The Learning Zone

Sophie Babenko

Bachelor of Design, Minor in Art History

Sophie Babenko will be graduating this June from OCAD U’s Advertising program with a minor in Art History. Between classes and working as a Learning Zone Remote Student Monitor, Sophie also divided her time offering pro bono Art Direction work with The New Kid Collective; a collective created by her friends and classmates, Louise Delfin and Alvin Zheng.

Painting and drawing has been a part of Sophie’s life ever since she can remember, from taking art classes as a child, to studying fine arts in Ukraine. After moving to Canada with her family, she enrolled in the Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) fine arts program in high school.

Last week, we sat down with Sophie:

What influenced your decision to major in Advertising?

I have always known that I wanted to work in a creative field but never saw myself pursuing a fine arts career. I took some business classes in high-school and really enjoyed them. For me Advertising is a combination of my interests in arts and business.

I considered enrolling in the drawing and painting program but was always interested in business. My dad worked in marketing in Ukraine and so I have always been surrounded by that industry. I told my parents that I want to enroll in Advertising, they said that made sense because when I was a kid I memorized ads and sang the jingles—it came full circle.

What did you most enjoy about your program?

I definitely enjoyed getting to know people in my program and becoming good friends with them. I think that I got really lucky to be a part of such supportive class. The Advertising program also provided the opportunity to explore the many sides of advertising. You could study photography for advertising or retail which is how some people became interested in UX/UI design, Social Media Management, Strategy etc. I enjoyed how much variety you have in looking at advertising—it was not one straight path, you explored the discipline a little more from different perspectives, and you get to choose what you enjoy the most.

Where are you most productive? Tell us a bit about your creative space.

I am most productive when I am alone at my apartment. I need to focus and not get distracted. However, I am most creative when I am talking to other people. Since I can’t be around my friends during the pandemic, I like to change the setting and to take my work outside when possible.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

I really enjoy reading books on art history, especially Renaissance and Baroque. I have always loved reading about artists from a very young age; I would read art books cover to cover. Besides that, I like books based on historical events and the ones that tell individual life stories. My favourite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

What are your next steps after graduating?

I am looking forward to starting out in the creative industry.  The next step will be getting a creative/art direction internship.

What will you miss the most about OCAD University?

I will definitely miss being able to work on all types of projects with other students from my program. The first thing that comes to my mind is the walk to the 6th floor. There would always be someone there, sitting at the big table and you would join them. We were all friends with each other too so, you go and sit and tell them some of your ideas or work on your own—I will miss that collective mind and creative group work.

You can find more of Sophie’s work:

OCADVERTISING Website:

My Portfolio Website

The New Kid Collective

with Camille Gan

Welcome to the Learning Zone’s first post in the series “What are you reading?” We start this series with Graphic Design student, Camille Gan. Camille is also an avid zine collector and maker. When not reading zines, Camille enjoys reading art history books and discovering designers from the past.

Camille’s first impression of art began when she was 3 years old, doodling a spider web on a square piece of paper which she has long since lost; she is 99% sure it was because she took it outside of the house at some point. By the time Camille entered elementary school she would tell her teachers that she wanted to become either an artist, historian or archaeologist. In some ways she has become all three when she enrolled in OCAD U to study design. Since middle school, Camille has enjoyed reading art history, something that she still continues to do in her spare time.

What influenced your decision to major in Graphic Design?

I heard from many people that graphic design is a really flexible degree and it opens doors to many disciplines. For example, I can do packaging design, web design, branding or even illustrations. It seemed attractive since I’ve always been plagued with the idea, what if I don’t like this specialization?

Who are your favourite graphic designers?

I tend to look at specific movements as inspirations more than individual graphic designers, to be exact, Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession are my favourite movements, I think many people are familiar with Alphonse Mucha and I am also a big fan of Julius Klinger.

The later 20th century graphic designers I like have an illustrative approach to design; Tome Eckersley, Olle Eksell, Alvin Lustig and Hervé Morvan. I think the cartoony, boldly coloured forms used in their illustrations may look childish to some people today, but I think how clearly those designers expressed ideas in those illustrations is what makes their work endearing to this day.

