IN THE FRONTLINES
FEATURING AMOEBA CORP.
The arts sector is one our best investments. It impacts
us all in a variety of tangible and intangible ways. Thankfully
there are people out there who understand this – and
contribute in their own wonderful way to advancing an appreciation
of Toronto arts.
In this series, In the Frontlines,
we will spotlight some of these people.
This time around we are featuring local
communications and design firm, Amoeba
Corp., a big supporter of the arts scene in Toronto.
Amoeba designed the Coalition’s Great Arts/Great City
proposal, as well as signage for The Great Arts Debate and
key marketing pieces. It was our first business partner
to create an Arts in the Workplace project in its
own work environment.
Amoeba
Corp. serves clients as corporate as Coke and Molson
Breweries (Amoeba designed the I Am Canadian logo),
and as artistically inclined as Lonsdale Art Gallery, the
Images Festival and Toronto Arts Council Foundation. Its
design team is actively involved in the design community,
teaching workshops at the Ontario College of Art and Design
(OCAD), sponsoring and participating in art shows, funding
OCAD groups and speaking at public design forums and conferences.
Amoeba is the recipient of numerous awards
including: the Advertising and Design Club of Canada, Applied
Arts Magazine (Canada), How Magazine (USA). Coupe Magazine
(Canada) and a 2000 Juno nomination for Best Album Design.
Creative Directors, Ryan Smolkin, Michael
Kelar and Mikey Richardson founded the boutique company
in 1996 with a vision for uniqueness and innovation. Amoeba
will launch its Artlab project on April 14 at their studio
at 457 Richmond Street West (2nd Floor) to showcase the
work of associated artists, designers and illustrators.
The following is an interview with Amoeba’s
Creative Directors, Mikey Richardson.
Question
Amoeba Corp. has been very supportive of the arts community
in Toronto. Generally-speaking, how does this local community
feed what you do?
Richardson
The local arts community inspires and energizes us. When
we have the opportunity to participate in arts events or
programs, either as contributors or in a support role, we
feel a sense of satisfaction and pride. It makes us feel
like at the end of the day we are doing something to make
a positive impact. There's got to be more to it than just
designing communications to sell products. We are trying
to strike a balance between paying our bills and playing
a responsible role in our community. For us, it's all about
balance. By building the client list that we have over the
last eight years, we have gained the ability and the know-how
to now spend some more of our time on projects which are
not as economically driven.
Question
When you support non profit arts organizations as clients,
what criteria do you look for when deciding to work for
them?
Richardson
We look for projects in which we have a personal interest
and that we will find rewarding both creatively and in terms
of personal satisfaction - you know, feeling good about
knowing you've done something for a good reason.
Question
You took part in the Toronto Arts Coalition program - Arts
in the Workplace, which encourages businesses to showcase,
in their office spaces, visual art by living Toronto artists.
What interested you in this program?
Richardson
We became interested in the project for the reasons above
- we have a personal interest and we knew it would be something
we could stand behind and be proud of as a cause. The divide
between the art community and the rest of the population
is too big. People need to experience more art in their
lives. Artists need to engage non-artists - there needs
to be an interaction, a dialogue.
Question
What kind of impact did it have in your work environment?
Richardson
Our work environment has always been filled with artwork
of our own creation, but working on the Arts in the Workplace
program helped inspire us to get more involved in working
with artists outside of our core work group. So, recently
we've been working on some projects where we're putting
a bit more focus on artists from outside our company than
ourselves. We want to do our part in the progression of
Toronto's creative scenes.
Question
Any advice to would-be Arts in the Workplace presenters?
Richardson
Take a chance. Really.
Question
So what’s up with Artlab? What is it?
Richardson
Artlab is Amoeba Corp's new gallery/retail shop and street
brand. The gallery/retail shop is a physical space where
the creative people at Amoeba Corp. and selected contributors
will be able to showcase their talent. Unlike other conventional
galleries, items that will be sold and displayed may include
non-traditional works of art and design (both new and old)
from the disciplines of illustration, painting, graphic
design, photography, sculpture, product design, music, writing
and any other form of creative expression that relates to
art and design culture. Whether the pieces are in the form
of a poster, pillow or even a found object, the intent of
Artlab is to inspire, educate and push the boundaries of
art and design culture. All work featured in Artlab will
be curated by me and Michael Kelar.
Artlab will open Wednesday, April 14th
2004 with a show - still to be finalized line-up of eight
contributors working on old 12'' vinyl record covers supplied
by Artlab. So far, the contributors are Tania Sanhueza,
Darren Booth, Elevator, Matthew Beckerle, Seripop, Steven
White and Miss EGR
Amoeba Corp's new street brand will produce
a wide range of products that will be sold in the Artlab
shop and other fine retailers. All Artlab products will
be limited edition or one-off products that speak directly
to the sensibilities of creative people. Products will include
prints, posters, postcards, t-shirts, fonts, Mac friendly
computer goodies, clothing and accessories, limited edition
books and other eye candy not found in any conventional
store.
Question
What inspired you to create Artslab?
Richardson
Artlab was born from the desire to have a place to showcase
some of the great work that we know is being made but maybe
is not being seen. We see artists, designers, illustrators
- all of the people around us - creating things from paintings
to limited edition products and we feel that there's a very
exciting creative and entrepreneurial energy going on right
now. It's an energy that we want to feed and feed off of.
We found ourselves with enough extra space at our studio
to justify a small gallery/retail space, so why not dedicate
it to the showing of work that we find interesting? We'll
be showing and selling pieces created by Amoeba Corp. members,
our friends and strangers whose work we really love.
Question
If you had the power to transform Toronto, what would it
look like?
Richardson
That's a tough question. I think Toronto would look like
some kind of giant culture hub - like a permanent expo pavilion
where you could walk for ten minutes and see the world.
No guns. No poverty. Lot's of groundbreaking modern architecture
contrasting the beautiful old buildings. Less condo construction.
The waterfront would be clean and actually visible and accessible.
I suppose we'd need to tear down some buildings and the
Gardiner. When I imagine it, I see much more green and it
seems cleaner like in an architect's rendering. But there
would still need to be some dirtiness - that's where the
fun would be.
For more information
on Amoeba Corp., visit www.amoebacorp.com/
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