So much has happened since we last saw you. COVID-19 has impacted how we used to move about our daily life on campus. Seeing familiar faces by the elevators or while passing through the halls has moved online. The university has jumped into action during this difficult time, keeping students, faculty and staff informed and connected more so now than ever.

While community quarantine remains in place, we wanted share some fun photos from our digital album of our zine workshop series held this past January and February.

Each year the Learning Zone hosts a series of zine workshops for OCAD U students. The workshops are a fun hands-on experience led by Marta Chudolinska, a comic book artist and zine maker.

Learning DIY skills like binding or block printing adds a special handmade touch to your zines, artists books, multiples, posters or other material that is part of your creative process, and opens the door to the industry of self-publishing.

We are excited to announce Penning Pictures Writing Workshop led by Creative Writing student Mehnaz Lamia. This is a hands-on supported writing workshop that uses visual works to inspire written art. Mehnaz will take you through a series of exercises and prompts, with support and resources available for new writers and English Language Learners.

You are welcome to bring whatever inspires you—your cherished writing materials, a list of awe-inspiring books or favourite writers to share and discuss or just bring your yourself! Join us at the Learning Zone Tuesday Feb. 11 from 3 – 5 pm for this workshop. 📚

Student-led workshops are funded by the Ontario Post-Secondary Access and Inclusion Program (OPAIP) administered by the Writing & Learning Centre. These workshops are free, including materials, and are open to all current students.

Welcome to the student-led workshop series to be held in OCAD U Library Services: The Learning Zone. This special programming is presented in partnership by the OCAD U Library, and the Writing & Learning Centre (WLC) and supported by funding from the Ontario Post-Secondary Access and Inclusion Program, administered by the WLC.

We start this workshop series with a Character Design Workshop with Vincy Lim (Thursday Jan. 23) followed by André Freitas Digital Colouring For Comics Workshop (Friday Jan. 24).

Vincy Lim is a Chinese-Canadian non-binary sapphic illustrator and cartoonist whose work revolves around the themes of self-love, queerness, disability, and abuse. @kiwimii

Vincy will give a brief presentation about character design then share tips & techniques allowing time for constructive feedback in this hands-on workshop that will get you started on creating your own unique characters. 🎈🎈🎈

Participants are welcome to bring their own materials, such as their laptop + drawing tablet if desired, and are encouraged to bring reference photos of things that interest them in order to inspire the characters they create. Drawing materials will be provided.

The Digital Colouring For Comics Workshop led by comic artist André Freitas, will step you through various digital colouring techniques in comic design using Photoshop, including the all important flatting techniques used by colourists. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop with Photoshop installed to follow along and experiment with the techniques being demonstrated.

André Freitas is an independent comic book artist, originally from Brazil who moved to Toronto to study at OCAD U. André graduated in Industrial Design from Faculdade de Belas Artes de Sao Paulo and has worked for publishers illustrating books and making comics. Since 2013 André has been self-publishing comics through crowdfunding in Brazil. André is a current OCAD U student and the International Student Representative for the OCAD Student Union. @yescabrita

Student-led workshops are open to all current OCAD U students. Stay tuned for student-led workshops coming in February 🔥🔥🔥

Join us in the Learning Zone this January as we host a series of workshops to help jumpstart your creative process in 2020! These introductory workshops are designed to cover basic skills, techniques and tools to create digital artwork, self-publish your zines or publication, or learn the art of bookbinding.

All of the workshops are led by Marta Chudolinska, librarian, artist and zine maker. Marta brings her many years of experience with publishing her comics and art, and is happy to share and demonstrate her skills.

Introduction to Photoshop Tuesday Jan. 14, 2-4 pm

Get started with the Introduction to Photoshop (Jan. 14) where you will learn the differences between Raster and Vector images, file resolution and all the nifty tools on hand in the toolbar to create or retouch your images. This workshop is intended for current OCAD U students who are new to Photoshop and are ready to get started with this powerful tool of image editing. Bring your laptop to follow along, a notebook to take notes, and any questions you have.

Self – Publishing 101 Tuesday Jan. 21, 2-4 pm

Self-publishing 101 will cover the steps in publishing your zine or publication no matter the size. Learn how to design, price, and choose a publication method in this introductory workshop.

Softcover Bookbinding Wednesday Jan. 29, 2-4 pm

Ready to give your publication a handmade touch? This workshop will cover the basics of softcover bookbinding,  including cover folded bindings, pamphlet stitch and Japanese stab binding.

If you have a special paper that you would like to use for the cover or for the interior pages, bring it with you! Otherwise, all material is provided. Maximum attendance is 12, first come, first served.

Open to OCAD U students and is free, including materials.

The Learning Zone is happy to announce our Fall/Winter 2018/2019 term. We will be open Monday to Thursdays from 9 am – 9 pm; Friday’s, 9 am – 6 pm and Saturdays, 1 – 6 pm. We are closed on Sundays and all Statutory holidays.

What’s new this week at the LZ? Research Wednesday kicks off this week with a visit from Danielle Manning, Outreach Officer from Archives of Ontario. Danielle will present highlights from the Archives of Ontario’s extensive photography collection. Danielle will be sharing highlights from the collection which showcase the work of government, amateur and professional photographers. You will take away an understanding of how the Archive’s photography collections are managed and preserved which supports the understanding of Ontario’s past.

Research Wednesdays is a speaker series presented by the OCAD U Library. It’s a forum for anyone to present in a supportive environment. Interested in presenting at Research Wednesdays? We are currently programming our winter schedule (January to April). Send an email to Daniel Payne (dpayne@ocadu.ca). Follow this link to learn more about Century of Ontario Photographs and how you can participate: https://bit.ly/2IyThJt

Check out the gallery below of  past presenters from last year’s Research Wednesdays:

This a call for student workshop leaders: Creative Art & Design Workshops application deadline is October 3!

Student-led creative workshop series returns to the Learning Zone for another year. Our motto is If you know something…teach something! It’s great opportunity for you to develop valuable teaching experience while providing hands-on skill-building and community building for OCAD U students. https://bit.ly/2DQBTBd

Application process:

Please submit a completed copy of this workshop proposal to Marta Chudolinska, Learning Zone Librarian, at mchudolinska@ocadu.ca by October 3rd, 2018. Download the Workshop Proposal template file available on this page.

This workshop series is presented in partnership by the OCAD U Library and the Writing & Learning Centre and supported by funding Ontario Postsecondary Access and Inclusion Program (OPAIP) administered by the WLC.