What are you reading right now?

Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Lately, I’ve been digging into Russian literature. I haven’t  encountered many people who have dabbled into that nation’s literary traditions. Despite the novel being over 800 pages long and over 150 years old. I think it still offers a great look at how the human condition and emotions haven’t changed.

Have a passion for art history and Leo Tolstoy’s works? Please visit the OCAD U Library.

LZ: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? And the art you create?

AN: My name is Aicha Niazy, I am from Egypt and this is my first year at OCAD, I’m transferring from UTM, University of Toronto Mississauga. My program is Graphic Design; and so far it’s very interesting.

What influenced your decision to major in Graphic Design?

It’s really weird to be honest. When I was in grade 11 and 12, I was not thinking about graphic design at all, it didn’t even cross my mind. I was going to go into economics and then changed my mind to anthropology, criminology, or marine biology and then I kept on going through lists of programs. I was also interested in psychology. But in my last year, grade 12, I decided that I really wanted to be a designer. It’s because I look around me and find some awful designs and then I would find the urge to fix them but then I also wanted to know how people design all these things because when I think about it graphic design is in every single aspect of our lives. Everyone needs a graphics designer, be it firms and corporations, schools, doctors’ offices and hospitals and the list goes on, this is when I decided to major in graphic design.

What is your creative process?

Observing, I really like to observe, and see a lot of details around me, it’s what informs me

Where are you most productive, tell us about your creative space?

During the summer, I would say the beach or the sea when I’m floating on the water. Otherwise it would be in my room or when showering. When I get an idea, I try to develop it to a certain extent before I Google it because I want to see where my thinking will take me and without being influenced by the Internet.

What two graphic design tools could you not live without?

Sketchbook and a pencil, to write down my thoughts or illustrate them in some way also Adobe software programs like Illustrator, Photoshop and inDesign, these are the programs I mostly use at this point.

Is there another medium you would like to work in?

I would like to experiment with painting, I’m not a painter myself, I’ve never painted but lately I’ve been feeling the urge to paint. So, I would like to experiment and see what I get, just practice and do some sketches.

I’ve noticed on your online portfolio, Format, you were working in photography was that something that you were always interested in or have worked on?

Photography has always been interesting as an approach where I can capture things. For example if you have seen my series City Lights? It’s of water bottles with lights reflected on them, this is something that I would not see without the lens of the camera, with the camera lens zoomed in, it makes the lights really stand out, that’s the one thing I would like to experiment with, see what the camera captures what you don’t see with your eyes.

Do you have a preference of analogue over digital cameras?

I don’t have preference, yet. I have only been taking pictures for a year. However, I loved analogue in terms of how I get to develop my own film and print out the photographs, it just reminds me of the old times with pictures in albums, and as a kid I would always wonder how it worked, now I know. I’ve worked in darkrooms and also created photograms which was so much fun. And I did my own pinhole and took a few pictures with it. It was cool to experiment with the primary method of how the camera came to be.

Would you like to keep the photographic aspect of your work separate from graphic design or would you integrate them together?

If I worked with photography I would integrate into my graphic designs.

You wrote a paper on the comparisons of calligraphy with architecture?

The paper was basically discussing the calligraphy we see inscribed on architecture, and how these are designs (typographic designs), and their beautiful impact on architecture. In Islamic tradition there is no use of images or pictures representing prophets, and calligraphy is used as a form to transmit the words of god, written beautifully, to glorify it.

The most splendid mosques that I have come acrossed are Taj mahal, Hagia Sophia Mosque in Turkey, Sultan Hassan, Al-Refai and Muhammad Ali mosques in Egypt. I learned that there are different calligraphic scripts such as Kufic, Naskhi, and more. They are displayed in square forms, linear and sometimes even combined with designs like floral designs, mosaics, arabesques and of course it depends on the medium.

What do you enjoy most about studying graphic design?

