Design Professionals of Canada - DesCan

Design Professionals of Canada - DesCan DesCan is the national advocate, voice and resource for Canada's design profession.

The GDC is an advocate, voice and resource for Canada's graphic design profession. We are a national certified body of graphic designers promoting high standards of visual design and ethical business practices for the benefit of Canadian industry, commerce, public service and education. Through the media, publications, seminars, events, conferences and exhibits, the GDC builds awareness of graphic design and its essential role in business and society.

DesCan Vancouver and are pleased to announce the Call for Entries to the 2026 Jim Rimmer Scholarships.The Jim Rimmer Sc...
10/22/2026

DesCan Vancouver and are pleased to announce the Call for Entries to the 2026 Jim Rimmer Scholarships.
The Jim Rimmer Scholarships are an annual opportunity for students to submit a completed project (or one currently in progress) for a community program, a non-profit organization, or an environmental or social cause.
Students who are currently enrolled, or have graduated within the last year from a design program in BC are eligible. Scholarships will be awarded on the strength of the solution, how effectively it communicates a message, benefits a community, affects action and promotes change.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
Two $1,000 scholarships from
Hemlock Printers Ltd.
Submission Deadline:
October 31, 2026 at 6pm
Link in our bio
Winners will be announced at an awards event with guest speaker Renée Alexander Renée Alexander on November 12
Venue: LaSalle College
2665 Renfrew St, Vancouver
6:30-9pm
Thanks to our esteemed judges: Yuka Sasagawa CDP Yuke Takinosawater, Greg Durrell Greg Durrell, Sharon Belanger CDP Sharon Belanger.design, Rod Roodenberg CDP , Greg Durrell F.DesCan Tomorrow, Andrew Samuel CDP St. Bernadine and Ollie Loorz .
Jim Rimmer FGDC was a pivotal influence in Canadian letterpress and private press. Many of his typefaces, such as Albertan are ubiquitous in print and digital graphic design worldwide. His stature as an icon was recognized in 2007 when he was awarded Fellowship by DesCan. The first scholarship was announced in November 2009 at Practivism. Sadly, Jim passed away in 2010 after a battle with cancer.




This week’s curated post features the work of Gérard Bochud from 1980.Greenfield Park is a former city in southwestern ...
10/22/2026

This week’s curated post features the work of Gérard Bochud from 1980.
Greenfield Park is a former city in southwestern Québec and today is a borough of the city of Longueuil (on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montréal). It is also the only borough of Longueuil that has an officially bilingual status.
The symbol, whilst fairly abstract on first inspection, clearly depicts the combination of water (river) and sun juxtaposed into a hazy sky within a circular container — connecting to its geographical location and the unity of its demographic.
Designed by well known Swiss designer and educator Gérard Bochud, who during this period simultaneously taught at the University of Quebec as well as running his own communications design studio with his wife Simone.
You can read the full story of this and other examples of Canadian design history at canadamodern.org (link in ’s profile).
TM51
Title: Commission Scolaire de Greenfield Park/Greenfield Park School Board
Year: 1980
Designer: Gérard Bochud
Studio: G Bochud Inc.
Client: Commission Scolaire de Greenfield Park
Greenfield Park School Board
Sector: Education
Blair Th⚫️mson
Believe in®
G R A P H I L A T E L Y
Alliance Graphique Intl





Design Canada

Call for submissions!The Cheryl Lynn Rutledge Northern Indigenous Student Award was created through a generous donation ...
10/21/2026

Call for submissions!
The Cheryl Lynn Rutledge Northern Indigenous Student Award was created through a generous donation from Mark Rutledge CDP, to support an Indigenous design student, (with preference given to students from the North West Territories, Yukon and Nunavut) pursuing an education in graphic / communication design at a Canadian post-secondary college or university.
This scholarship is established in honour of Mark’s mother, Cheryl Lynn, who was his support and inspiration and who passed away in 2016. A scholarship of $1,000 will be awarded to an individual applying in proper form to the DesCan Scholarship program.
Award Criteria:
• Open to any Indigenous student (including Inuit and Métis students) pursuing an education in graphic/communication design at an accredited Canadian post-secondary college/university, with preference given to those from Northern territories
• Student is enrolled in a full-time graphic/communication design program at a Canadian post-secondary college/university and is returning to continue full-time studies in a graphic/communication design program at a Canadian post-secondary college/university, or, student has been admitted to a full-time first-year graphic/communication design program at a Canadian post-secondary college/university
• Applicants must be a DesCan member in good standing.
• Applicants can only receive this scholarship once in their educational career.
Entry deadline: November 13, 2026
Submit at descan.ca/scholarships

