Studio News
January 22, 2023
— Illustration by Akiko Morin
Happy Lunar New Year! This year ushers in the year of the Water Rabbit (or Cat, for our Vietnamese friends) and I hope that it brings you all desired change and growth. 2023 will mark a big change for LOKI, as of August I’ll be starting a new position as Assistant Professor in Design Communication and Visual Culture in the department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University in Montréal/Tiohtià:ke. Teaching and research have always been a significant part of my practice, and I’m very excited to now have the opportunity to fully commit to this work. I will continue to focus on activating and researching the intersections of graphic design, cultural production and social change, but now with the support of the university and the energy and enthusiasm of future students.
This good news comes with the sad reality that it also means the transition of LOKI from a service-oriented design studio into… something else. We’ll be closing the studio in the summer, and taking the necessary time to rethink how it might exist alongside my new role at Concordia.
I’m very proud of all we’ve accomplished and I wanted to sincerely thank everyone we’ve worked with over the last nine years. I’ve learned and grown so much from the relationships formed through this practice, from the struggles we’ve engaged in, and I’ll be carrying this knowledge forward with me. LOKI has been a labour of love, and it would have been impossible to nurture and grow had we not felt this love reciprocated.
Special thanks to Marie-Noëlle who joined me in this venture as an intern, and carried the workload when I could not. To our clients, I’ll be reaching out to many of you individually, but please know now that it has been an honour to support the important work you are all doing. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
I remain as dedicated as ever to orienting design towards social justice, joy and the poetic, to connecting culture and art with mutual aid and direct action. Please stay in touch if you’re interested in seeing the new forms that this will take. Our first book, Design Against Design will be coming out this fall with Set Margins’ Publications and we’ll soon be running a small fundraiser to help with printing costs. We’re also planning one last party at our studio in the Mile End before we call it quits and I hope to see many of you there!
On behalf of Marie-Noëlle, Sophie, Loki (the dog) and myself,
Thank you for your trust.
In solidarity,
Kevin
