The cover of the August, 2011 Buzzer and the artist, Alanna ScottThe August Buzzer is out! In case you don’t know, the Buzzer newsletter comes out on the first Friday of every month and can be found on buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus and the West Coast Express. Oh, and it’s been around for over 95 years! But that’s the topic of another blog post and edition. This month, the Buzzer is all about I Love Transit Week 2011. As promised, winning entries from the various contests for the week made it into the newsletter, including Barbara-Anne Eddy’s haiku. I included some photos of I Love Transit Night and gave a shout-out to all the volunteers and people who contributed to one fantastic week!
Also included in this issue are the specifics on how to get to the Fair at the PNE, which runs from August 20-September 5. There’s also a short blurb on the Base and Supplemental Plan webinar. As usual, there’s the Contest Corner where someone can win a monthly FareCard, coming events and a Back Issues section, which relates the current spike in pedestrian injuries in Metro Vancouver to the concern for elderly pedestrian safety in the March 25, 1960 issue of the Buzzer.
The Buzzer illustrator this year is the up and comer and multi-talented Alanna Scott.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your art!Alanna's lovely art work!
Hi! I am a multi-disciplinary human living, working and making things in Vancouver. Some of the things I make are drawings, collages and prints. I also design and code things for the internet with Mainsocial (mainsocial.com).
How did you come up with the Buzzer cover? Can you talk a bit about the other concepts?
The theme for this issue was I Love Transit, so I started brainstorming some ideas about how I could communicate that. The phrase I Love Transit is singular, but I knew I wanted the illustration to feel more inclusive, about people loving transit, which is what brought me to the idea of holding hands. It’s a small illustration, so I didn’t want to get too detailed and wanted to keep it simple. Patterns and type are two elements in art and design that I am continually drawn to, so one of the concepts was a small pattern of people and the different forms of transit all mixed together. I think the concept that ended up getting used is stronger in communicating the theme.
What kind of work are you doing lately, and where can we see it?
I have been doing a lot of black and white drawings lately, some with ink and some with pencil, many of them including type. I would like to work on incorporating printmaking with these original drawings. I recently exhibited two drawings at the Cheaper Show. I will be included in a typography based show at the end of August at the Also Known As collective studio space. Some of my work can be found online at www.alannascott.com and thesearemoments.com.
Do you have a regular transit route that you take? And do you have a favourite seat on the bus or SkyTrain?
I take the Canada Line most often. It’s great because it connects me directly to my apartment up Cambie and to my studio in Gastown, and I can take my bike onboard.
I cannot decide whether the fact that buses and trains have arms are cute or creepy.