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Local designer puts stamp on postage |
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A local college professor has been honoured after illustrating a postage stamp for Canada Post to represent the Olympic Games. Laurie Lafrance, a Durham College professor in the School of Media, Art and Design, was honoured recently for illustrating the stamp, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, which was selected from dozens of submissions and has been in circulation since its release on July 18. Lafrance, who has been teaching courses in drawing in the Foundations in Art and Design and Multimedia Design programs at the college for five years, also works as a freelance illustrator and was commissioned by q30 design, a design consultancy firm to create the image.“Being chosen to create an illustration that would represent Canada was a true honour,” says Lafrance. “To me, a stamp is precious. The fact that it’s so tiny, so accessible and so Canadian is what makes it truly special. The hardest part was not being able to show or tell anyone about it until the release date. I was almost ready to burst for five months!” Earlier this year, Canada Post commissioned a number of design firms to submit concepts for an Olympic-themed stamp. From the dozens of ideas presented, q30 design was selected, and Lafrance created the final image. Lafrance worked alongside Karen Henricks, a graphic designer with q30 design, in implementing a concept that would best reflect both the Canadian athletes and Chinese culture. Focusing on the original concept of a Canadian athlete running with a flag, Lafrance uses gestural, Chinese-brush drawing as the basis for her illustration. “Laurie is an excellent example of the wonderfully talented professors our students learn from on a daily basis,” says Robin Pereira, dean of the Durham College School of Media, Art and Design. “Our professors bring extensive experience to the classroom and by sharing their background and experiences our students are motivated to excel in their studies and find great careers upon graduation.” This is the second time in Lafrance’s career to have been commissioned to design a nationally-circulated stamp. In 1991, her design was chosen for a commem rative Canada Day stamp. In addition to developing images for Canada Post, Lafrance has also created works for the Royal Ontario Museum, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. |
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©2008 Dowellman Publishing Corp, All Rights Reserved
