Forge Apparel's new women's collection

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photo by Cara Howlett

Post by Cara Howlett 

Our neighbour here at the Devenish, Eric Goodwin, is a leather craftsman and founder of his own apparel company called Forge Apparel. Eric is pleased to be releasing his first women’s collection of purses and clutches this week.

Designed to fit Forge's classic look of leather and waxed canvas, the women’s collection will have the look and feel of Forge Apparel's men’s products, but with some feminine touches.

photo courtesy of Forge Apparel

photo by Cara Howlett

“I had my brand manager Kelsey Laugher help me out with some of the designs. She helped me out with what women want as far as dividers and pockets and zippers,” laughs Eric. “I merged her influence and design aspects with my own aesthetic and style.”

After graduating with a business degree, in 2011 Eric rented a studio at Art Central in downtown Calgary where he designed, created, and sold his rustic bags and backpacks until moving to the Devenish building in 2013. 

photo by Cara Howlett

Describing his products as gritty and organic, Eric’s designs are inspired by the Rocky Mountains and travel. “I love that really heritage feel to it, like back before there were five-star resorts and when travel was still pretty gritty,” says Eric. “That’s why I still work with the wax-canvas and the leather–very classic materials.”

You can check out Forge Apparel's new women’s collection, along with his other products, in his online store. 

photo by Cara Howlett

photo courtesy of Forge Apparel

photo by Cara Howlett

photo by Cara Howlett

Correy Baldwin on Dear Human's Patchworked In Canada

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photos from dearhuman.ca

post by Cara Howlett

Dear Human is a husband and wife ceramic company based in Vancouver, Canada. Correy Baldwin, UPPERCASE's copy editor, interviewed the duo made of Jasna Sokolovic and Noel O'Connell for Issue #21's Dynamic Duo section.

Dear Human displayed their project Patchworked in Canada, a project using tiles shipped from Portugal, at the Toronto Design Offisite Festival in January. After the festival ended, Jasna and Noel applied magnets to the tiles and took them to the streets of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver encouraging passersby to find unanticipated beauty in the urban landscape, inviting a moment of pause and response. 

We asked Correy about his experience of finding a tile in Montreal. 

I found the tiles quite late on a Sunday evening. I was walking home after a night of playing music with friends in their living room on the other end of town—a pretty classic Montreal evening. So when I got home I had a banjo in one hand and a Portuguese tile in the other.

I had already been in touch with Jasna and Noel from Dear Human, so I knew the tiles were around and had been keeping my eye out for them. I’d actually gone out hunting for them specifically a few days earlier, but hadn’t seen any. That night I found them quite accidentally, which seemed more appropriate somehow.

I only took one of the tiles, and left the other one for someone else to find. At first I kept it at my workspace, but in the end I did probably the most ordinary thing possible and stuck it to my fridge. Jasna and Noel had put magnets on the back of the tiles, so the fridge seemed an obvious place to put it. It’s still there. Maybe this summer I’ll place it on the metal railings of my balcony.

I interviewed Dear Human a few days after I found the tile. Noel wanted to know which one I’d found, and he recognized it as soon as I described the pattern on it. If I hadn’t already been in touch with them, I would have called the number on the back for sure.

A few blocks from where I found [my tile] there’s a small Portuguese square with a lot of beautiful Portuguese tiles around it. I knew they would have found it an irresistible spot, and sure enough, I found a number scattered around the square. I pulled a couple of them off and looked at them, then put them back. A couple of old men had been watching me, and as I left one of them went over and look at them, too. So if Dear Human got a phone call from a confused old man, it’s my fault.

The project was inviting us to be more aware of our surroundings, to pay more attention to the smaller details around us, and I think it did a great job. Long after I found a tile I kept looking a lot more closely at everything while walking around, even in other neighbourhoods.

And I wasn’t just looking for tiles. I was just looking.

 

soulful shooting with Alessandra Cave

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photo by Alessandra Cave 

post by Cara Howlett 

Alessandra Cave is a professional photographer from San Francisco, California whose photographs have been featured in Issues 19 & 20 of UPPERCASE. Her photos radiate life using natural light and soft texturing. 

Alessandra recently released her first book entitled Shooting with Soul. A “how-to” book of sorts, Alessandra guides new (and experienced) photographers through 44 photography exercises encouraging them to learn the skill of photography, as well as learning more about themselves. 

“As you embark on this journey to shoot images with soul, you should dive into this adventure knowing that your camera is not what matters most when it comes to creating images that you and others will love,” writes Alessandra in the book’s introduction. 

“The real magic comes from your heart and how you see the world in your own unique way.”

Shooting with Soul guides its readers through photography exercises like taking photos of family traditions, taking a nature walk and capturing the surroundings, and bringing their camera to work to see their work environment through a curious lens. 

