design illustration
“Illustrator-led Design” is not a real thing. It’s not in the dictionary and it’s not in the “inside-baseball” design lexicon. It’s something we made up. Admittedly, it’s not a super-intuitive term. But it’s the best way we can think to explain what makes Curio designers unique! So let’s talk about what we’re talking about when…
branding design logo
Since June of last year, Curio has been working with the fantastic team at the former Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) in creating a complete visual brand to match the institution’s exciting new identity as Northwestern Polytechnic.
design identity logo
The life of a Curio logo concept can be nasty, brutish, and short. This is probably because the members of our design team are more like mama frogs than, say, mama orangutans. Stay with me. From the first moment we’re tasked designing with a logo, we start sketching out rough concepts. Ever wonder what happened…
Guest Post
Hey there! I’m Eva, fourth-year graphic design student at the University of Alberta. This year I have been extremely lucky to be able to intern at Curio Studio! I’ve been given a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the blog, so I thought it would be good to talk about why I fell so deeply in…
community design illustration
People, Dogs, and Dog-People of Edmonton: Visit the SouthBARK dog park at 8122 106 Street NW (featuring public furniture illustrated by Curio)!
design Nerd Corner
“Pixel Perfect” is one of those terms that hangs around in web design circles and rarely leaves. It’s a really interesting concept, especially when explained by Curio’s self-professed design nerd, Graham Johnson.
client feature logo
Do you ever get asked to show your work? We were recently asked to describe one of our logo designs for the visually-impaired, and JEEZ LOUISE, it was tougher than you’d imagine!
design identity
Just about every logo you’ve ever seen has a few “undead” counterparts—logo concepts that were not chosen by the client and relegated to the Logo Graveyard [SFX: shrieking heard in the distance]. At Curio, we TRY not to spend a lot of time moping about our own Graveyard. But sometimes we can’t help ourselves. Please…
design general
QR (Quick Response) codes were a touchy subject in design circles when they first started popping up all over North America in the early 2010s. If the term doesn’t ring a bell, you’d know them to see them—those little squares full of black dots and lines that look like 8-bit TV static: Remember when? In…
Animation
Should your organization invest in animated graphics? In digital marketing circles, video is having a moment—one that’s lasted years with no signs of slowing: A 2020 survey by Wyzowl states that 93% of marketers say video is an important part of their strategy Zenith Media estimates that in 2021, the average person will watch more…
Animation
We’re grateful to have worked on a number of fun projects for some thoroughly-delightful clients over the past few years; to commemorate this, we put together a portfolio reel to highlight our latest work in branding, illustration, and motion and environmental design.
illustration
We’re happy to share illustration and design work we created for Concrete Theatre! Curio developed a season brochure with support illustrations, interpreting each performance running in the 2019/2020 season. This type of work can be so fun in the sense that we work closely with an arts organization to read each play and figure out how to visually interpret it through contemporary illustration.