OFF TO ANOTHER PLACE
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Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that my new blog will be on Tumblr from now on. Hope you guys can follow me there or check it out from time to time. Check it out HERE.Hope to so you there!
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UQAM GRAPHIC DESIGN EXPOSITION 2010

Plier Bagage from Nikolaos Lerakis on Vimeo.

PLIER BAGAGE
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Yes, it is finally here, the moment we have all been waiting for... The UQAM Graphic Design Vernissage of 2010! We are done our bachelors and moving on to bigger, brighter, and better things. Stop by and celebrate all the hardships we went through to get to this point and to take a look at some pretty great talent.

EMILY HAINES

WE'RE OUT HERE SCREAMING
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This is a portrait I did back in 2008 of Canadian music artist Emily Haines from Metric. It was my first large scale portrait and this is what made me want to continue drawing at this size. Her solo album Knives Don't Have Your Back was the root of inspiration for this piece. I think I might have listened to the album at least 20 times while drawing this.

Applied Arts Magazine Student Award winner 08

Pencil, pastel and gold leaf on bond paper

INQUIRER

SUMMER FICTION
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These were illustrations completed in Gerard Dubois class for the Inquirer Magazine in Philadelphia. The mandate was to create a piece for the Summer Fiction issue. I usually do not use that much color in my work but I thought it was appropriate this time.

9.75 x 11
Gouache on board

BUGS BUNNY & ELMER FUDD

WHAT'S UP DOC?
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This was a project that I created in my Introduction class with Sylvain Allard. The mandate was to get two people (fictional or realistic) and create a 'box' around quotes that these people are known for.

ELMER FUDD: Say your pwayers you wascally wabbit!
BUGS BUNNY: What's up doc?

The box is supposed to depict an explosion or a gun fire. In the end, out comes Bugs from his rabbit hole and always unharmed.

GREENWOOD & YORKE

SOFTLY OPEN OUR MOUTHS IN THE COLD
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This is a drawing I did of Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke from Radiohead. I usually like too keep color more low key but I thought a light blue with some magnolia flowers would contrast well with their stern faces.

13.5 x 19.5
Pencil, charcoal and pastel on mayfair

INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK

SOPHIE JODOIN
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I discovered Sophie's work last year in my illustration class. I quickly fell under the spell of her magnificent work. She is inspired by gas masks, the wounded, the innocent and the original.

My illustration teacher organized an outing to her studio on Tuesday. I couldn't be more happy than to step into one of my most favored artists studio. I was not surprised at how much more magnificent her work looked in person.

Sophie Jodoin

SUSAN SCOTT

HONORING AN EXEMPLARY TEACHER
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In 2008 I was approached by Dawson College to put together a book for Susan Scotts teaching excellence award. Susan was an outstanding teacher who always did her best to help students achieve the most out of graphic design. I felt very honored indeed to have collaborated in this project. I was very happy with the result and so was she.

ELEVEN O'CLOCK TEA

THEY ALL CAME SO QUICKLY
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This piece started out as a test for an upcoming series on the Greek Gods and Goddesses that will be done in April. I couldn't waste a perfectly good piece of wood, so my test became a drawing. Purely on a whim: a parrot coming in for his afternoon tea.

INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK

JEAN-MAX | L'AMI DES ANIMAUX
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Jean-Max is always looking for new forms of inspiration when he is drawing. He finds it in original situations and places and turns them into masterpieces. I love him.

CHAIRS

THE DARK HOUR SERIES
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Here's a piece that appears in my book "The Dark Hour".

Gouache on mayfair
9" x 12"

THOM YORKE

THE SOMBER MUSICIAN
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This was an illustration that was completed in Pol Turgeon's class. The mandate was to find a characteristic trait about that person and execute it as an illustration. Thom Yorke's [Radiohead] music style always has a melancholy air to it, so I went with the characteristic trait 'somber'.

15" x 20"
Pencil, ink, gouache,
and pastel on 2 ply Mayfair

Runner up in Creative Quarterly issue No. 18
FFFFOUND!

THE DARK HOUR

PERSONAL ART CATALOG
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This was a personal project that I just finished last semester at UQAM. I created a personal book filled with portraits, my thoughts, quotes and songs of people who inspire me to draw. Music is the main reason why I started drawing in the first place. I am naturally attracted to somber things especially in music. The Dark Hour is the time in the evening where I enter my own little creative world.

The cover is a stiff cotton that is semi-transparent with black stitching on the spine. Each sheet was printed on Bienfang Graphics 360 paper on an Epson printer (thanks Mike). Bienfang paper has a beautiful transparency which favored the theme very nicely. The sheets were each folded in half to create an overlay effect. I also printed some text in between the sheets for a little mystery.

PICA MAGAZINE

PICA MAGAZINE TYPOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION
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Here are two explorations that were done for Pica Magazine in UQAM.

FRUIT FOUNTAIN

ORGANIC TEA PACKAGING
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This tea packaging comes in five fruit flavors which are all assembled in one package which is made from 100% organic canvas. The fruit is dried and packaged in small cotton pouches. Designed with the "less is better" philosophy not only is this a tasty afternoon relaxer but it also fairs the environment as well.

Also seen on:
The DieLine
Packaging UQAM

NUMBER 2

EXPERIMENTAL TYPOGRAPHY POSTER
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The original poster was created at smaller size and then enlarged as a black + white print.