UPPERCASE 44 by Janine Vangool

for the

C R E AT I V E and C U R I O U S

The SH A PE of THINGS to COM E

B O O K S

A multi-volume book series released in whimsical (nonalphabetical) order on all manner of intriguing and creative topics.

LOOK INSIDE AND DISCOVER MORE AT

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N OV E M B E R 2019

C O M I N G I N 2020

JA N UA RY 2019

AU G U ST 2019

REPRINTED

201 7

C U R R E N T LY

WHILE SUPPLIES

N OV E M B E R 2019

OUT OF PRINT

L AST !

S H O P

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Dear Reader, I’ve been designing books and magazines for 40 years. If you do the math, I began when I was six years old. I would make tiny booklets out of miscellaneous scavenged papers. There were storybooks about puppies and mice and space exploration, but my favourite activity was creating little booklets about how to make things. With book titles like Let’s Sew! and Things to Make, and a monthly magazine called CRAFTSTM (note the capital letters, plus I audaciously trademarked the word crafts), I would spend my weekends sewing or making a project of my own invention and then documenting it in a little companion book. As I was refreshing the design of this issue (and playing with a new font!), I was reminded of that childhood joy. Although putting this magazine together takes a tremendous amount of effort, I still felt that gleeful satisfaction of designing something just so. Making books and magazines is part of who I used to be—and who I am today. My art, craft and business orbits around ideas, words and pictures. I have dreams about fully formed books and spend my days making them real. When I write, I see typography. When I take pictures, I see page layouts. Although my books and magazines were fantasy back then, I am so grateful that this is now my reality. Thank you, kind and generous reader, for picking up a copy of my magazine and reading my books. May they also find a place in your heart.

Ja nine Va ngool P U B L I S H E R , E D I TO R , DESIGNER

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Contents

C O L O U R S WAT C H E S

A n n a M ac

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U P P E R C A S E

Ja nua r y / Febr ua r y / M a rch 2020

Welcome Editor’s Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Arianne Foulks illustration by Andrea D’Aquino

Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Snippets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

ORIG IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Worthwhile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Democratic Chair by Correy Baldwin

Creative Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Noted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Stockist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Art & Design

FRESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Robin Jespierre, Shannon Pawliw, Gosia Poraj, Monica Gava, Álex Roda, Ashley Oshiro, Marta Russo

ABECEDARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Volumetric Geometry by Glen Dresser

Fine Print LIBRARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Recommended Reading by Janine Vangool

COVER ARTIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Sophie Smallhorn text by Jane Audas photos by India Hobson

PAPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Andrew Ooi by Janine Vangool

PARTICIPATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 The Creative Chair Reader Submissions

A Chair Affair by Brendan Harrison

Misc. STUDIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Bibby Gignilliat Salli S. Swindell

PAINTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Q + A with Anna Mac

GALLERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Sculpture / Volume Reader Submissions

CIRCLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 The UPPERCASE Circle: a free community for subscribers

SHARES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Instagrams from readers

DESIG N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The Geometry of Cakes Alison Dunlop of ARD Bakery text by Jane Audas

CREATIVE CAREER . . . . . . . . 26

ILLUSTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Trend Forecaster Marie-Michèle Larivée

They Draw and Cook Food Geometry

TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

SKETCHBOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Only on Saturday: The Wood Type Prints of Jack Stauffacher

Laila Smith, jeweller

STITCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 The Granny Square: So Hip to Be Square by Kerrie More

HOBBY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

BEG INNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 20/20: The Past 20 Years and Future 20 Years by Janine Vangool illustration by Andrea D’Aquino

Craft

COVET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Built to Last by Andrea Jenkins

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T H A N K YO U

U P P E R CAS E 201B – 908, 17th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta Canada T2T 0A3

Janine Vangool

Thank you to the many talented contributors, creative collaborators and loyal readers who submitted to this issue.

P U B L I S H E R , E D I TO R , D E S I G N E R

janine@uppercasemagazine.com

Glen Dresser

G ET TO K N OW S O M E O F O U R

C U STO M E R S E RV I C E

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Correy Baldwin C O PY E D I TO R

Contributors

Core Contributors

Select one geometric shape that expresses something about your personality. What would you choose and why?

Jane Audas Correy Baldwin Andrea D’Aquino Melanie Falick Arianne Foulks Joy Deneen Glen Dresser Brendan Harrison Andrea Jenkins Linzee Kull McCray Andrea Marván Kerrie More Emily Orpin Lydie Raschka Christopher Rouleau Laura Tarrish

THANK YOU Thank you to everyone who submitted to the open calls for this issue. Even if you weren’t featured within these printed pages, your effort was noticed and appreciated! UPPERCASE has the best readers in the world. P RI NTE D I N CA N A DA BY T H E P R O L I F I C G R O U P.

Interior pages are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled Rolland Enviro 100. Give this magazine a long life! The content is evergreen, so we hope you’ll revisit it over and over again. If you’re done with it, please pass it on to a friend or colleague who might enjoy our content, or cut up the pages and create some art.

