ON VANCOUVER: CARSON TING
After working at agencies for over 15 years, WNW Member and Vancouver-based creative #6643 Carson Ting has ventured out on his own, navigating the freelance world in a city where the freelance community is still getting its footing. While the creative scene may be laid back, there is still a vibrant mix of creative award shows, art shows, creative crawls, and more if you know where to look. Luckily, Carson's here to help.
For those on a budget, this pricey city is fortunately surrounded by gorgeous scenery. Carson tells us that doing something outdoors is valued over the typical post-work cocktail: "It's important to break away from shop talk and actually live a life. As creative people it's important to stay in touch with the outside world. Otherwise, we'd be creating work that only speaks to ourselves."
Carson gives us an inside look into the creative scene and outside world of Vancouver. He also created the series of original illustrations, below.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative background.
I was born and raised in Toronto (some consider it to be centre of the universe - ha!) and moved out to Vancouver over 8 years ago to work for my then dream ad agency, Rethink. Now I'm a father of a 15-month-old daughter named Audrey - the funniest person I know to date. My wife Denise, whom I met back in Toronto, helps me run our illustration company, Chairman Ting Industries. We've done work for adidas Originals, Microsoft, Kidrobot, Infiniti and more.
After busting my butt for over 13 years as a full-time advertising art director I decided to go freelance so I could mix up the type of work I get. I now do illustration work, murals, photography work, app design and of course, advertising art direction. I love the variety of work I get as an independent and I also feel so much more creative being able to work in so many different mediums and roles.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on an illustration project for TEDx West Vancouver, an illustration project for a Mercedes Benz print campaign with the guys at 123w, a mural for the Vancouver Economic Commission, a mural for a coffee chain in Calgary called Phil & Sebastien, and am also freelancing at DDB Vancouver.
Any dream projects?
My dream project right now is to produce a collection of personal paintings and finish up a mini documentary film I've been working on since 2013. Commissioned projects are great, but I really want to spend more time on personal work so I can stay fresh creatively. I've always believed in the importance of side projects.
What are you into these days? What are you reading, watching, etc.?
I'm not entirely sure. I've been working around the clock for a very long time and the only thing I want to do with my spare time is chill with my family. I wish I could say I'm into some obscure indie drama show from Japan or something cool like that. But I don't watch much TV. I always feel left out in conversations when people talk about shows like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones.
When I'm deep into my illustration work, I usually listen to Radio Lab. It's a podcast series from NPR. It's absolutely fascinating stuff and I can't get enough of it. I'll even listen to reruns when there aren't any new ones.
What's your favorite thing about living in Vancouver?
It's cliche to say this, but my most favourite thing about living here is being surrounded with such gorgeous natural scenery like the mountains and the ocean. The city is also very small, so it's very walkable and convenient. In terms of challenges, I think the advertising and design community is really small, so there isn't a lot of room for creatives to move around - compared to the Toronto market. People tend to stay longer at agencies here, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as a freelancer I would definitely like to see the agency pool expand.
How did you find your way to Vancouver?
Through a recruiter. An opportunity came up to work for Rethink. I wanted to work there for the longest time and had tried to get into that agency for years and when the recruiter called about the opportunity, I jumped on it. I've been living here ever since.
Have you lived elsewhere? Tempted to move and if so, where?
Toronto. I've only lived in two different cities in my entire life. I've always been tempted to live in Amsterdam or Berlin because I hear there's a lot going for both cities in the arts and design scene. I still think about it from time to time, but it's hard to leave Vancouver. Both my wife and I love it here.
Vancouver is...
...a magical place with a big price tag.
What’s something we'd be surprised to learn about Vancouver?
Adbusters is based in Vancouver!
Favorite neighborhood spots?
My favourite spot has to be Stanley Park and the sea wall. It's just minutes away from my place and it's got one of the best running trails I know to date. I always start running from my neighbourhood in Coal Harbour and go around the sea wall which is almost a perfect 10k distance and swing out of English Bay for a coffee. My wife and I love walking around the west end and chilling out in English Bay.
We're hungry! Where should we go?
