The next generation of remarkable young graphic designers showcase their talent in &CO., the graduation exhibition of the class of 2011 of the 91亚色/Sheridan Joint Program in Design (YSDN). The outstanding work of this year鈥檚 93 graduates will be on display April 18 and 19 at the Fermenting Cellar in Toronto's聽Distillery District.
The show, which launched with an evening reception for family and friends on April 17, is now聽open to the public聽for a聽two-day run. Members of the professional design community are invited to meet the rising young talent and view their work at a special industry reception April 18. On April 20, the show will be closed to the public as 32 professional designers will be reviewing and assessing the students鈥 work, which will help聽prepare聽students as they move forward to new opportunities within the profession.
As in past years, the show is completely organized by the students.聽Co-chairs of t
he YSDN Graduation Show, classmates Leah Ferguson and Sally Fung, have been involved in every step of organizing the show along聽with their peers.
Right: From left, show organizers Sally Fung聽 and Leah Ferguson
The title and brand, &CO. and the tag line "Between Everything and Everything Else", symbolize the cooperation and collaboration of the YSDN graduating class.
Each student contributed a personal artifact, from wind-up tin robots and VHS tapes to matchboxes and porcelain teacups. The resulting collection reflects an聽amalgam of their individual voices and personalities. These sentimental, random objects are depicted on the exhibition poster, in a digital video, on the . website 鈥 where the students are featured with their items聽鈥 and in a series of limited-edition hard copy and digital trading cards distributed with the invitations.
A second digital video introduces a number of the designers as they chat about the medium of print, their collections and their favourite typefaces.
鈥淲e are a big class and we have different styles, tastes and thoughts about design, so we picked these objects to reflect ourselves,鈥 said Ferguson. 鈥淭ogether, our influences connect us as a graduating class, as well as connecting us outwardly to the world around us.鈥
For their major gala fundraising event, Limelight, the student organizers donated money to the Red Cross to help with humanitarian efforts in Japan after the earthquake. The young designers are also building their own display boards for &CO. and after the show they will donate the materials to Habitat for Humanity, a charity dedicated to affordable housing.
Over the past decade, the stellar achievements of YSDN students have been recognized through a host of awards from leading provincial, national and international design organizations and publications, including the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, Applied Arts and Coupe magazines, Advertising & Design Club of Canada Student Awards and Society of Graphic Designers of Canada National Scholarship Awards.
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| Above: A selection of student work from &CO. |
In 2010, three members of YSDN鈥檚 graduating class were finalists in the international Adobe Design Achievement Awards 鈥撀爋ne of the world鈥檚 most prestigious international student design competitions. Two of the 12 prizes went to the freshly聽minted YSDN graduates: Edeline Bernal took the award for motion graphics and Linna Xu won for package design. Bernal and Xu are now working at CTV and Berlin鈥檚 Illustrative Festival, respectively.