Kerrie More

Arianne Foulks

Andrea D’Aquino

My geometric personality has a number of equal, but contrasting sides— mostly outgoing, but also reserved… often spontaneous, yet comforted by routine… a lover of outdoor adventure, while also craving the cozy comforts of home. I am definitely a hexagon (but frequently an octagon!).

I’m going to choose a twisted loop, or infinity symbol, as my geometric shape. It feels like the things that I do go in cycles of learning and growing, and the twist in it makes me think of the uphill and downhill nature of progress. It’s encouraging to know that I’ve been in the low spots before, and risen again to the heights.

Whether I’m cutting paper, drawing or painting without any preconceived ideas, I seem to instinctually make a circle first because it has no edges, and it’s infinite, forgiving, including. There’s something that feels more precise and mathematical about shapes with angles and straight sides. I’ve never felt a natural affinity with definitive, clear-cut concepts.

kerriemore.com

aeolidia.com

andreadaquino.com

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Subscribe! Each issue is a labour of love: love for print as a medium and love of creativity as a way of life.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

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PARTICIPATE Share your ideas and art and enter the open calls! uppercasemagazine.com/ participate PUBLISHED I N D E P E N D E N T LY SINCE

2009

Snippets ABC NEW TYPE

CA M P TO N The typographically inclined will note a new font has been added to the design of these pages. The new sans serif is called Campton, by Berlinbased designer René Bieder. “Campton is an unconventional geometric family based on geometric fonts like Futura or Avant Garde,” he describes. “The result is a modern and quirky family that is perfectly suited for graphic design application ranging from editorial and corporate design to web and interaction design.” It was selected for its open counters (the enclosed spaces within letterforms), easy legibility at various sizes and friendly feel. It’s also the perfect companion to Choplin, another font by René, the block serif that has been part of the magazine’s typographic roster for a few years. renebieder.com

XYZ 8

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U P P E R C A S E

C R E AT I V E S PA C E S This is artist and author Adam J. Kurtz’s response to what a creative space can be, as featured in the new book by Poketo titled Creative Spaces. See page 24 for more. adamjkurtz.com

a2+b2=c2 Meena Khalili’s accordion sketchbooks are a daily documentation of her environment.

II M MA AG GE E F FR RO OM M W W II L LK KO O .. C CO OM M

S K ETC H E S

The D raw n Daily M E E N A KH A L I L I

Meena Khalili is a professor of design and interaction in Columbia, South Carolina, who makes daily drawings of her surroundings. “My drawings are a journal of discovering new people and places,” she explains. “The child of an immigrant, I have established a sense of peace in what it means to be an outsider. These works are a record of my experience.”

N E R D A L E RT

H eli x Oxford Se t of M at h emat ic al In s t r u m ents Does anyone else have fond memories of their childhood geometry sets? (Or is it just me?) What a fun day it was at school when you got to practice drawing circles with a compass and measuring angles with a protractor! The Helix Oxford set of Mathematical Instruments has been around for generations. The British Helix company began manufacturing wooden rules and metal laboratory equipment in 1887, but a patent for a drawing compass in 1894 secured its future. The Helix Oxford brand dates to 1935. The classic geometry set includes a ruler, pencil, eraser, sharpener, compass, 45 degree set square, 60 degree set square and 180 degree protractor —everything you need to demonstrate the Pythagorean theorem!

Wa la la L ou nge Walala Lounge, a public installation for London Design Festival 2019 by Camille Walala, is an entire Mayfair street transformed into an urban living room—a set of 10 sculptural benches, accompanied by planters (some freestanding and some integrated into the structure of the benches). The installation seeks to offer a counterbalance to the dreary and hectic momentum of city life, using art to give people a reason to smile, and as an incentive to find moments of interaction and connection.

She has taken her sketchbook to several cities. “My drawings reflect an intimate daily ritual of discovery in hopes of capturing the life of the city by using pen, ink and collage in travel-sized books. Each city is a living organism; some of the businesses archived in the project were closed down by the project’s final day, some spaces revitalized. The unique signage speaks to each city’s vibrant eclecticism. As a method of accountability, each daily drawing is shared on Instagram. The followers see each familiar city through a new set of eyes.” @thedrawndaily

@camillewalala

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W O R T H W H I L E

Using our creativity for good is one of the best ways we can make a difference. Through design, art and craft—and with our hands and hearts—we can affect change. However small it may seem at first, each incremental effort is still significant.

SERIOUSLY, HAVE A GOOD DAY South African design company Skinny laMinx creates beautiful, vibrant patterns for textiles and homewares, but they’ve recently developed another way to bring cheerful vibes. “Skinny laMinx is in the business of designing patterns, and in these dark times, with trouble in our neighbourhoods, in our politics, on our planet, some might say that patterns are beside the point,” says Heather Moore. “But when you think of pattern as more than a decorative extra—pattern is expressed in architecture, as cultivated habits, in musical rhythms—it’s clear that pattern is a fundamental tool that humans use to make order from chaos.” Heather sees living a good life as an act of design. “Just as a pattern is made up of shapes repeated over and over, so our lives are built up by the way we spend each passing day. Instead of cynicism and despair during challenging times, our #seriouslyhaveagoodday campaign is about taking our daily actions seriously, as we help cultivate a climate of generosity, friendliness and optimism.” The company donates 20% of each purchase of their Seriously Have a Good Day totes to the Breakfast Club, an organization providing breakfast to school children. They’ve raised enough for 6,400 breakfasts and counting! “We’re making a business that’s a force for good,” continues Heather, “one that fills our working lives with purpose, and that creates positive energy that rubs off on our customers, suppliers, fellow workers, families and even strangers, so we can all work together to transform our neighbourhoods and our planet— for the better.” skinnylaminx.com