My absolute favourite cafe is in the west end called Green Horn Cafe. It's fairly hidden inside a quiet residential area so it's less busy and they also make a killer cortado. The owner is a fellow named Walter. He's super friendly and always loves to chat about his collection of motorcycles. Vancouver has such an amazing culinary scene so naturally, I have a lot of favourite spots. My top three places are Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown (hands down, the best sable fish dish I've ever had), Les Faux Bourgeois, a causal French restaurant in the Fraser area (killer scallop dish!), and lastly, I'd say Don't Argue!, a pizzeria in Mount Pleasant. It's not fancy but I get really excited every time I go there.
Give us the inside scoop: any hidden secrets about the city?
There is this hidden pathway in east Vancouver near my studio. The path goes right through these old train tracks and underneath the Sky Train overpass. The path is hidden because it's a very industrious area and no one ever goes through the area by foot. I love that spot because you'll always find interesting graffiti work on the walls of these two abandoned buildings. It's also a great spot for a photoshoot because you have the train tracks and the Sky Train above you. It's a great mixture of the old and new in one spot.
There's also a back alley by my studio at 1000 Parker where you'll find a collection of the most densely graffiti'ed walls in the city. It's a little creepy at night because there's a mannequin tucked in a corner and another one hung from above.
What is the creative scene like?
The creative scene in general is fairly laid back. There isn't a lot of after-hour get-togethers among the advertising community where ad guys go to hang out for drinks. Everyone here just goes out to do outdoorsy stuff like biking, running, kayaking and etc. I personally much prefer it this way. It's important to break away from shop talk and actually live a life. As creative people it's important to stay in touch with the outside world. Otherwise, we'd be creating work that only speaks to ourselves.
Although the creative scene is fairly laid back, one can still find a pretty active and exciting creative scene if you dig deeper. We have our monthly Creative Mornings talk, Lotus Awards (which came back after a one year hiatus), the annual Eastside Culture Crawl, Pecha Kucha and at one time we had the Cheaper Show (a fun collective art show featuring 200 artists around the world) and of course, there's the popular indie art blog, Booooooom.com that my friend Jeff Hamada runs out of Vancouver.
Any organizations there helping foster the creative community?
My friend Jeff Hamada, who runs Booooooom.com, is always actively fostering the creative community here, whether it's getting a bunch of people together to build tiny boats out of twigs and setting them free on a lake or getting people to submit drawings of stories from their past. Jeff is always thinking of new ways to engage with the creative community. We also have fantastic art colleges like Langara, IDEA School of design from Capiliano University and Emily Carr that hosts portfolio reviews for their arts and design programs.
Any WNW members whose work you admire? Why?
Lara Palmer. I've admired her work for a long time. I remember seeing her work in award annuals since I was in art school and have continued to see her work evolve over the years. I finally got to meet her when she freelanced at Rethink and she's equally as nice as she is talented.
Carson's Work
Really proud and honoured to work with Sid Lee for Sport Chek's latest campaign for the Toronto Raptors called #MyNorth. This project meant a lot to me as it's for my hometown Tdot and I get to hand draw all 9 neighbourhoods that make up the GTA. This was definitely one of the most ambitious illustration projects I have taken on to date. The illustration took over 160 hours to finish which included countless all nighters and weekends. Special thanks to the talented Joanna Ambrosio for assisting me with this project. We've been enjoying all the photos of the actual posters, billboards and paste ups we've been seeing through other people's Instagram posts from Toronto. CREDITS: AGENCY Sid Lee EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Dasilva EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tom Koukodimos DESIGNERS Andrew MacPhee, Seita Goto, Marie Rupulo, Alex Boland ART DIRECTOR Andrew MacPhee ART BUYER PRODUCER Dana Klyszejko ILLUSTRATOR Carson Ting AKA Chairman Ting ASSISTANT ILLUSTRATOR Joanna Ambrosio COPYWRITER Jeremiah McNama & Ryan Chiasson ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Eve Remillard Larose ACCOUNT MANAGER Matthew Bendavid, Allison Micelli ACCOUNT COORDINATOR Alicia Brennan STRATEGIST Josh Hansen, Dustin Rideout VIDEO EDITOR Carson Ting MUSIC Raekwon - New Wu feat.Method Man & Ghostface Killah (DJ Duke Remix) CLIENT Sport Chek
All done! Our latest project for @InfinitCanada to help ring in the Chinese New Year. Special thanks to the brand ambassadors of Infiniti Canada, Trojan One Toronto and of course Infiniti. Completely done free hand with @montanacans, @molotowheadquarters and @krinknyc paint. An incredible behind the scenes video to some soon shot by the talented @stoodles Check chairmanting.com this week for a project recap with more photos of the car and process.