In each exercise, Alessandra includes photos to illustrate the assignment, as well as instructions on how to achieve the best photos possible.

One of my favourite exercises is Exercise 7: What is in your bag?

"From the most obvious to the most unexpected, each thing we carry holds a story, an idea, and a feeling," writes Alessandra. 

I love that Alessandra is really encouraging readers and participants of Shooting with Soul to capture unique traits about themselves. No two people carry around the exact same items in their purse, backpack or wallet. What do those contents say about you and your life? 

Here are the contents of my bag. 

photo by Cara Howlett

These are the items that are always with me, whether I am at work or out and about, these possessions always come along for the ride. 

As you make your way through Shooting with Soul, your photography skills will improve as well as, Alessandra says, “find a window into your soul.” Her exercises encourage you to slow down, take a look around, and capture what means the most to you. 

photo by Alessandra Cave

surface pattern guide participant Jim Mezei

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post by Cara Howlett

Jim Mezei is an illustrator and designer from Stratford, Canada who often works with relief mediums like linoleum and hand-burnished items to create an imperfect look on his patterns. As one of the few men whose designs were submitted for the Surface Pattern Design Guide, we were curious to find out if this was a reflection of the design industry, or of UPPERCASE's primarily female readership. From Jim's perspective, the ratio is fairly even. Part of what he enjoys about the illustration and design industry is that there is a good representation of both men and women creating a diversity of influence and perspective.

What was your plan for your designs once you graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design? 

My plan was to continue learning, focus on graphic design (I graduated from the illustration program) and keep making things with my hands. My first real client was Stratford Summer Music, a music festival in my hometown. I designed their poster. I did anything and everything to get noticed, from sending out promos to hand-delivering loot bags on a road trip to NYC to park installations. 

What has been your favourite client or project that you have worked on so far?

This is tough. A recent favourite was with a team (Kellen Hatanaka, Adrian Forrow, and Tyler John) for "If Walls Could Talk" at the Gladstone in Toronto. We built a car crash, with movement and sound elements, out of found materials.  

What are your hopes for the future? Where would you like to see your career ten years down the line?

I hope to have a steady stream of projects in many disciplines, a studio on Lake Huron, and a puppy. 

To see more of Jim's projects, visit his website. 

new spring collection from Polkka Jam

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post by Cara Howlett

Polkka Jam is a designer duo from Finland made up of Kristiina Haapalainen and Sami Vähä-Aho. Their spirited design collection called Huvila (Villa) is now being sold in Sokos and Prisma department stores in Finland. 

Polkka Jam started out as just the two of you, Kristiina and Sami. How did you get your brand noticed? 

We have received attention little by little. Maybe our products have something special that catch people's eye because customers have found us without us doing much marketing. Some of our collections do get more attention than others. Doing collaborations with other companies is also a good way to spread the word.

We started by printing t-shirts, gig posters and cards in our home over 10 years ago. We wanted to do everything by ourselves and it was strictly DIY. Since then we have been working and doing many kinds of things in the field of design. We have designed clothing, patterns, album covers, illustrations for magazines, books, etc. Polkka Jam also had a brick-and-mortar shop for three years in city of Turku, Finland.

Over the years your brand has become more well known. What has it been like having your designs sold at large retail companies like Sokos and Prisma?

These are big steps for us. We started as a little "handmade at home" brand. It was good that way for a while, but nowadays we are very happy to do collaborations with other companies. It is nice to see our designs in big department stores as well as in smaller boutiques. One of our goals was that our brand could be available everywhere and for everyone.

What have been some of your favourite designs to work on so far? 

The latest collection, Huvila, and its designs are always our most favorite ones! But maybe some of the "all-time" favourites are the illustrations of Puutarhajuhlat (Garden party) and Talviuniset (Winter sleepy) collections.

We have collaborated with Lapuan Kankurit company on some patterns. Their products are made using the traditional jacquard weaving technique. It was very interesting to figure out how our designs would look like with a technique that was new for us. Another really nice project was designing the paper collection for the Japanese department store Plaza. It was great since we love all kinds of stationary products.

What made you decide to contact UPPERCASE? Are you a reader or subscriber to the magazine?

We found UPPERCASE online and fell in love with your magazine. We bought the magazine when traveling abroad and have followed UPPERCASE since then.

What do you see as the future of Polkka Jam? Where do you see your brand in ten year's time?

We would be happy to continue working like we have been so far, and growing our business little by little working from Kimito Island where we live. Besides working on our own collections, it would be really nice to start some new interesting co-operations with other companies. Projects that are not only about the physical products but also about offering the know-how and talent that we have. Also doing bigger stuff like installations and murals would be great!

a contest collaboration with They Draw & Travel

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Salli and Nate at They Draw & Travel and UPPERCASE are excited to announce a new contest at They Draw & Travel.

