Hasta La Ideas

Last week I mentioned a job I was working on for a client. It is fresh from the printer and ready to be shared! This small book is for the Ottawa Art Gallery‘s recent exhibition of work by Mary Anne Barkhouse. Called “The Reins of Chaos“, the artist’s work is partially inspired by the book of Revelations. Curator Emily Falvey explains, “The Reins of Chaos is a cheeky exploration of apocalyptic metaphors within the grand narrative of Canadian colonialist history. Comprising two new installations, the exhibition presents the story of the four horses of the apocalypse. According to conventional interpretations, these ghoulish emissaries collectively represent Conquest, War, Pestilence, and Death. With her usual wit, however, Barkhouse has turned them into children’s toys. At first, they are young rocking horses, carefully training for their role as heralds of Armageddon. In The Four Horses of the Apocalypse and the Donkey of Eternal Salvation (2008), they have matured into coin-operated kiddie rides from the ’50s and ’60s.”

I decided to create a small, bible-like book to complement the artist’s themes. The cover is a textural paper called cordwain and the title is embellished with gold foil. The source of the rocking horse icon was one from one of the installation shots that was traced in photoshop and made into a bitmap image.

Although I am taking on fewer client jobs in order to focus on UPPERCASE and its many (many!) facets, design projects such as this one for the Ottawa Art Gallery are truly why I love designing for other people: their stories, their images and their ideas allow you to discover your own creative voice.