Swizzle Studio: Ideas & Art by Rob Elliott and Christine Cosby

Open Tuning campaign

Posted on September 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

I illustrated and designed the marketing campaign (and signage) for the 2019 Open Tuning festival. This free music festival in Toronto’s Seaton Village brings out a great mix of musicians.

My goal in designing the campaign was to keep it clear and simple. I used a primary colour palette and a clean typeface (one that could be swapped out for Arial in case a volunteer had to make last minutes signs). It was a rewarding job.

Revised Open Tuning logo

Examples of Call For Musicians Ads (six instruments were featured)

Fundraising is a big part of the festival. These ads are for the Quiz Nite.

Web fundraising ads. The festival runs a shoestring budget.
It paid for itself this year with donations and fundraisers.

Another big part of the festival is getting enough sound techs and
backups to run the 36 stages.

Instagram ads run prior to the festival featured many of the performers, and emphasized the festival’s eclecticism and diversity.

Easy to use map of the venues. Some of the festival events were held in garages so the map had to include the typically Toronto maze of alleys.

In addition to all the graphic design, I played accordion with my band Sore Boozers at the festival too!

Poodle fanciers

Posted on September 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

I buy a lot of used books, with the idea that I will used them for source material at some point. It’s why I have a dozen books about poodles, despite not owning a dog. (Actually, the poodle thing goes back to the mid-90s, when I was one of the creators of a dynamite little zine called Poodle, entirely about Canadian 5-pin bowling).

These drawings are based on photos in some 1970s championship Poodle digests. I love the people and the dogs in these pictures. They are proud oddballs and their baroque animals and collars make them even more so.