Landed back in Dartmouth last night, head spinning and blurry-eyed from my big trip to FITC Toronto 2012. My entire year seems to revolve around FITC, biggest and best event I’ve been to and is the 3rd year in a row I’ve been a speaker. Walked into the event area to see my FITC artwork and logo design everywhere. Real proud, man. Those banner were HUGE.
Before I get into the recap, I want to send a giant thanks to everyone who attended the talks I did at the event. Both rooms were packed, standing room only. Good lookin’ crowd too, I gotta say. But seriously it means a lot that you’d drop in to hear my little story and see some art. Truly appreciate it.
So here we go. A 23-point machine gun list of moments, memories and wonderful meetings that have happened over the last few days. Lets get to it.
1. Travelled with my brother in design, Eric Miller of the Dartmouth Clothing Co.
2. Good friend Alison “Eraserheader” Knott made the trek from Halifax to rep the east coast!
3. Enjoyed a killer steak and colourful conversation with Aaron Draplin, Paul Panfalone and Big Eric.
4. Then Draplin threw down the heavy plastic to cover said steaks. Scholar and a roughneck gentleman.
5. Met the mighty “Ghoulish” Gary Pullin right before my talk. Horror poster hero!
6. Packed the house for my DESIGN RENEGADE talk, then sold a load of posters. HUGE thanks everyone!
7. Sat down with the Humber and Inspiredology crew for a no-holds barred interview session.
8. Hung out with Chad Mueller, Andrew Dertinger, Steve Schiavello and others at the Loose Moose!
9. Met Justin Erickson of the mighty Phantom City Creative! Holy crap! High regard!
10. Met tons of kind folks at the FITC Opening Gala. Questionable odours in that joint.
11. Many topics covered with the amazing Kat Gaskin. Failed attempt to sneak into the hotel pool.
12. Finally saw Aaron Draplin throw down live with Tall Tales from a Large Man. NAILED it.
13. Was given an AMAZING handmade “metal” belt by Malena Gonzalez. Beautiful!
14. Got to the bottom of stuff in a big ol’ interview with Canada.com. Also video.
15. Ate schnitzel for the first time. Loved it. Even love the funny name of it. Thanks Kat!
16. Met so many killer people at the FITC Awards Show. Many hands shook. You know who you are!
17. Mad handshakes with Jerry and Grant from Influxis. Streaming kings among men.
18. Took the stage in the Influxis Voodoo Lounge for my Signalnoise Poster Break-down talk. PACKED room.
19. Saw Draplin rip up the Influxis Lounge with his 20 Points to Wreck Your Life talk. Killed it!
20. Sung the intro theme to My Secret Identity with friend Riley. Tight harmonies.
21. Met a PILE of kind folks at the FITC Closing Party. You are all amazing. Many laughs had.
22. Spotted FITC’s director Shawn Pucknell sporting a Dartmouth Clothing Co. shirt. East coast!
23. Short but lovely conversation with the mighty and creative Jon Burgerman.
I’m missing all kinds of stuff in here. Lots of gaps. But I want every last damn person I met at FITC Toronto that you really made this trip an epic event. From the other speakers to press people, volunteers to timid students. Loved hearing stories about individual creative passions and answering questions. Keep fighting the good fight, people. You are all part of the Signalnoise Crew of Design Hooligans whether you like it or not.
And finally a massive thank-you to Shawn Pucknell, Lisa Walters, Lindsay Munro, Alfred Park, Erin Kelly and Alison Britt for everything they did to make this event a colossal success. For myself and everyone else. They raised the bar this year, saturating the event with inspiration, passion and downright fun. I’d take a bullet for those six … well, six bullets in total I guess. I’d take a RIDDLING of bullets for them. Not to be messed with. Thanks so much, gang.
And now the evil eye of Signalnoise shifts to you, Cleveland. Things will be ramping up for WMCFest real soon. June can’t come quick enough. You have been warned.
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