UPPERCASE { Janine Vangool }

Hello, my surface pattern design friends! Having a well-designed flip-through digital (and one printed on paper!) portfolio is essential for communicating to art directors and getting your work licensed: it demonstrates your professionalism, organizes your portfolio to highlight its strengths and can be customized to speak directly to your dream client. Designer and illustrator Genna Blackburn's course "InDesign Your Portfolio" is open for enrollment. Here's more about Genna's course: Here's...

Just a thought, Reader, Subscribing to a gorgeous print magazine that you have to wait for to arrive in the mail each quarter, and you're not even exactly sure what will be inside each issue? What an old-fashioned and completely romantic thing to do! Thank you to all my amazing, loyal readers who keep UPPERCASE going. The discount 'keepgoing' gives CA$10 off a subscription/renewal. (This message is sent to a general list, not segmented based on past purchases.) Issue #67 (Oct-Nov-Dec) will...

*This message is sent to a general email list—it is not segmented based on any purchases you may have made in my shop. You can use your email address to log in to my webshop to view your past purchases. Hello Reader, I was busy yesterday, so I didn't finish compiling the mailing data. So, today (Tuesday, September 9) is your last chance to subscribe or renew for the next issue (#67, Oct-Nov-Dec) to receive it directly from the printer! My printer packs each subscriber copy into the kraft...

Hello Reader, In contrast to all the organic photos I shared with you earlier this week, here's the "garden" where the new UPPERCASE magazine is being produced. Joel at The Prolific Group shared some photos from the pressroom for us. This is UPPERCASE #67 (Oct-Nov-Dec). The cover is done. And the interior pages are getting folded today. (Here's a video.) If you've been thinking about becoming an UPPERCASE subscriber*, now's the time! Use the discount 'keepgoing' for CA$10 off a subscription...

Hello Reader, More than just magazines and books are being produced at UPPERCASE headquarters... This year, I have veggies! I've installed two attractive and practical raised metal planters along the narrow side of the office yard. (These Canadian-made Sproutboxes, here's a referral link for 10% off.) These photos are from a couple of weeks ago; now everything is looking bedraggled and at the end of its season. But now I have good things to eat! The perfect basket I've been imagining that I...

Hello Reader, The plaque on this cairn shows my very first commissioned artwork. (And quite possibly, it will be the longest lasting!) When I was still in high school, my grandfather asked me to draw a black and white image of a sod house, representative of the dwellings my Doukhobor ancestors lived in when they arrived in Canada in 1899. Adjacent to the family's farmland (acknowledging the original, indigenous peoples of this region), the cairn is located in the Slavanka Cemetery, where my...

Printer proof for the next issue Printer proof for the Glue book Hello Reader, The photos above are "proof" of all my creative efforts over the last few months. Issue 67 printer proofs are okay to print, and so are the proofs for the Glue book. I signed off on both projects last week, and now I'm taking time away, in another province, visiting my parents. Here's an example of my mom's creativity (she's a prolific quilter): And my dad restores antique cars. Here's a funny "installation" he...

ART BY PAULINE GREUELL / PHOTO BY KATLEEN WILLAERT Hello Reader, I know it feels early to be talking about an issue that doesn't come out until October, but actually, this issue is at the printer already! Sending a print magazine through the postal system has always been challenging, but particularly so in the past year. Labour disruptions at Canada Post, the overall downgrading of postal standards pretty much everywhere and climate-related weather delays have all increased the time it can...

Hello Reader, Yesterday, I went to Pioneer Acres near Irricana, Alberta. They had tractor pulls, a horse parade, wheelsmithing and more, but the highlight for me was the linoleum floors in The Long House, built in 1914. Just look at 'em!!! Sarah Watts is hosting free pattern design workshop. Learn the basics of getting your art into Photoshop to make a surface pattern! UPPERCASE magazine is an independent, ads-free publication supported by its readers. Please subscribe or renew or purchase a...