Assistant Professor, Visual Communication Design (Design Studies) – Tenure TrackUniversity of AlbertaEdmonton, ABDeadlin...
10/16/2026

Assistant Professor, Visual Communication Design (Design Studies) – Tenure Track
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Deadline: 14 November 2026
Summary:
The Department of Art & Design, Design Studies unit invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track, Assistant Professor position specializing in Visual Communication Design, and demonstrated expertise (commensurate with their career stage) in UX/UI design, design theory, and practice-based research methods. Experience or interest in service design, and community engagement design, is an asset. Ideal candidates would augment or complement these areas of expertise and bring collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches that contribute to the continued development of Design Studies. This position is to commence on July 1, 2027.
Salary Range:
Contact: Sean Caulfield, Chair, Department of Art & Design
Apply through descan.ca/job.
DesCan connects employers with designers! Looking to post a job opportunity? There is no time limit on your post and companies that employ DesCan members post at no charge.
Looking for your next project, client, or career move — opportunities are on our website. Jobs are posted regularly and the Job Board is open to both members and non-members.




-designers-and-business-owners

This week’s curated post features the work of Ernst Barenscher from 1967.An invitation to the opening of Sculpture ’67 ...
10/15/2026

This week’s curated post features the work of Ernst Barenscher from 1967.
An invitation to the opening of Sculpture ’67 on Thursday June 1st 1967, which saw the sculpture works from Montréal’s Expo67 relocated to Toronto’s City Hall and presented by the National Gallery of Canada as a standalone open air exhibition. This formed part of the gallery’s Centennial celebrations, and comprised 68 artworks in total, numbered and listed with key supporting provided here.
Like the ‘program’, the document is printed to one side of an oversized sheet, in blue and black ink, but this one folds down to a 4 page (to view) invitation. The identity is particularly striking and provides the angle for the supporting text throughout.
You can read the full story of this and other examples of Canadian design history at canadamodern.org (link in ’s profile).
CM270
Artifact Type: Invitation
Title: Sculpture 67 Invitation
Year: 1967
Designer: Ernst Barenscher
Studio: Paul Arthur + Associates
Client: National Gallery of Canada
Size: 130mm X 202mm (folded)
Blair Th⚫️mson
Believe in®
G R A P H I L A T E L Y
Alliance Graphique Intl





Design Canada

10/09/2026

Welcome to overlay -
overlay will be a deep exploration about the foundational elements and paste up mechanicals of graphic design.
This video is a look at similar workshops at Nike and Big-Giant agency.

In this workshop, we are going to discuss how to see and feel beyond the current point and get in touch with materials, relationships, alignment, and a deeper voice in mechanical graphic design.

This is not an arts and crafts style session.
This is an exploration of deeper thinking and understanding of the foundational graphic relationships of materials. In this class, you will come with visual and graphic intent. You are asked to bring your own found materials ( combined with our supplied assets) that you could potentially use in your graphic visual paste up.

The goal here is to gain a stronger sensibility of graphic design, visual story, and learning to see deeper into graphic relationships and typography. These relationships will start with you outside of the computer.

Yes, this is a serious approach to paste up mechanical graphic design, but it’s also gonna be incredibly fun.
We have one another to run through discussions, approaches to material and any potential next steps with your design graphic. There is absolutely no right or wrong and zero judgment.
I’m excited to see everyone and the materials that they bring.. the more people we have the more amazing paste up work we’re all gonna see.
I guarantee you’ll see some inspiring moments that won’t see anywhere else..
See you all on the 17th.
More info Design Professionals of Canada, Vancouver Chapter

s/

a tremendous thank you to Steve Settle at Nike for his talented insights to the workshop.
another huge appreciation to Big-Giant Jason Bacon and Keenan Keeley for sharing their studio and building work with us.
and my longtime friend and master of materials Clive Knights who partnered together for the “ephemeral arrangements” workshop and exhibition.
our photographers Grant Clum Seth Batcheller al._.roy and to Marc Moran for the event coordination.

