Anatomia Exhibit and logo design for the Ontario Science Centre

With the imminent return of the internationally-acclaimed Bodyworlds exhibit coming up in mere weeks at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, the OSC has begun preparations for the museum space and surroundings…

one of which will be a new gallery exhibition, entitled ‘ANATOMIA: An Exhibition Exploring the Art and Science of Anatomy.’

This new gallery show will augment the entrance to the Bodyworlds pavillion, and aims to showcase prominent anatomy-based visual artworks from talented student and alumni artists recently emerging from Sheridan College, U of T and the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). I am proud to write that both my work and I will be included in this installment, featuring my ‘Anatomy of the Head and Neck’ illustration (see below!).

In addition to my submission, I have also volunteered my time to help create a visual identity for the exhibition, based on a project brief supplied by the curator in charge. Essentially, the logo itself should combine both ancient traditional influence and modern sciences – translated through old Greek letterforms, contrasted by the modern english alphabet – to create a unique treatment that accommodates the museum, the exhibit and the art itself. Thus, the challenge is to effectively combine these two worlds, and produce a recognizable and legible logo for the word ‘Anatomia.’

My first step was to research exactly what the word looked like in various typefaces and positions, and to consider how they might interact; ultimately, I decided that a combination of both ancient Greek letterforms and modern English letters would probably work best, perhaps with a minor graphic element to offset the word and make it interesting…

and finally,

Look for the exhibit, the artwork, this logo + poster (and say hi to me) at the Ontario Science Centre later this month when you come to see the return of Bodyworlds!

Toronto Life Magazine Feature

A month or so ago I uploaded a post that mentioned a photoshoot that I was involved in for an upcoming article in Toronto Life Magazine regarding the recession and how it has affected young urban professionals (such as myself). Now available for public purchase, the May 2009 issue of Toronto Life features a cover article called “How To Get Ahead in a Recession,” featuring my likeness on the magazine cover and within the article itself.

Although the article itself is written from the slanted perspective of a generation Xer and the photography filters make the models appear rough and resilient, some of the arguments and points made are legitimately interesting comments about this important and difficult period.

One major criticism I have for the magazine editor/Author of the article is that although the exposure for those mentioned/seen within the article is certainly a privilege, we models/consultants do not have our contact information or website links included anywhere in either the article or the edition itself. If this article truly was concerned about how to survive an economic recession, I think it might have considered including this info as an opportunity for networking and legitimate exposure (not to mention perhaps paying any/all models included from the shoot)….

So as not to make this post entirely about narcissistic self-promotion, there is also another interesting article in this edition called “A Mighty Wind,” regarding the issue of whether (and how to) implement the idea of integrating energy windmills into the toronto skyline. Enjoy!

Dinosaur Reconstruction: Sketch

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I finally got around to some sketching that I’ve been meaning to tackle since I took reference photos at the ROM in 2008: dinosaur anatomy reconstruction, based on fossil evidence.

Dwelling on my pathological anatomy illustration experience during my time at the University of Guelph back in 2007 I decided to attempt a 2D anatomical reconstruction of a type of extinct raptor. Aided by  googled images of bird heads and musculature, anatomical textbook limb references, shots of various animal cadavers from the dissections @ Guelph and a few photos of my former pet iguana, I was able to produce a decent sketch of what could turn into a convincing, accurate series of renderings.

 

Yes, I should have been spending this time working on my website layout, but no, that would not have been as entertaining. Although I like where this image is going, after considering the pose of the animal, I don’t think i’ll bother to render a final version of this raptor… however, with a better understanding of the anatomy, I might conceive a better composition later….