The Tyee held their 20th anniversary event in November 2023, celebrating with a lively, slightly satirical debate on the future of journalism (originally titled with ‘Dead or alive?’ but changed to ‘Finished? Or alive and swimming?’ between promo design and event day). I was brought in to design a suite of promotional and day-of materials that would entice Tyee readers and supporters to attend. For visual direction, I was asked to closely emulate the style of a graphic made by the Tyee for a previous debate — a black and white collage with fun type and graphical elements. “Old-timey wrestling imagery” was suggested by The Tyee, but I tracked down this lovely image of the Bennett sisters which had a less physical vibe and came without the macho nature of men’s wrestling/boxing.

Promotional materials (posters, social graphics) were intended to convey a fun, humourous debate and celebrate The Tyee’s anniversary, while fun swag (t-shirt, postcard) were opportunities to show love for The Tyee and ask folks to subscribe or support the organization. Together we created a slideshow including speaker titles and a retrospective. I also designed a sparkly stand-up banner for the event and a special 20th anniversary logo. The poster art came to a three-dimensional fruition as a photo stand-in for people to take silly selfies. The event was a sold-out, resounding success!

For this project, I advocated for sustainable choices including carbon-neutral printing on FSC-certified or recycled paper, sourcing a local Living Wage Employer t-shirt company that had 100% cotton tees, compostable wooden cutlery, and a local beeswax candle supplier (though candles weren’t used in the end).