Technology is often a double-edged sword. On one hand, advances that have been made in the digital realm in recent years have opened up a whole pile of possibilities for people to express themselves. Blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook, self-publishing of manuscripts, digital still and video cameras, autotune, graphic design programs, the list is virtually endless.
It’s led to an explosion of creativity. In some ways, that’s great. In other ways… not so much. Just because a person owns a quality digital camera, for instance, doesn’t necessarily make them a good photographer. Similarly, just because a person has some capacity to operate Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw and other software programs doesn’t make them a good graphic designer.
At prairie dog we occasionally weigh in on different design decisions that local and provincial governments, businesses, artists and others make. Overall, it would probably be fair to say that when it comes to design our city/province has plenty of room for improvement.
On Jan. 23 at Artesian on 13th there’s an interesting event called Thirteen. Inspired by the year 2013, presumably, the event is sponsored by the South Saskatchewan Chapter of Graphic Designers of Canada and a local group called Not Nowhere, and pairs 13 photographers with 13 designers. Together, each twosome has created a poster that riffs on the theme of 13.
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. there will be a reception at the Artesian where the posters will be available for purchase via silent auction. Tickets are $5 and can be obtained in advance from Mysteria Gallery or at the door. Proceeds go to Not Nowhere, which is an organization supporting creative communication in Saskatchewan. Here’s a link to the website.
