece.

Last day to sign-up for this workshop will be Wednesday, May 13th. To sign-up, head to ligatures.ca!

A big thank-you to Chris for sharing his own personal cardboard lettering!

Meeting Nº 21: Spring Show and Tell Recap

After a successful brush lettering workshop last month, the Ligatures team organized a Spring Show & Tell to showcase current work and to mingle with other creatives in the city.

The evening began with a preview of a short documentary, "Ink", directed by Ryan Couldrey & featuring the calligraphic talents of Tanja Tiziana. The short film, still in the final editing stages, explores Tanja's hand-lettering and some of her process work. Despite the decline of handwriting as a result of technological changes, the interest and relevance of hand-lettering is still alive and well. "Ink" was a wonderful way to open our meeting. We'll keep you updated on the progress of Ryan's film, and we look forward to sharing the completed documentary at a future event.

The rest of the night filled with discussion and opportunities to try new brushes that the Ligatures team had brought along. It was also a great chance to connect with friends – new and old – that had joined for the night. Critical Mass was kind enough to lend out its space – we maximized the opportunity by covering the tables with kraft paper & varying styles of markers and pens. Many different styles of lettering graffiti on the tabletops –  it was a great conversation starter.

We also gave updates on a few of the upcoming events that the Ligatures team is working on:

• We'll be hosting a "cardboard marquee letter-making" workshop on Saturday, May 16th at Shopify. More information coming soon.
• Our Ligatures Lectures series will continue in June / July with a special guest speaker.
• Due to the success of the previous brush lettering workshops, Toronto letterers Kyle Gallant and Chris Rouleau will be hosting another session in early August.
• In keeping with the film festival spirit, we're looking to screen a type-related film in September.
• The Ligatures annual type exhibition, Swash & Serif, will celebrate its second showing come October at The Black Cat Gallery.

More information will be provided shortly – please stay tuned to our website and social media.

Again, thank-you to all those participants that came out to our Spring Show & Tell. It was a great to see some new faces and reconnect with friends from previous events. Thank-you to Critical Mass and Margot Trudell for hosting the meeting, and for the ongoing support of the design community.

Meeting Nº 20: Brush Lettering Workshop

After much success with our brush lettering workshop back in July 2014, the Ligatures team offered its first full-day workshops this past March, hosted by Toronto letterers Christopher Rouleau and Kyle Gallant.

The participants started with the basics, learning the fundamental strokes that make up brush letterforms with our new & improved lettering course book (retail version coming soon to our shop!) There was an opportunity to try out all the different brushes that were provided: Tombow, Faber-Castell, Pentel, Copic Wide, and the Sharpie Brush. As people found their favourite tools, and got comfortable holding the pen, the construction of letterforms began.

After a thorough review of the basics, Chris and Kyle led the group into developing classic upper case letterforms with the strokes learned.

The afternoon portion of the class explored the lowercase alphabet, with short letter combinations. Both Chris and Kyle had encouraged the students to hold off on writing words until the basics were covered. Slowly but surely, they eased into word construction and the results were stunning.

We also had several exercises, including matching a style, and fictional branding exercises. The talent in the room was incredible!

At the end of the day, it was amazing to see how far everyone had come in their brush lettering. In just 7 hours, people had discovered which tool they were suited for, and began developing their personal style.

On behalf of the Ligatures team, I'd like to thank Veronica Wong and Shopify for allowing us to use their wonderful space. The open air concept and natural light couldn't have made for a better learning space. Thank you to all of those that participated in this event - it was a big step for the team and we were grateful for the warm reception. We can't wait to do it again.

If you're interested  in working with Ligatures for future workshops at your agency or office, please contact us at ligatures.yyz@gmail.com and we'll be happy to discuss options.

Meeting Nº 21: Spring Show & Tell

Spring is in the air and new projects are taking root. On Wednesday, April 22nd, we'll be holding our Spring Show & Tell – chance to mingle with fellow creatives, and share what you're working on. Nothing to share? No problem! Join us for an evening of discussion, networking, and creative renewal. Space is limited. Sign up early!