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U P P E R C A S E

C R E A T I V E

P R O M P T

THE CUBE Part of my creative routine is dropping in on the UPPERCASE Circle throughout the week to chat with readers, answer questions, post links or videos, and see what everyone is up to. At the beginning of each month, I post a Creative Prompt. While working on this issue, I shared the following:

JA N I N E VA N G O O L UPPERCASE EDITOR / PUBLISHER / DESIGNER

Issue #44 explores ideas related to geometric shapes and volume. Musing on that theme, what is a very simple shape that represents volume in three dimensions? The cube!

Using a cube as a starting point, make something. Either explore its representation in 2D—use a cube motif to create a surface pattern or incorporate one into an illustration, for example—or head into 3D and make a cube out of interesting materials, taking your usual techniques and applying them to a threedimensional cube. What can a cube represent? How can it be used? How can it be expressive? How can it be beautiful?

REPLACE THE HATE A grassroots effort led by design educators Replace the Hate aims to build communal ties, renounce hate and rejoice in diversity through creative expressions and community art-making. Vicki L. Meloney, a professor in the Communication Design Department at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, organizes art-making workshops that uplift and support the community. “The first workshop happened organically as a reaction to white supremacist posters that were littered on our campus and around our small town,” says Vicki. “We didn’t get mad, we got creative.” At the workshops, attended by graphic design students, middle-school students and community members of all ages,

participants create images and designs. “By creating a collective space where people can come together to create highly effective, low-cost, powerful messages and images that reinforce collective core values, communities can heal, bond, create productive dialogue and perpetuate positivity.” The resulting work communicates shared sentiments of peace, love, hope and tolerance. A gallery of images, plus some high-resolution free downloads, are available online. replacethehate.com

Quilter Erika Mulvenna rose to the challenge! “I’ve been experimenting with ways to create the illusion of 3D on the virtually flat surface of a quilt,” she explains. “I did a little experiment with fabric and netting to create the illusion of a cube with depth, and I really like the way it looks!” @erika.mulvenna Log in to uppercasecircle.com to see more and share your projects— it’s free for magazine subscribers! (Find out more on page 112.) uppercasemagazine.com

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N O T E D

triangulated

I N T H E BAG This black neoprene triangle bag is by Glasgow-based Oona Designs. “Its style is intentionally made very minimalist in order to emphasize the structural shape.” The neopreen offers structure and waterproofing. oonaDesigns.etsy.com

CHANGE This leather change purse starts out as a triangle and opens into a diamond shape. Customize it with your initials. maykobags.etsy.com N OT E BO O K The designers of the Triangle Notebook call theirs a subversive approach to a typical notebook. “Its triangular shape opens up, slyly, to reveal perfectly square ruled pages. Triangle Notebook’s shape is easy to carry around and its compact size is perfect for doodles, sketches or writing your next novel. You decide.” trianglenotebook.com

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U P P E R C A S E

K I D’S BO O K Triangle is going to play a sneaky trick on his friend, Square. Or so Triangle thinks! Author Mac Barnett and illustrator Jon Klassen team up for another fun children’s book adventure. @macbarnett @jonklassen

S T O C K I S T

Highlighting independent brickand-mortar shops who stock UPPERCASE publications and other lovely things.

FIELD TRIP

Berylune ROYA L L E A M I N GTO N S PA , WA RW I C K S H I R E , U K P RO P R I ETO RS E M I LY DAV I E S , H E R S I ST E R A M Y BA R N E S A N D T H E I R B E ST F R I E N D ZO Ë S H A R P E M I LY DAV I E S : Berylune opened in 2012. Despite our original shop being tiny, over the years, what we sell has grown and evolved—we now stock homewares, gifts, stationery, magazines, kid’s goodies, books, accessories, chocolate and natural beauty products. We only stock items we truly love and feel passionate about, as we find anything else is impossible to sell!

