No Place for the Homeless was a campaign proposal created for United Way Toronto, to spread awareness on the persecution and criminalization of homeless people in Toronto. The goal was to humanize a statistic, fact-driven report by making it emotionally appealing and engaging.
The central piece of this campaign was the production of a book with tactile elements, depicting a rich visual language to embody the grittiness of living on the streets. To authentically capture stories and first-hand experiences I conducted face to face interviews with homeless people on the streets of Toronto. By transposing the statistics to anecdotes, the re-framed information induces a sense of empathy from
the audience.
Title: No Place for the Homeless campaign
Client: United Way
Categories: Print, Campaign, Editorial
Against the Grain Theatre (ATG) is an experimental theatre company that reimagines traditional opera to make it more accessible to a wider audience. The ATG rendition of the classic La Bohème, was set in modern day Toronto which highlights the contemporary themes of gentrification and poverty that many young people experience in the city today.
The newspaper format of the program guide was inspired by the issues explored, acting as a point of reference for the audience as well as a prop, thus creating a bridge between classic opera and the citizens of present day Toronto. This new medium broke the mould for traditional program guides and was aptly acknowledged by critics in their reviews of the production.
In line with the ATG’s goals, my vision for this project was to bring a relevant and immersive experience to the audience. The significance of the medium and the content delivered was so unique and specific to this production, it ultimately served as an extension of the performance.
Client: Against The Grain Theatre (ATG)
Creative Direction and Icon Design: Eitan Zohar
Graphic Design: Nicole Bryczkowski and Eitan Zohar
Copywriting: Amanda Abdelhadi
Illustration for Poster: Jessie Durham
Poster Layout and Lettering: Eitan Zohar
Categories: Print, Editorial, Lettering
The Little Book of Value Investing is a beginners’ handbook on investing principles. The pocket book was designed to communicate to highschool and university-aged students, as an initiative to educate and introduce young people to financial planning.
The pocket-size booklet conveyed key ideas and principles through friendly illustrations and imagery which simplified dense concepts. The purpose was to demystify a traditional ‘old business man’s game’ in order to empower young people to use their money with more consideration and intent.
The result of this project was a cohesive and unified piece of communication. The work I did with Vuru threaded together disjointed ideas and effectively clarified their key messages through reinforced visual elements, memorable takeaways and an approachable manner of communicating complex ideas.
Creative Direction and Graphic Design: Eitan Zohar
Illustration: Cait Cuthbert
Client: Vuru
Categories: Print, Editorial
Future Fibre was a start-up fibre internet company. Although they no longer have a market presence, I collaborated with them at the pre-launch stage to create a brand identity that was strongly differentiated, bold and recognizable.
Future Fibre aimed to challenge the old-school business of internet services by presenting an alternative style and approach - injecting youthfulness, energy and speed, while at the same time, positioning themselves as reliable and robust. Being a premium rate service implied that their branding needed to communicate the cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technology that they had invested in.
The brand identity revolved around the construction of the brand mark, a symbol which showed movement within the pattern, composed of clean and basic shapes. This aesthetic was chosen to express honesty, simplicity and transparency to enforce brand credibility. The pattern was also used to communicate reliable speed, the foundation of Future Fibre’s value proposition.
The final result of the branding suite was versatility in its application - from digital to print and outdoor elements, the logo and visual language I created worked seamlessly and concurrently across all mediums.
Client: Future Fibre
Categories: Branding, Digital, Print
Myseum of Toronto is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the arts community as well as the cultural and historical diversity of Torontonian heritage. The Myseum Intersections Festival guide was developed to communicate all the events in Toronto within the different neighbourhoods, and to demonstrate the expanse and diversity of the program which aimed to touch people across the city.
The 2017 festival guide was designed to be iconic and exciting, while maintaining Myseum’s visual identity - a minimal aesthetic and a CMYK colour palette. I addressed the brief by creating the drop-pin pattern, built from a mosaic concept whereby many small components collectively become a strong cultural force. There is a lot of movement and flexibility in this pattern and it translated well between digital, print and outdoor applications.
Client: Myseum of Toronto
Categories: Print, Digital
Pakathon was a global not-for-profit organization which was dedicated to funding social impact startups in Pakistan. The organization hosted annual hackathons in over twenty cities around the world, where winners from each city were granted the opportunity to pitch their idea in the finals to receive funding.