It’s totally up to me to create the design from scratch but also the professors direct you, they give you the basics, even when you ask, they try to navigate you without telling you what to do so, it’s your own creative design.

What do you do to relax?

I read, workout and if the sea is there, I swim.

What is your dream job?

I don’t have a dream job right now. but I have standards for a job; it has to be a space that fosters creativity that ‘s very important to me.

What is your favourite thing about studying in Toronto?

Toronto is full of artists, designers, film festivals, different art related venues and events, and I live downtown so I don’t have to commute.

Learning Zone: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?And the art you create?

Dennis Bartel: I’m in 4th year Graphic Design. I enjoy designing interactive forms like websites and PDF.

What influenced your decision to major in Graphic Design?

When I was working, designing was a way of relieving stress. Plus, I scored high in an aptitude test.

What inspires you?

Sports. Being a designer is like being an athlete; practicing and designing are the same because you are repeating a process over and over as it becomes more developed.

What is your creative process?

It depends on what I am designing. When designing typeface, I would research, do sketches and look at other work.

What is the best art tip you ever received?

Work in layers, start light and build up on it.

What two graphic design tools could you not live without?

Computer and pencil.

You have embraced social media as a material in your work. Why?

Because that’s the way people connect, to be part of things happening, I need to be connected.

Is there another medium you would like to work in?

Screenprinting, it’s a hands-on process.

How would you describe yourself as a graphic designer?

Conservative, but daring.

How do you promote yourself?

I promote myself using social media like LinkedIn, Facebook.

What do you enjoy most about studying graphic design?

Learning from failures.

What should potential graphic design students look for in an art school or art institute?

A place that has a good reputation in producing quality student work.

You opted for the graphic design thesis for your final year at OCAD, what was your project? Do you think that was the right path for your goals?

My thesis was on text message language and the creation of meaning. It was theory based, more about self-directed education than making a project. Not knowing the outcome and working through the process. I wish I had more time to produce more things.

What are your plans when you graduate?

Freelance, start a studio with other freelancers, and sleep.

What is your dream job?

Working identity design for a bowling centre.

What do you do to relax?

I go to movies and enjoy listening to the CBC comedy sketch show, The Irrelevant Show.

What is your greatest achievement to date?

Getting my degree.

Is there anything else you want to share with us, any final thoughts?

No matter what the teaching style is, don’t let that stop you from learning.

The Learning Zone is hosting a new exhibition of environmental activism posters, Colours for Conservation by Linda Montgomery’s first year students Colour in Context graphic design class.

Patagonia, a leading outdoor and sportswear apparel designer, collaborated with OCAD University first year design students last fall to create artwork inspired by the environmental concerns of local organizations.

The students brought forward their colour theory, graphic design and inter-personal skills to create original posters representing the voice of their chosen environmental organization. A few of the organizations represented were Friends of the Rouge Watershed, Not Far From The Tree, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.

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The posters were exhibited at Patagonia’s King Street location, and a public poll selected the winning design. Patagonia donated a $1000 grant to Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) in recognition of Avery Kua’s winning design representing their environmental message. For Avery, Patagonia awarded a new winter coat.

The runners-up of the contest were as follows: 2nd place Rachel Hurst (Greenbelt Foundation); 3^rd place Jinhee Kang (Project Canoe) and Carmen Chan (Fresh City Farms); 4^th place Seraphima Zibnitskaya (Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront); 5^th place Michele Choong (Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy), Pei Ying Cheung (LEAF) and Katrina Mitchell (The PINE Project); 6th place Kaitlin Martin (Blue W), Vanessa Lira (Friends of the Rouge Watershed), James Pacitto (LEAF) and Brandon Meunier (The PINE Project).

“This kind of collaborative project helps broaden horizons for young designers and gives their work greater meaning and foundation in their community,” said Faculty of Design Instructor Linda Montgomery.

The exhibition is on until March 7th. We hope that everyone will take this opportunity to see this wonderful collection of posters.

Visit Snap Toronto and Mountain Life to read more about this successful collaboration.