We used to call ourselves the Pint-Sized Department Store, as our previous Park Street shop was teeny tiny. We have recently moved to larger premises on the corner of Warwick Street and Park Street, literally just up the road. This move has given us, and our customers, a bit more space! We are now able to stock plants and furniture, as well as many brands we have previously not had room for. Baby buggies no longer cause gridlock, which was genuinely a real problem in the old shop! What keeps us driven is the excitement we feel when we find something new and interesting to offer our customers. This is the biggest challenge we face, but also what we love most about the job. Even after seven years, every sale gives us a kick! We also love working together—our little team really is a family. We have been overwhelmed by the support of our customers over the years, many of whom are now friends. We are excited to continue to offer Berylune’s Modern Day Provisions for many years to come. Berylune.co.uk @beryluneuk

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F R E S H

fresh takes on familiar shapes Robin Jespierre NANTES, FRANCE

I work full time on my creations, whose formats and mediums of expression evolve continuously in the universe of geometric abstraction. I place a high value on colours and their associations, and work with both digital and traditional tools. My adventure in visual art started off with self-taught graphic creations. The lack of texture and smell quickly brought me to the use of other tools, which brought me real satisfaction. I am always looking for new textures in my geometric creations. lerobin.com

Shannon Pawliw VA N C O U V E R , BC, CA N A DA

I am a graphic designer and artist living in Vancouver, BC. My paintings explore the unrelenting divergence and ephemeral nature of memories. Memories of a life lived through moments both happy and sad, banal and formative. What starts out as fact soon becomes corroded by time and imagination into a dreamlike chaos, leaving no sense of the actual event. The work incorporates time as well as spaceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a fictional and experiential universe that only emerges bit by bitâ&#x20AC;Ś if at all. My memories are expressed with both orderly and random layers of paint. By acknowledging the division between the realm of memory and the realm of experience, I recreate intense personal moments by means of rules and omissions, acceptance and refusal, hopefully luring the viewer round and round in circles. As these temporal forms become distorted through repetition, distance and time, both the painter and the viewer are left with a reinvented reality. shannonpawliw.com

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U P P E R C A S E

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A B E C E D A R Y

volumetric geometry Archimedean solid*

g len d res ser

Cubes and cuboids*

Throughout the history of geometry, mathematicians have attempted to classify shapes based on rules. While Plato (see P) defined solids made of a single regular polygon (a cube made of squares), Archimedes explored solids made of different polygons. He added the additional rule that every vertex needs to be identical. Thirteen solids fit those requirements.

While a cube is obviously a shape with six square sides, a cuboid is any shape with six sides, and three edges for each vertice.

Buckminsterfullerene These carbon nanoparticles consist of 60 carbon atoms arranged as a polyhedron, and were named for Buckminster Fuller for their similarity to the structures he designed, such as polyhedron domes and spheres.

Dual shapes*

Elliptic geometry

A regular dodecahedron (20 sides and 12 corners) is a dual shape with a regular icosahedron (12 sides and 20 corners). That means if you start with a dodecahedron and turn each vertice into a face, and each face into a vertice, you get an icosahedron.

We intuitively know how the rules of geometry work on a flat surface, but once we apply them to a curved surface, the rules change (parallel lines are impossible! The sum of the angles of a triangle is greater than 180 degrees!). Mapmaking necessitated the need for elliptic geometry as the threedimensional globe was mapped onto two-dimensional paper.

Gaudí Antoni Gaudí used many sophisticated geometric concepts in his buildings, with hyperboloid structures (a smooth, curved plane similar to the trunk of a tree) playing a particularly important role in his Sagrada Familia cathedral.

Frustum* Take a pyramid or cone, and cut the top off. What you have left is a frustum.

Johnson solids*

Towers made of steel lattice already had fantastic strength properties, but Vladimir Shukhov (1853 to 1939) first pioneered the use of hyperbolic shapes— a convex shape around its axis— for greater strength.

Astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler first classified these star-shaped solids, which start with Platonic solids—dodecahedrons and icosahedrons— and “stellates” them.

* Words marked with an asterisk are referenced in these illustrations.

F RU ST U M

U P P E R C A S E

Helix

Lattice tower

Kepler solids*

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A 20-sided polyhedron. While the regular icosahedron is one of Plato’s solids, a truncated icosahedron is easily the most famous, as the shape of a soccer ball.

A long, curved spiral. A single helix is easily identified in machines (screws) and nature (climber plants), but multiple, opposite helixes can be overlaid to create complex diagrid forms (such as the Peace Bridge in Calgary).

Norman Johnson did away with Archimedes’ rule that every vertex need be identical, and found 92 solids that fit this criterion.

Icosahedron*

P L ATO N I C

Non-Euclidean geometry

Maison Cubiste At La Maison Cubiste, an art installation in Paris in 1912, cubist artists lead by sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon presented their vision for geometric forms applied to sculpture and architecture.

Non-Euclidean geometry, which includes elliptic geometry (see E) and hyperbolean geometry (see G), was a major influence on Duchamp-Villon and other cubist artists, who began thinking about curved and warped space in their work.

Omnitriangulated* A shape consisting entirely of triangles, which includes regular icosahedrons, Kepler’s solids and Fuller’s geodesic surfaces.

Platonic solid* Plato believed that these solids—in which each face is the same regular polygon—were associated with different types of matter: the sharp corners of a tetrahedron with the pain of fire, the robustness of a cube with the solidness of earth.

Quasi-regular polyhedron* First skip ahead and read about regular polyhedrons. Then imagine you remove the rule that every face is the same, and instead say that you’re allowed to use two different faces. The truncated icosahedron (soccer ball) is an example of this.

A polygon in which every face is the same, and made of a regular polygon (a shape in which all edges and angles are the same); all Platonic solids are regular polyhedrons, as are some Kepler solids.

