Renaissance

Integrated Award Winner – Branding Program

Ottawa Design Club

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Renaissance marked a turning point for Ottawa Design Club’s annual publication. After five editions, familiar editorial structures and visual systems were deliberately reconsidered, using the theme of renewal as both the subject and the design challenge. The objective was to reinvent the publication experience while preserving the creative community and diverse voices at its core. Renaissance-era artwork, symbolism and material richness informed a contemporary editorial system built around shifts in grid, scale, typography and pacing.

Production became another opportunity for reinvention: extensive testing with Xerox Iridesse specialty printing resulted in 16 unique combinations of metallic, fluorescent, clear and CMYK inks. Rather than acting as decorative finishes, these inks were integrated into the editorial system to create hierarchy, contrast and moments of discovery. The project expanded into Ottawa Design Club’s first exhibition-led zine launch, bringing featured artwork and live performances together in a physical extension of the publication. The launch exceeded venue capacity with more than 200 attendees, transforming Renaissance from an editorial experiment into a shared community experience.