Chris Pecora — Blog

Finally! I’ve been working on this since May so I’m excited to be able to share: A 20-page zine exploring the overarching philosophy and process of Calgary’s Dandy Brewing Company.

Several conversations are pieced together to create the text. Topics such as ingredients, brewing, recipe development, and more are discussed and accompanied by illustration, telling the story of a handful of guys and their pursuit of creating amazing beer.

The zines are risograph printed by Colour Code, 2 colours throughout (black + metallic gold), saddle stitched, limited edition of 100.

Waaaay back in May, along with a whole whack of other superb local artists, I participated in a collaboration with Market Collective and Village Brewery for the Village winter variety pack. Well, the cat is officially out of the bag and you can pick these up wherever you buy Village beer (pretty much everywhere?).

My illustration was inspired by this weird family cat we used to have called Stray. She just showed up one day and started living with us (hence her name) and had a habit of becoming pregnant with alarming frequency. She would also do this thing where she’d climb up and perch on my dad’s shoulders and head. She’d just stay up there while he checked in on his orchard or puttered around the house. Rest in peace, Stray.

Avenue did a nice little feature on the project and included photos of each of the bottles. Check that out here.

Thanks Market Collective + Village for putting this together and for including me.

I’ve been working with The Dandy Brewing Company for the past 6 months as their artist in residence. The project I’ve been focussing on is a zine about brewing and tells a story about their history and approach to making beer.

“It's not a newspaper. It isn't a magazine. It's not even a website. It's Calgary pop-up journalism, and it's launching Monday, September 18.”

I’m really happy with this logo and identity system I've been working on for Jeremy Klaszus’ new project. Really excited to see where this project goes.

Today is International Literacy Day so it seems like a good time to finally get around to doing a post about this project.

Earlier this year I was invited by Sam Hester to participate her colouring book projects in collaboration with Calgary Reads. 12 Canadian illustrators created colouring pages and I had the great pleasure of creating the cover illustration (typography/graphic design by Todd + Nina of Platform Design).

The books are available at The Children’s Reading Place in Inglewood (pictured above).

The good folks at Burnt Toast Studio invited me to be part of their new show. I’m very excited to be sharing some wall space with some insanely talented folks.

I made a pin and zine to commemorate the time I almost sawed my pinky off.

I turned this little grumpy growler dude into a pin.

Holy moly, it’s almost June. I’ve had my head down, working on a few really fun projects that I’m excited to share (but can’t yet). I’ve started working with The Dandy Brewing Company as their artist in residence for the next 6 months which has been really exciting. They are a super rad crew and we’re brewing up something fun.

One of my oldest clients, Fehrboys, needed an update to their business cards. I put together a new design that was letterpressed on a big thick card, and I’m really happy with the result. Props to these guys for seeing the value in print. If you’re in Edmonton, hire them!

I also made a sticker out of the Grrrrrowler graphic I made last year. People seem to love this grumpy little dude. If you see me, ask for a sticker, or you can get them in my shop for a bit more than the cost of postage.

I’m excited to announce a new project that I’m working on with my home community of Bankview and the City of Calgary. I’ll be creating a graphic map of the neighbourhood, highlighting what makes the area unique and special.

For more information and if you’re a resident of Bankview (past or present) please consider contributing by filling out the survey at bankview.chrispecora.com

Happy New Year!

As per my annual tradition, I made a calendar for 2017. I got real fancy this time around with some fluorescent ink (PMS 805U if you’ve got your Pantone books handy) and Grout Grey paper by French Paper Company. Screenprinted by my buds at The Half & Half who did an incredible job as usual. This little guy measures in at 5.5x8″ which is nice size for a desk or refrigerator.

Eric and the crew at OK Social asked me to design a poster for their next event (which is tomorrow!). It’s a thanksgiving food drive and it’s going to be a blast.

The poster was screenprinted on fluorescent orange paper which really packs a wallop. It’s way too orange to photograph so you really need to see the real deal.

I’ve been yapping about this idea ever since I moved to Calgary 6 years ago. I started riding a bike regularly and have witnessed growing cycling and artistic communities throughout the city. The two communities seem to have a lot in common so this seemed like a no-brainer. 

I asked 10 designers/illustrators/artists (myself included) to create a bike-inspired piece of artwork. The work is being hand-printed by the folks at Burnt Toast Studios as limited-edition screenprints. Once everything is all printed, we’ll hang the work at The Uncommons, one of my favourite local shops.

Come check the show out and pick up some killer bike poster art.

More Info At: thismachinepostershow.com

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I was super excited to work with Sled Island on a graphic for their 10 Year t-shirts and totes. Sled Island is one of my favourite things about living in Calgary so it was a huge honour to work with them.

T-Shirts and totes are still available for purchase from the Sled Island website.

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