Uniform curvature The striking roof of the Sydney Opera House is an example of uniform curvature, where the curve is consistent both toward the side and the back.

Regular polyhedron*

Vertex Figure A vertex figure is created by taking any shape with vertices (such as a box) and slicing off one corner.

Torus Self-similarity

X Y and

Wireframe Wireframe modelling reduces a three-dimensional shape to a set of lines and vertices. While it’s used today in computer modelling, it dates back at least to Renaissance artists, notably Paolo Uccello, who used it when working on problems of perspective.

A RC H I M E D E S

axes

The X and Y axes were conceived of by René Descartes, apocryphally as he was watching a fly on his ceiling and was determining how to describe its position. Descartes originally only thought as far as a twodimensional axis.

KEPLER

A property whereby small details of a shape are similar to the larger details. Romanesco broccoli and Hindu temples both have self-similarity.

A torus is a donut shape. It can be thought of as the product of two circles. One circle describes the thickness of the donut itself, while the other describes the diameter of the entire donut.

axis

The Z axis came soon after, when Frans van Schooten translated Descartes’ work into Latin and also realized that it could be applied to three-dimensional space.

JOHNSON

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L I T T L E U

actual size!

Little U is a small-format bookÂ (5 inches wide by 6 inches tall), but at 240 pages, it has a nice, thick spine!

Everything you love about UPPERCASE, just smaller and cuter!

The cover of our 2018 issue is by featured illustrator Suzy Ultman.

Look for volume 2 coming soon! Volume 2 will be out in the first half of 2020. Purchase your copy of the first volume while supplies last!

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Little U, the offspring of UPPERCASE magazine, is an occasional magazine/book for the young at heart. (Think of it as a smaller and cuter version of UPPERCASE!) With childlike wonder, Little U explores making, designing, illustrating, working and living creatively. Highlighting childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books, surface pattern design, clothing, product design, and arts and crafts for children, this publication inspires and informs creative professionals and families alike! littleUmag.com

U P P E R C A S E

S U B S C R I B E

UPPERCASE is an independent magazine, published since 2009. There are no paid advertisements in the magazine— we’re supported by you, our wonderful readers.

Subscribe today and tell a friend. Thank you!

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Creative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire T E D VA DA K A N & ANGIE MYUNG W I T H G R EG O RY H A N

RECOMMENDED READING by janine vangool

In a decade of publishing UPPERCASE magazine, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had the pleasure of featuring a lot of creatives and their companies. One such success story is that of Poketo, the wife-and-husband team of Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan. Founded in 2003, the Los Angelesbased lifestyle brand and retail destination has refined and broadened its sphere of influence. Over the years, they have also nurtured relationships with fellow creatives, 23 of whom are profiled in Creative Spaces. From artist and author Adam J. Kurtz to entrepreneur Tina Roth Eisenberg to printmaking sisters Lily and Hopie Stockman (pictured at left) and more, this book compiles a range of folks who live and work in uniquely creative ways and who have personal and professional connections to the dynamic Poketo couple. chroniclebooks.com

I N S P I R E D S PAC E S Lily and Hopie Stockman of Block Shop textiles, featured in Creative Spaces. blockshoptextiles.com

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U P P E R C A S E

L I B R A R Y

B U S I N E SS L I F E

F U T U R E N OW

Marie Forleo’s B-School M A RC H 2020

Taking B-School in 2014 made all the difference in the financial health of my company (not to mention my own personal sanity) and I’ve been a proud B-School affiliate for the past couple of years. B-School is an eight-week online course that only opens for registration once a year (but once you’re a B-Schooler, you have access to this updating library of informative and inspiring video content, marketing resources and fun sheets for life).

A DV I C E F O R L I F E

Everything Is Figureoutable M A R I E F O R L EO

Long-term readers of my weekly Tuesday newsletter will be familiar with my appreciation of Marie Forleo and her annual online business and marketing training program called B-School. It’s a course that literally saved my business when it was at its very lowest point. But as Marie teaches us in B-School—and now in her New York Times bestselling book—“everything is figureoutable.” With practising the right mindset, seeing through the mire of problems to find workable and even joyful solutions, Marie’s mantra to success can be yours, too. Though this book is definitely in the selfhelp category and leaves out all the business and marketing genius of B-School, it’s a valuable primer on figuring out this business of life. marieforleo.com penguin.com/publishers/portfolio

For folks who sign up through my recommendation and affiliate link, you can join me and fellow UPPERCASE readers and creative entrepreneurs in our own private group in the UPPERCASE Circle. I walk you through each lesson with my own takeaways and experiences. We support each other through constructive advice and gentle critique, and by boosting each other’s creative businesses. We’re all in it together! To find out more, sign up for my B-School newsletter list and watch Marie’s launch videos in February 2020. Marie offers scholarships for free tuition annually, so watch for the opportunity to apply. B-School starts on March 2, 2020, and I look forward to seeing you in class! marieforleobschool.com uppercasemagazine.com/ bschool

This Could Be Our Future: A Manifesto for a More Generous World YA N C EY ST R I C K L E R

