In 2003, Curio Studio was a team of three people. By 2023, we were all the way up to four. Why did we stay small? We’re SO glad you asked! If you own a small design agency AND you enjoy eating food on the regular, the advice you’ll hear most often is to hire more… Take a look
Or, How We Came to Love Designing for the Performing Arts As of 2023, Curio Studio has been around for 20 years. But it is no exaggeration to say that we might never have made it past year one if not for our clients working in the performing arts. “Northern Light Theatre was my first… Take a look
Can Illustrations enhance your educational materials? Our latest project for Athabasca University suggests it might be easier than you think! How people form connections is a favourite fixation of educators and sociologists alike. Curio recently had the pleasure of working with both in an illustration project for Athabasca University. AU, like any other world-class educational… Take a look
Over the last 1,000 weeks, we’ve had a lot of time to grow, to develop as artists, and to make choices based on what we think really matters. And this year, for the briefest of moments, we’re putting our pencils down to celebrate good fortune and great friends. We’ve chosen as a tagline for our… Take a look
Athleta is an athleisure-wear chain founded in 1998 and acquired ten years later by Gap Inc. To add some local personality to their debut in West Edmonton Mall, they enlisted Amanda Schutz (our Creative Director) to develop a custom illustration for the store. For a brand with this amount of equity, there is a lot… Take a look
Graham is Curio’s resident Person Who Knows Things. Besides being a dynamite creative in his own right, he’s exceptionally curious, and it is a genuine pleasure to hear him go off about the things he finds interesting. In this edition of GraNerdCorn (trademark pending), Graham discusses the importance of clean design apropos the following question… Take a look
Graphic design is at its best when it resonates beyond whatever our rods and cones can process. There is no shortage of great designs out there… but great designs and successful designs are not necessarily the same thing. What makes a design successful is, very simply, whether the design accomplishes the goals of the client. To that end, a good designer and a good client should kick off a design project by producing a good Creative Brief.
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… Take a look
Guest Post
A briefing on Curio’s newest superstar (by the artist herself): Howdy y’all, I’m Jayden and I’m the newest Curio recruit! I’ll be commandeering this blog for a hot minute in order to introduce myself. So, Who is This Nerd? I’m a peanut butter loving goofball with a serious scarf addiction and an affinity for making… Take a look
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… Take a look
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.