Michael Barker RGD

Michael Barker RGD

Since starting my career as a graphic design professional with Bruce Mau Design in 1999, I have worked for a variety of institutions in the public, creative, and cultural sectors, including working as an in-house designer for the University of Toronto, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Toronto Wildlife Centre. I founded my own design practice Acme Art and Design in 2008. Acme works collaboratively with clients to craft work that is as considerate of the conceptual and cultural dimensions of the project as with the minutest details of production. Acme works on a broad range of projects including visual identities, creative campaigns, author websites, alumni magazines, art catalogues, and books.

Toronto, ON

Member since July 11, 2013

Creative Director @ Acme Art & Design

Skills

• Art Direction
• Creative Direction
• Photography
• Book Design
• Branding
• Editorial
• Print
• Typography

• Work
• Contributions

The Prophets

The Prophets

Book design for The Prophets, a book dedicated to a single artwork, also entitled The Prophets, by Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens. The Prophets is a handmade collection of 412 sculptures made from everyday materials that renders economic graphs into makeshift models. The artists describe the work as a "diagrammatology" of economic thought.

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Bright Lights Dark City: Art catalogue for an exhibition celebrating Niagara Custom Lab

Bright Lights Dark City: Art catalogue for an exhibition celebrating Niagara Custom Lab

I was commissioned to design the catalogue for Bright Lights Dark City: Niagara Custom Lab and Toronto Experimental Film a feature exhibition in the 2015 Contact Photography Festival. Bright Lights Dark City explores the anarchic spaces of Niagara Custom Lab and the remarkable local culture it encourages, embodies, and sustains.

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Mammalian Diving Reflex 2023 Annual Report: Three decades of trailblazing performance

Mammalian Diving Reflex 2023 Annual Report: Three decades of trailblazing performance

I designed the 2023 edition of Mammalian Diving Reflex’s annual report, titled “30 Years of Regular Ass Folks”, to commemorate three decades of the company’s groundbreaking social interventions. This report features vibrant photo documentation from their rich history and compelling illustrations, including a striking wraparound cover by David Oro.

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Islands in the Stream: Promotional materials for Vtape’s 19th Curatorial Incubator

Islands in the Stream: Promotional materials for Vtape’s 19th Curatorial Incubator

Vtape, a video art distributor that represents an international collection of contemporary and historical video art commissioned me to design a campaign for their Curatorial Incubator v.19 program. The design reflects the program’s themes through lettering illustrations created by manipulating text by hand on a flatbed scanner.

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U of T School of Graduate Studies Viewbook

U of T School of Graduate Studies Viewbook

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) at the University of Toronto engaged me to design a viewbook to help them compete with other world class programs at international recruitment fairs. We collaborated closely to produce an information dense but strongly visual book that champions both the program and U of T’s unique campus experience.

Against the Grain Theatre Visual Identity

Against the Grain Theatre Visual Identity

Against the Grain Theatre is an award-winning Canadian opera company committed to revitalizing the operatic art form by presenting an eclectic array of musical works in unconventional spaces and innovative ways. In 2015 I redesigned their visual identity and created creative collateral for ATG’s Messiah (Photography for Messiah by Matt Barnes).

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Re:New Magazine Redesign

Re:New Magazine Redesign

Founded in 1962, New College is one of the constituent Colleges of the University of Toronto. ​​​​​​​In 2016 I undertook a comprehensive redesign of Re:New, New College’s alumni magazine. I subsequently designed and art directed three issues with themes varying from food equity to entrepreneurship.

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Explosion in the Movie Machine Book

Explosion in the Movie Machine Book

I was commissioned by the Images Festival and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto to design Explosion in the Movie Machine—an anthology of contemporary reflections, critical texts, historical documents and visual documentation that examines the depth, brilliance and contradictions of Toronto’s media arts ecology and history.

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Helen Lucas: Roots to Present catalogue

Helen Lucas: Roots to Present catalogue

I designed this catalogue to accompany a retrospective exhibition of the work of Helen Lucas, one of Canada’s most distinguished and beloved floral painters.

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40th anniversary campaign for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

40th anniversary campaign for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

I was commissioned to design the creative campaign for the 40th Anniversary 2018/19 season of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra—including a graphic identity for the season and creative imagery for 11 concerts. The central photo-based design includes a “40th” hero image featuring a baroque wooden sunburst hand-built by Acme based on historical designs.

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Annual Report for Mammalian Diving Reflex

Annual Report for Mammalian Diving Reflex

Mammalian Diving Reflex creates site and social-specific performance events to dismantle barriers by bringing people of all backgrounds together in unusual ways. A report for an unusual and exuberant company deserves a playful and unique treatment—to this end I handmade string illustrations with hundreds of tiny nails and many metres of string.

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Promotional Campaign for Amplified Opera: Amplify Concert Series

Promotional Campaign for Amplified Opera: Amplify Concert Series

Acme was commissioned to design and photograph the campaign for Amplified Opera’s inaugural 2019 concert series entitled Amplify. Formed by Toronto-based opera artists Aria Umezawa and Teiya Kasahara, this new opera/theatre company is focused on providing artists from equity-seeking groups a platform to tell their stories on their own terms.

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