Given that this book was written by a cofounder and former chief executive of Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform that has generated over $4 billion in pledges in 174,000 projects since 2009, this book— a manifesto, no less—is sure to garner some attention. Strickler offers a stark view of our current state of affairs: “The path of politics and money is like what happened with recycling. We once lived in a world where politics and money were separate. They were multistream. But today money and politics are single-stream. And like recycling, politics has become so dirty it’s stopped serving its actual purpose.” He offers an antidote, Bentoism, as a guide to self-coherence. “It is a guide to our true self-interest.” The bento analogy divides these interests into quadrants: now me, now us, future me and future us. The concept might be graphically simple, but the book is a challenging— and necessary—read. bentoism.org

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T R E N D F O R E CAST E R

U P P E RCAS E Please describe what you do and why. M A R I E- M I C H È L E L A R I V É E As a trend forecaster, I analyze shifts in society and translate them into colours, textiles, styles and new approaches. I support Canadian companies with their understanding of where society is heading, pointing out emerging attitudes and stylistic desires. Part of my work is also filtering, or cleaning up the overload of information for designers to help them develop collections that are well-tailored to the future needs of society.

Consumer behaviours are embedded in the zeitgeist and are driven by the social, political, economic, ecological and legal synergies around them. When I first opened a trend book back in my college years, it struck me how there is more to a purchasing decision than a simple mood board, and that is when my obsession for trends started. I realized that there were misunderstandings in Canada and an inability to foresee future trends—that is why I help companies with their planning and strategies. What makes your job, profession or career unique and interesting? It is a fairly new profession. Trend forecasting as a professional only started around the seventies in Europe. The initial approach mainly revolved around reporting from one part of the world to another. Nowadays, the Internet and social media have a great impact on the profession. To be a trend forecaster you need to be very open-minded and curious 24/7. The desire to touch on and analyze different industries makes it very diverse and stimulating. Keeping my finger on the pulse and building creative future scenarios is definitely letting me use my creativity daily, and that is what thrills me.

What training or education prepared you (or didn’t!) for this career? There is no straight path to become a trend forecaster. To be a trend forecaster you have to be very curious, visit exhibitions, travel and not be afraid to meet people and analyze constantly. I would say that a marketing or design degree, or both, is always a plus for being a trend forecaster. Anthropology and sociology are also fields that are closely related to the trend forecasting industry—understanding human behaviour helps us predict how it will change. I would add that having a rich writing experience and an eye for aesthetics can complement the classroom approach. There are also different specialized trend forecasting programs currently bubbling up around the world, at Fontys, Parsons and others. Personally, I specialized with a master’s degree in fashion trend forecasting in Italy after my BA. What advice do you have for someone trying to find their own creative career path? If you can’t find the job you really want, make it happen. It is said that most of tomorrow’s jobs are not even on the market at the moment, so create something special— your own vision. If there is no path, create it. mariemichelelarivee.ca

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OPPOSITE: ISTOCKPHOTO

Marie-Michèle Larivée

T H I S PAG E : K AC I A N E M O N C H A M P

C R E A T I V E

“ Trends are like waves—there is a science that makes them easily explainable.” MARIE-MICHÈLE LARIVÉE

UPPERCASE loves to feature people who have unique and interesting professions. Over the years, we’ve featured a voice artist, a vintage poster seller, a historical colour expert, a document forgery expert and many more folks with careers that touch on creativity and culture in unusual ways. Want to be featured? Tell us about your Creative Career! uppercasemagazine.com/participate

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Art & Design playful studies on colour, volume and proportion

Sophie Smallhorn STO RY

j an e audas

P H OTO S

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in dia h obson

Sophie also does more commercial work, usually colour consultation, that carries the challenge of different scales and different work pressures—and offers, usually, more money. As she acknowledges, “in many ways it is one of the things that has kept me going and made it all possible.” Last year she worked on series of window installations for fashion retailer COS. But her biggest job so far was for the British Olympics in 2012, working for the architecture firm Populous on a colour palette for the Olympic stadium. By all accounts the Olympics was a political hot pot of a project that nevertheless has gone down as a success and, retrospectively, an amazing event to have been part of. Sophie enjoyed working at scale: “But more than working at scale I like the balance of belonging to a team. More than that, I like the balance of belonging to a team and then coming back here and not belonging to a team. In theory those big projects support the little projects. But it can be that they obliterate the small projects.” Before the Olympics she worked, for the same architects, on the Emirates Stadium project (the home of the Arsenal football team), also in London. “Those two projects were the hardest colour projects because of both the politics of the projects but also the palettes,” she says. Conversely, Sophie does also quite like a brief, a restriction to work to: “I’m able to, happy to and like to work with a level of restriction a lot of artists wouldn’t work with. I don’t think I’ve ever believed that I’m a pure fine artist. Even when I’m making speculative work, I set a brief in my head. I set a level of restrictions. Because if it is too open-ended I can’t find a way in. Those restrictions that I set might just be about practicalities—like I’ve run out of red paint or the piece of wood is only so big. But those are the restrictions that I go in with.” She admits that this love of a brief—of constraints to work within—might well come from her training as a product designer. She studied at the University of Brighton for a BA in furniture and ceramics. It was a mixed-material course covering metal, plastic and ceramics, and quite a craft-led course, she says. Sophie thought, when she started the course, that she was going to be a jeweller (and it is mouthwatering to think of what jewellery she might have made). But she needed a bigger canvas. “I’ve always been preoccupied with colour,” she says. “And I think I worked out quite quickly that with jewellery, I couldn’t tick the colour box on that scale. So I majored in wood and minored in plastics. I made furniture that was basically big, overgrown sculpture—quite childlike.” In many ways, working as an artist was an inevitable route for Sophie. Her mother trained as a textile designer, and also taught art. Her dad was an industrial designer. “We were brought up with colour,” she says. 40