Meeting Nº 19: Calligraphy Workshop Recap

Last weekend, a lovely group of people gathered at Coach House for a blackletter calligraphy workshop, hosted by the talented Kevin King. Located on the second floor of the building, the Coach House library provided a creative space for those interested in learning the history of the style, and experimenting different forms of tools for the lettering. The purpose of the workshop was to introduce the blackletter script, which is a "distinct style of calligraphy most noted for its dense texture and very vertical rhythm," (Kevin King).

Kevin provided the tools (including some very interesting bamboo styluses) and a workbook. Throughout the course of the workshop, Kevin guided the participants through a number of different techniques, including the construction of each letterform. With Kevin's tidbits of fun facts & anecdotes, it made for a very educational afternoon.

A big thank-you to Kevin for his time and wonderful teaching skills and toCoach House for lending its creative space.

Meeting Nº 20: Learn Brush Lettering UPDATED

UPDATED: Saturday, March 7: Both workshops are sold out! Please contact us if you would like to be place on the wait list, or would like to hear about future workshops.

We are excited to announce the details for our next brush pen workshop.

The event will be held Saturday, March 28 + Sunday March 29 from 10am - 5pm at Shopify (80 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor). The workshop will run 10am - 1pm, break for lunch (not provided), and resume from 2pm - 5pm.

*PLEASE NOTE: The Saturday workshop is 100% at capacity, and only a few spots remain for the Sunday workshop.*

The day will be hosted by local letterers (and Ligatures co-founders) Kyle Gallant & Christopher Rouleau. Kyle is a multi-faceted designer, skilled in calligraphy, expressive lettering, and even graffiti. He is a self-described “compulsive doodler” and passionate about all things type. Christopher is a freelance graphic designer & letterer, with a love for alphabets, antique lettering guides and old hand-lettered signs. He is comfortable working in a variety of media, including pen, chalk, acrylic, ink… the list goes on. Christopher also co-instructed a Ligatures lino printing workshop in the spring. Check out more of their recent work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/eckstatic http://instagram.com/chris_rouleau

Kyle & Christopher have pooled together their skills, knowledge and resources to put together a 6-hour tutorial on the fundamentals of brush lettering. All skill levels welcome!

Cost:

The cost of this full-day workshop is $95. This price includes a workbook and the supplies you will need for the workshop, all of which you get to take home at the end of the day. Included in your kit: -5 types of brush pens -2 pads of paper (tracing & layout) -our workshop booklet, filled with lettering techniques & a variety of lettering guides & samples -access to any additional tools you might need (pencils, rulers, tape, grid paper) as well as some experimental lettering tools from our personal collections.

Payment:

Saturday's workshop sold out in 3 days, and Sunday's workshop will sell out quickly, so please sign up early! Please RSVP here no later than Friday, March 13. An email will follow with payment instructions.

We look forward to bringing your talents together, sharing knowledge with one another, and creating some new brush pen work work!

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Thank you to Shopify for sponsoring this event.

Meeting Nº 18: Letraset Love Letters Recap

A little while ago, Ligatures received a very generous donation of Letraset from the wonderful Sharon Hart. The team sorted the huge collection of sheets into categories and set-up at Shopify, eagerly awaiting what creative and love-filled cards people would create.

Letraset came into existence in the early 1960's and due to its dry-transfer capabilities, designers were able to quickly create visualizations of concept work. It really revolutionized the way designers worked and created headlines and other work. To this day, Letraset still sells dry-transfer typefaces.

Despite the cold, there were a number of new faces that came out to our event. As this was a card-making session, a lot of quirky and fun letters began to appear. Some filled with love, others with ... well, sarcasm. There were hundreds of styles and sizes to choose from – it was a great opportunity to play with composition. The hardest part ... kerning! It really makes you appreciate how far we've come. Thanks, InDesign!

 

As the night came to a close, it was fantastic to see all the cards come together and see the creativity that had blossomed throughout the evening. Even after a very busy night of transfers, we still had hundred of Letraset sheets in our collection. Stay tuned in the future for another Letraset event!

A big thank-you to Veronica Wong and the team at Shopify for hosting the Letraset Love Letters event.

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