Design Professionals of Canada, Vancouver Chapter Elyssa U Schmid Matt Warburton CDP, F.DesCan

This week’s curated post features work from 1974 (designer unknown).Image 74 was an exhibition run and organized by the...
10/08/2026

This week’s curated post features work from 1974 (designer unknown).
Image 74 was an exhibition run and organized by the Artisans’ Guild of Hamilton (an affiliate of The Canadian Guild of Crafts). The exhibition was held at Hamilton Place, Hamilton, in June 1974.
Since its inception in 1961, the Artisans’ Guild of Hamilton staged an annual show and sale, to showcase the excellence of design and construction in the handicraft arts found in south-western Ontario. The Guild’s primary mission was to encourage and recognize the developing appreciation of fine handicrafts and craftsmanship among residents of Hamilton and the surrounding communities. Image 74 built on these principles, whilst forging appropriate standards for the design and production of craft objects by practitioners, as well as developing education in handicraft skills among the general public.
The cover features a typographic composition of the word ‘image’ set in black and white within a square vortex, reducing in scale over 3 steps. At its centre (and in contrast to its hypnotic surroundings) sits the number ‘74’, crafted in a more organic, humanized form in green, teal and blue.
You can read the full story of this and other examples of Canadian design history at canadamodern.org (link in ’s profile).
CM93
Artifact Type: Catalogue
Title: Image 74
Year: 1974
Designer: Uncredited
Studio: Uncredited
Client: The Artisans’ Guild of Hamilton, The Canadian Guild of Crafts
Size: 198mm X 192mm
Blair Th⚫️mson
Believe in®
G R A P H I L A T E L Y
Alliance Graphique Intl





Design Canada

This week’s curated post features the work of Heiner Hegemann from 1964.Emile Zola defined naturalism as a literary mov...
10/01/2026

This week’s curated post features the work of Heiner Hegemann from 1964.
Emile Zola defined naturalism as a literary movement that emphasized observation and the scientific method in the fictional portrayal of reality. This book collects several of his essays on the subject, including literary criticism and commentary on the social political and historical climate in France during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
The cover design features a circular form that feels like a planet or world, perhaps reflecting Zola’s own view on the importance and significance of his theories, despite their apparent simplicity. It won the Typography 64 “Award of Distinctive Merit” (overall winner) for Book Design.
You can read the full story of this and other examples of Canadian design history at canadamodern.org (link in ’s profile).
CM124
Artifact Type: Softback Book
Title: The Naturalist Novel
Year: 1964
Designer: Heiner Hegemann
Studio: Uncredited
Client: Harvest House
Size: 202mm X 139mm
Blair Th⚫️mson
Believe in®
G R A P H I L A T E L Y
Alliance Graphique Intl





Design Canada

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day to remember and honour the children who never came home and to honour...
09/30/2026

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day to remember and honour the children who never came home and to honour survivors of the Residential School system, their families and their communities.
Reconciliation is much more than Orange Shirts and Land Acknowledgments, though. It is about what each of us can each do to learn Canada’s true history and how we can work towards reconciliation in our own ways.
Some suggestions for where you can start:
• Check out www.whose.land/en to learn about the land you live on, including maps with treaty information, Indigenous territories, communities, businesses and leadership stories.
• Download the 94 Calls to Action recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at www.nctr.ca
• Take the Indigenous Canada online course offered for free by the University of Alberta www.coursera.org/learn/indigenous-canada
• Watch a documentary, like We Were Children (available on Prime)
• DesCan has made a donation to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS), whose mission is: fostering safe spaces for emotional, spiritual, and cultural healing. IRSSS stands by survivors, intergenerational survivors and communities affected by the enduring legacy of residential schools and other injustices. Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)





Reconciliation
OrangeShirtDay

Design with your hands.Join graphic artist and creative director Scott Clum for OVERLAY, a hands-on Visual Storytelling ...
09/29/2026

Design with your hands.

Join graphic artist and creative director Scott Clum for OVERLAY, a hands-on Visual Storytelling Workshop.
Renowned for his innovative work in sports brand culture and one of the original designers behind iconic RAY GUN publishing, Scott pioneered a distinctive cut-and-paste aesthetic that blends digital tools with hand-built design mechanicals to lead a process in visual storytelling that feels nostalgic, fresh and unmistakably human.
He’s helped global brands rediscover their visual story through an analogue lens. Now it’s your turn.

Make something real.
Sat. October 17 / 10am-3pm / Sunfire Studios Inc. / Link in Design Professionals of Canada, Vancouver Chapter

DesignWorkshop DesignCraft

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Ottawa, ON

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Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

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