For the next month, we are inviting you to draw a map of the creative and curious places and sights in the vicinity of where you live or where you grew up for a chance to be featured in UPPERCASE magazine.

We want to know about the quirky or unusual things in your world! 

The winner of the It’s a creative & curious world contest will be interviewed for a profile in a future issue of UPPERCASE, receive a 1-year subscription and a copy of Work/Life 3. 

For more info on how you could be in a future issue of UPPERCASE and to see submissions already entered, click here. 

by Nicole Mannino

by Nicole Mannino

shine bright

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post by Cara Howlett

Jan Avellana is a mixed-media and digital artist from Honolulu, Hawaii. Her beautiful pattern was chosen for the cover of the Surface Pattern Design Guide, as well as two other designs being showcased in the guide. 

Jan has a Kickstarter project called “Shine Bright,” in which she hopes to raise $7,500 for a year-long project that will enable her to build a substantial body of new work. 

“Shine Bright” will be a collection of mixed media collages, digital illustrations and paper mache dolls inspired by Jan’s dream to light up the darkness with her artwork. 

For more info on Jan’s Kickstarter project which ends on April 4, click here. 

Mary Fisher's "100 Good Deeds"

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post by Cara Howlett

Artist Mary Fisher was featured in issue #12 (2011), showcasing her talents in jewelry-making, sewing and weaving, as well as designing fabric and making paper. Besides her work as an artist, Mary is known worldwide for her role as a HIV/AIDS activist. After finding out she was HIV-positive over 20 years ago, Mary has used her art to help others affected by HIV/AIDS.

In 2000, Mary was asked by the White House AIDS office to travel to Africa on a fact-finding mission. While in Africa, Mary identified with the stigma attached to women with HIV/AIDS. Mary started ABATAKA, a foundation dedicated to helping these women. About 30 women hand-craft exquisite bracelets using Mary’s designs—thereby learning how to support themselves and becoming self-sufficient business women. 

Following the release of her memoir Messenger in 2012, Mary met filmmaker Thomas Morgan. He and his family created a game in which they would perform 100 good deeds anonymously. After learning about Thomas’ game, Mary responded by creating the 100 Good Deeds bracelet. Each bracelet is hand-braided by vulnerable women worldwide and strung with one hundred glass beads and a single rubber ring. After wrapping it around your wrist, each time you do a good deed, you move the rubber ring one bead closer to the 1GD charm. With every purchase of a 1GD bracelet, one vulnerable woman is employed giving her dignity and freedom. 

The 1GD bracelet is available in ten colours and may be purchased at 100GoodDeeds.org.

Since issue #12 is sold out, you can read the original article about Mary Fisher, written by Christine Chitnis, by clicking here for a pdf.  

meet Cara

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Serendipitously our boots match.

Serendipitously our boots match.

Janine and I are happy to introduce you to our first practicum student. Cara Howlett contacted us back in January about coming to work with us. We knew it was meant to be when her interview outfit matched issue #20. Cara will be with us for the next month helping to launch issue #21. She will also share behind-the-scenes posts about her time at UPPERCASE. She writes her own introduction below. 

This morning, I woke to a few centimetres of snow, albeit quite mushy and wet, but snow nonetheless. My grey, fleece-lined rubber boots squished through the muck as I walked to the UPPERCASE office. 

I’ll be wading through Calgary’s unpredictable weather to get to the UPPERCASE office as I finish up my journalism arts diploma at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Until mid-April, I’ll be learning the behind-the-scenes process of building an award-winning magazine, attempting to help Erin and Janine, all the while being fully immersed in all-things UPPERCASE. 

For the past two years, I’ve been attending Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, Alberta. I graduated from high school in 2006, and after a few years of working at coffee shops and retail stores, I knew I needed to find a career. My interest in reading, writing and photography lead me to journalism. 

Originally signing up for the journalism program with the hopes of becoming a photo-journalist, my focus shifted as I realized the potential in print. While thoroughly enjoying a print production and magazine class at SAIT, I decided to become a Print and Online Journalism Major. 

While searching for a business at which to do my practicum, UPPERCASE was one of the first to come to mind. In a world of online everything, UPPERCASE proves to its thousands of readers that print lives on. With its focus on vintage items, original graphic design and colourful content, UPPERCASE distinguishes itself amongst other magazines I have come across. The opportunity to be a part of it (for a very brief time!) was an occasion I did not want to miss.

As a newbie in the world of print journalism, I am extremely excited for all that I will have the chance to see, experience and learn. 

You can visit my website to see writing samples I completed while at SAIT, along with design samples, photographs and public relations materials.