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P A R T I C I P A T E

One of the visual themes weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re exploring in this issue is shape, geometry and volume. A common object that can be inspired by either simple or complex shapes and that takes up volume in our living and work spaces is the chair.

UPPERCASE readers were invited to share their chair designs: real and imagined, photographed or illustrated, made or manufactured, designed or deconstructed. . .

The Neptune Chair Anne Holderread S E AT T L E , WAS H I N GTO N , U SA

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Many years ago, a friend gave me a chair she was planning on throwing out. I took it home knowing it would be a great painting project, but at the time I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how I would paint it. After stubbing my toe on it numerous times, I finally saw the silhouette of two mermaids and I decided to paint it as an homage to the Roman god Neptune. It took several months to paint. My favourite part of the chair is the tridents I made out of polymer clay. I think Neptune would approve! holderreadcreative.com

Lady of the Lane Cathy Albrecht D E N M A N I S L A N D, B R I T I S H C O LU M B I A , CA N A DA

This chair was found in a lane, missing an arm and most of her fabric, and sadly in need of refinishing. I brought her home and fit her with a prosthetic arm from a wrought iron gate, painted her with hammered dark grey paint, built a new foundation for the seat and covered her in a toile fabric remnant. This chair has been brought back to life because she was made well enough to stand the rigours of neglect.

Metamorphosis Vanessa Gomez LOS A N G E L E S , CA L I F O R N I A , U SA

Paper love chair Gabriela Szulman LO N D O N , U K

A quick doodle in digital ink. I get my best ideas by daydreaming. It would be amazing to have a chair that would instantly inspire! I tried to colour it, but I fell in love with the simplicity of it, so I let it be.

I bought this kitchen chair for £5 from a local junk shop and gave it a new lease on life using découpage, a very simple upcycling technique that I teach through creative workshops at my studio in South London. The seat and back are covered with one of my favourite materials and something that I use a lot both on furniture and in collage: pages from old books. These particular fragments come from old Larousse dictionaries and encyclopedias, and I like the random pattern that appears from using yellowed and less yellowed paper. The back was further embellished with some bold flowers and leaves that I cut from a wallpaper sample. Finally, the legs and spindles were covered with torn-up paper napkins.

leticiaplate.com

gabrielaszulman.com

Daydreaming Chair Leticia Plate P O RT L A N D, M A I N E , U SA

After my divorce, I became the owner of a sad-looking chair. I debated getting rid of this old Bloomingdale’s chair, a remnant of a failed marriage, but couldn’t. The chair, despite its odd salmon-painted wood and dingy striped fabric, just needed some TLC and a splash of confidence, like me. After my divorce, neon yellow became my signature colour. People laugh at my love of the bright, in-your-face colour; to me it is visual joy, lighting up any room, space or outfit. So I decided to go for it. I meticulously cleaned, then sanded the odd colour, covered the entire chair in white chalk paint—fabric and all. Then I added the yellow. In an instant, the chair went through a metamorphosis. Its true beauty shone bright. My now favourite chair reminds me that with a little love and care, what seems lost can instead be transformed. @ClassicallyPhunkyDesigns

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S T U D I O S

subscriber studios A RT I ST

Bibby Gignilliat SAU SA L I TO, CA L I F O R N I A , U SA

Show us your studio! uppercasemagazine.com/ participate

At age 10, I loved painting, but then I had a critical teacher so I stopped. As Julia Cameron said in her book The Artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Way, if you really want to know what you are suppose to do in life, look at what you loved as a child. I spent 20 years running a successful cooking business and sold it to focus full time on being an artist. It is a true homecoming. I am a mixed-media artist and now help ignite that creativity in others in my workshops in my studio in the ICB Building in Sausalito, California. I am determined to bring these business skills to my art practice and be a prosperous artist. My dream clients are people who are wanting to connect with their creativity in my workshops and with hotels, hospitals, retail stores and restaurants for art purchases. I would like to make a living at painting my dream! bibbyart.com

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I L LU ST R ATO R

Salli S. Swindell H U DS O N , O H I O, U SA

My studio is 10 steps from my kitchen, making it almost too easy to gather coffee and snacks all day long. I think my studio reflects my career. The space has become fuller, richer, more colourful and more inspiring over the past 20 years. Both my studio and my business have grown very organically. All of the work on the walls has been created by either friends, family, myself or artists I have met at conferences, art fairs and through They Draw and Cook (see page 78). I suppose when the art reaches the ceiling itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be time to get a bigger space! salliswindell.com theydrawandcook.com

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C I R C L E

Looking forward… There’s a lot to look forward to in the year ahead at UPPERCASE—and many ways in which you can be involved or even get published! Look for all the details and deadlines for the open calls on our website and be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter for behind-thescenes updates!

