A York University staff member and alumna is the winner of this year’s Design a Festival Tee contest for the 40th anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The TIFF T-shirt design by York U staff member Amy Poon
Amy Poon, signage designer and coordinator with the University’s Planning & Architectural Design Services, CSBO, won the grand prize for her design. The prize includes public exposure of her design, a 10-ticket package for TIFF, two T-shirts and two tickets to the TIFF closing night party on Sept. 19.
T-shirts with Poon’s design went on sale at the TIFF Shop (350 King St. W., Toronto).
Her design plays on the festival’s anniversary, and she used four number symbols – two sets of "40" – to illustrate the milestone.
“The duplication and overlapping of 40 provided references to the longevity of TIFF for the years to come,” said Poon. “Four different types of pen and brush strokes were employed to represent the literature, visual and other creative efforts put into each film.”
She used four colours in shades of the official TIFF orange and grey to illustrate the “internationality of the festival.”
Additionally, she used the "zeros" as to symbolize film reels.
Poon has been employed by York U since 2011 and is responsible for the University's signage and way finding. She has been instrumental with some of the most important donor recognition signs on campus.
She is a graduate from the University of Waterloo, with a bachelor of environmental design-architecture, and an alumna of York's School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies.
Recently, Poon started part-time master's studies in the York-Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communications & Culture.