Hosted at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, the Global Finals was was received with overwhelmingly positive feedback. The importance of the cause was successfully translated through the high-impact, professional presentation of the marketing collateral and the digital footprint of the campaign. The event was fuelled by the undeniable energy and pride of all participants and supporters. The event design helped the 2015 Global Finals serve as a turning point for the organization - taking them from underground hackathon community to a reputable global organization.
Client: Pakathon
Categories: Print, Digital, Campaign, Event Design, Editorial
Epicater is a B2B catering company that provides family-style meals to enhance workplace culture. They work with local vendors to create unique food experiences for various types of events and occasions that bring people together. The brand needed to communicate abundance and variety in a fun and celebratory fashion while being conscious and considerate of dietary restrictions.
As the Design Lead with Epicater, I was entrusted to give the existing brand elements a facelift by creating a custom icon set and various decorative elements applied to menus, food labels, packaging and signage. It was essential for the brand to be central at each touchpoint for the customer, from their first digital interactions to the props at each event through consistency in the colour scheme and aesthetics.
When I first joined the team I volunteered to champion weekly strategy meetings to anchor the company’s values in the day-to-day business as well as in the customer’s perception. This helped me and my fellow team members to live the brand authentically.
In addition, I led the creative direction for team and event photoshoots. The brand values had to shine through in the imagery in order to communicate the right balance of playfulness and professionalism in the services we provide.
Client: Epicater Inc.
Categories: Branding, Creative Direction, Digital, Print, Event Design, Packaging Design
The Apex event design was created for an exhibit that explored how 1970s punk art impacted the global design community. The punk movement, heralded by artists and performers of the era, was infused with an anti-establishment attitude, from which developed an edgy and aggressive style.
The identity takes inspiration from handmade processes used in punk art such as sticker bombing, wheat-paste posters, cut and paste typography as well as cheap analogue photography.The outdoor marketing captured the grungy style of the basement rock band, incorporating the prominent logo. The graphic identity elements were also used to design merchandise for exhibition shop which translated the flavour of the exhibition to the audience.
Client: Apex (fictional organization)
Categories: Event Design, Identity Design
Pelt and Kurl is a fictional craft beer company that appeals to the BDSM community. The aesthetic developed for the brand conveyed the darker side of adventure within the realms of gothic themes. The approach to creating the Pelt and Kurl style was to challenge the imagination with suggestive messaging and imagery, and to allow for different touch points for the target audience to connect. This was a departure from the stereotypically overt and extreme depiction of BDSM and the stigma surrounding it.
The exploration of the kink-curious ‘tribe’ led to the development of a graphic language with suggestive symbols such as references to sensory deprivation and bondage play in the crest. Using reversal techniques in the branding, I alluded to the submissive-dominant roles observed in the BDSM culture.
Client: Pelt and Kurl (fictional company)
Categories: Branding, Identity Design, Campaign, Print
Dating Vandalized is a book written and published by Katerina Lyadova, a literary non-fiction that documented her experiment with online dating. The story unfolds as the process of dating is outsourced as an administrative task while the narrative explores the landscape of modern day courtship facilitated by dating apps.
My experience and interest in hand lettering and calligraphy lent itself well to this project. I developed a lettering style which captured the essence of the story as well as Katerina’s rebellious and pragmatic approach to courtship. I translated the premise of the project - revolting against traditional notions of dating - into a visual language using accents of graffiti and street art. The final product uses powerful lettering and tongue-in-cheek humor to reflect the evocative and compelling tone of the book.
Client: Katerina Lyadova, Author
Categories: Print, Lettering
Various logos created between 2014 - Present
Devs Without Borders is a non-profit organization, who hosts hackathons for developers to collaborate and problem solve poverty-related issues in Nairobi, Kenya. The event brings forward-thinking minds together to create disruptive solutions through social enterprise and technology.
The iconic, single-colour t-shirt design speaks to the quick-and-dirty nature of the problem solving process at a hackathon. The final solution utilizes a glitch theme to play on the idea of mass disruption. As a result, the shirts were unmistakably visible at the event spaces and the main graphic was used throughout social media and on outdoor marketing vehicles both in Toronto and in Kenya.
Client: Devs Without Borders
Categories: Campaign, Lettering