Circle

Little U Volume 2 of this smaller and cuter version of UPPERCASE is happening. My son Finley and I are already at work on the content and hope to release Little U in the spring.

Make connections, nurture your creative spirit and grow your business!

Ceramics Volume C in the Encyclopedia of Inspiration is co-authored by Carole Epp and Julia Krueger. We’re looking for ceramicists and potters, and applications will be open until early January. The book will come out in the fall. Support this project by pre-ordering the 2020 Encyclopedia set. Yarn-Thread-String In Volume Y in the Encyclopedia of Inspiration, we get up close and personal with yarn, thread and string. Auditions are open until February. Support this project by pre-ordering the 2020 Encyclopedia set. Issue 45, 46 and 47 Some themes I’ll be exploring in 2020 include art, craft and design relating to water/ocean/floating/fluidity, watercolours, science, collage authorship and more. Pitch your article ideas and theme suggestions anytime by emailing submissions@uppercasemagazine.com. Fabric Look for my fourth collection with Windham Fabrics to be released in July 2020.

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The UPPERCASE Circle is a vibrant community hub. One that is a valuable source of motivation, inspiration and encouragement for like-minded and kind-hearted creative people from around the world. Although the community is initially brought together by its support for and appreciation of UPPERCASE magazine, the Circle will enhance your experience of all things UPPERCASE while providing additional value to your creative life through conversation and sharing of knowledge. •

Connect with members of the UPPERCASE community— both near and far—who share your interests.

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Share your work with your peers, mentors and potential customers.

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Find inspiration, motivation and new perspectives.

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Move your creative business forward with tips, tools and support from peers and guest experts.

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Live video conferences and video chats.

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Learn and grow through e-courses (coming in 2020).

Access to this community is FREE when you subscribe to UPPERCASE magazine! uppercasecircle.com

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S H A R E S

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no social media strategy team behind my Instagram and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why your pictures of UPPERCASE in your lives means so much to me personally! Please share your pictures and stories of my books, magazines and fabric on Instagram @uppercasemag with your friends, family and colleagues. #uppercaselove for all things UPPERCASE #uppercasemag for the magazine #uppercasereader to share what you make #encyclopediaofinspiration for the books #uppercasefabric for my fabric collections with @windhamfabrics #littleumag for my little magazine for the young at heart

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Built to Last ||| STO RY A N D P H OTO BY

An d re a Jenk i ns

he dog days of a southern summer are often spent in one of two places—inside with the AC on full blast or outside, fully submerged in a cool body of water. All other options are unthinkable. So when I walked down the street to my brother’s house on a thick June day, I was bewildered to find him standing in an open garage, sweaty and hunched over a giant chunk of wood. I’m making a dining room table, he said. I want to build something with my hands this summer. And I want to do it in the sun. Simple as that. Except it wasn’t so simple. My brother, though he had been making things all of his life, had never made a dining room table. And his disdain for heat and humidity is, in a word, unparalleled. And I was, in a word, skeptical. But as he showed me the lovely pieces of live edge wood he had purchased and excitedly explained his plans, something in me softened and I saw what he saw, and felt the same possibility he felt. Over the next three weeks, I watched with great interest. I wandered over a few times a week, sometimes to borrow something or do a load of laundry but mostly to see how things were going. Progress seemed steady, though he sheepishly admitted to feeling in over his head. I listened to his laments—everything from not having the right tools to the complaints he heard daily from his family. His wife wondered why they needed a new table in the first place when the one they had from IKEA seemed perfectly

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fine. His teenage daughters complained about the noise and the mess and the way the project often spilled out of the garage and onto the driveway. At one point, after three days of failed attempts at joining the wood, he finally broke down, called a friend with a woodworking shop and hauled his pieces over to get some help. Despite all this, I could see the table slowly coming together and just how much my brother relished the process. It occurred to me that he had always found a way to make the things he wanted to make—whether he had the right tools or not. Growing up, we didn’t have much in the way of tools or resources, but this never seemed to stop him. When he finally finished the table that summer and triumphantly placed it in his home, I wanted to throw him a party. He had found a way and the table was beautiful. When I visit now, he is often sitting at this table, drinking coffee, working. I sit with him sometimes, running my hands over the grain of the wood while we talk. He says he can’t help but see all the mistakes he made when he looks at it, but that’s not what I see. I see that glorious, hot summer full of sawdust and sweat and sunshine. I see his hard work. I see our families gathered around for Thanksgiving dinners and birthdays. I see how much his family loves the table now, how his girls will one day fight over who gets to keep it, how it will surely be passed down through generations. I see my brother, I see his joy. And there’s not a table in the world I would rather sit at than this one.

S H O P

SUBSCRIPTIONS, RENEWALS, BOOKS AND BACK ISSUES

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UPPERCASE 44

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