A BACKGROUND ON MYSELF

Hi there! I am Andrea Jaggs, a graphic designer living in Toronto, Canada. My intention for this blog can be summed up with the words art/design/inspire. I live a creative life. Design is my passion—an obsession! I’ve been working professionally as graphic designer for over five years, for several brands in print and digital. I plan to talk about art, design, share current projects and other fun stuff. Thanks for joining me on this journey. A quick background on myself is a must.

STARTING WAY BACK

It seems I was always meant to be a designer. In the early ‘90s back in elementary school (growing up in St. Catharines, ON), I really cared about lettering and making signs. I always spent way more time on making title pages and signs for class units than I needed to. Drawing letters and creating interesting compositions was so much fun! Everything came very intuitively and I just loved it—but wasn’t sure why. I loved reading magazines about fashion, art and architecture. Being the Piscean collector that I am, I was always keeping clippings of beautiful type, graphics and layouts—and still do to this day.

I remember wandering around a used bookstore in downtown St. Catharines, only to purchase the book Magazine Design from 1999, written by Chris Foges. Here I discovered in-depth discussions on magazine structures and typography, along with examples from innovative publications from around the world. As well, I read interviews with established editorial designers and art directors like Fernando Gutiérrez, and Rudy VanderLans. I learned about cutting-edge, experimental magazines like Emigre, Blah Blah Blah, Ray Gun, and Colors, to name a few. That was back in high school.

UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE

It wasn’t until I was in university though, that I realized I wanted to be a graphic designer. My background out of high school had had been in drawing, painting and art history. Here I was introduced to design and photography. I quickly realized these were my real faves.

My schooling is both university and college-based. I studied jointly with the University of Toronto and Sheridan Institute of Technology in Oakville. My background is studio art, art history and digital communications. My focus was on design, photography. Having an art background has been a true asset to my career, from a conceptual and analytical standpoint. I’m incredibly thankful for it! Although I would not call myself a professional photographer, having the background is definitely helpful.

NOW

I’ve been working professionally as graphic designer for over five years and have worked on several brands in print and digital. I have a full-time day job and also freelance (more on that later). I live in the west end of Toronto near beautiful High Park, with my boyfriend Darcy and our two cats Deja and Dante.

Steps away from my house is Grenadier Pond, which is at the southern part of the park.

I feel pretty lucky to be surrounded by so much nature. Yet, I’m just a hop and a skip from transit, Roncesvalles Village, Queen Street West and Bloor West Village: all amazing neighbourhoods. I don’t like to be too far from the hustle and bustle of the city!

I’m also across the street from the waterfront of Lake Ontario. One of my favourite things to do is go out for walks, explore and collect my thoughts. It’s amazing what you can come across.

Some of my best ideas and revelations come to me at these times.

These photos were taking recently over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. //