Graphex is no longer simply a ‘Canadian’ design competition. Given the privilege first hand of hearing judges review entries for a number of Graphex competitions over the years, and seeing the reaction of the international design community last October in Beijing during the Graphex 2008 show, it is clear to me that Canadian design is second to none on the world stage. Similarly, Graphex 2010 will turn heads and minds and will demonstrate that we continue to push the envelope in Canada and abroad.
While Canadians are known to be a modest lot, we are also realists and pragmatists. In balance then, designers need to show solidarity in promoting Canadian design, and leverage the GDC as an arms-length vehicle to showcase our skills. While it is a step forward to demonstrate our design capacity with initiatives like Graphex, we need to augment this with continued leadership in other areas as well: working with businesses in Canada, cooperating with design organizations in other countries, and capturing a greater mindshare of government in Canada.
Graphex 2010’s theme, presented this year as a ‘reflection of the best designers in Canada’, brings a focus to the people behind the ideas and execution of great work. In an era where much ballyhoo is made of the corporate ethos and group-think, this is a refreshing approach. Too often are we gobbled up by the machinations of mass media while the value of individualism and creativity can be lost. As designers, we all can appreciate team-work and collective corporate power. Graphex is a platform to pay tribute to the designer as an individual force that comprises our culture; this is a unique opportunity we should spend a moment to appreciate. At Icograda Design Congress in Beijing, Patrick Whitney (director of the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology) quoted his colleague Ash Bhoopathy, who warns us that a preponderance of tools that create, gather and share creates a “fire hose of information” resulting in reflection deficit disorder. Graphex helps us to pause and sort through the cacophony.
Similarly, we should take a moment to not only congratulate all of those recognized in this Graphex showcase, but also to recognize those with the GDC/BC Chapter, who once again have given us all so much of their individual time for our collective benefit from coast to coast. On behalf of the GDC National Executive: a warm thank you to the executive organizers, volunteers, sponsors and government representatives, as well as all of the designers and firms who may not have “won” an award this year, but have contributed to yet another outstanding competition simply by participating and consequently raising the standard of design globally.
Rod Roodenburg MGDC
National President