Votee is a fun, private way to get instant opinions from the people who matter. Learn more at votee.com This is a fun little app that I made with a small group of passionate and talented friends over the course of 2 years. Try it out. It's fun and free through the Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/votee-decide-together/id740335889?mt=8 CREDITS: Animation: Chad Jones Illustration, design and art direction: Carson Ting Copywriters: Justin Li and Ryan Leeson Music and SFX: GGRP Sound Design Voice Over: Lori Russell
Commissioned mural project by Henriquez Partners Architects for the Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School in North Vancouver. The project took over 200 hours to finish 15 4' x 8' aluminum panels. We used Montana Gold spray paint, 1Shot enamels, DTM primers and paint, KRINK and Molotow markers to create the artwork. For more information please visit chairmanting.com CREDITS: Selected photography by Albert Law Photography, http://www.albertlaw.ca/ Music: Stone Cutter by Flying Lotus
A month ago, we had the honour to paint the Canadian maple leaf at the beautifully situated Canada Place venue in downtown Vancouver. The Canadian maple leaf graphic is made up of 63 illustrated icons which we illustrated and designed earlier this year. After a week of preparation and meetings we brought the Canadian maple leaf icon to life as we painted furiously for over 11 hours on location. The result? 63 illustrated icons, 25 rolls of tape, 23 cans of Montana Gold spray paint, 20 hours of prep work, 12 brushes, 11 hours of painting, 5 DSLR cameras, 2 3M respiratory protection masks, 2 Photographers and 1 giant mural for our love of this great country we call Canada. We'd like to thank everyone that came out to support us that day. We're forever grateful for everyone's support and love! CREDITS: Studio: Chairman Ting Industries Artist: Carson Ting Assistant / producer: Denise Cheung Photography / Video: Osler Zoo Photography Video editing: Chris Nielsen Music: Nick Lanyon Special guest helpers: Tom Pettapiece and Scorpio Lam http://www.chairmanting.com Links: https://www.facebook.com/ExploreCanada https://twitter.com/ExploreCanada
2014 is probably one of our best years yet with a new studio space, a new mobile app launch, amazing freelance gigs, amazing new clients and projects. Big thanks to everyone that was part of making 2014 such an awesome year. Cheers to 2014 and we look forward to doing bigger and better projects in 2015.
What a year! 2013 was a very important year for us as this was the year where we truly went independent for the first time since opening our doors as a part time experimental creative workshop back in 2008. Through this little creative indie workshop, we worked hard throughout the night and weekends to try new techniques and refine our craft on very select projects while Carson still worked as an art director during the day. This duo life as an artist at night and art director by day lasted for 4 years until the end of 2012 where we finally made the leap to run our company full time. This year we travelled far and wide. Shooting our independent documentary in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Montreal and Hawaii, guest lecturing at the Montserrat College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts, artist signing event at kidrobot in New York, Art show collab party in Toronto, judging the Ad Rodeo in Calgary and working with clients in Seattle, LA and Texas really made this year a special one for us. We're very grateful for everyone who believed in us and allowed us to really flex our creative muscle, whether it's a mural, a microsite, animation, illustration or just a silly doodle, we had a ton of fun. We hope to continue working on projects we believe in and helping others along the way to build even greater creative work for 2014. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends at TAXI Vancouver, Spencer and Bloom, Whole Foods, Microsoft, Hootsuite, DDB Canada, The Canadian Tourism Commission, Kidrobot New York and Boulder, Digital Kitchen Seattle, Creature Seattle, Mini Shatsu LA, Montserrat College of Art, BC Business magazine, 123 West, We The Collective design and our friends Jeff Hamada, Henry Chu, Francis Lam, Clay Rochemont, Ryan Holmes, Maggie Cavallo, Eugene Kan, Wu Yue and more for helping us out in many different ways or with our independent documentary film this year. Signing off here in Hong Kong. See you all in 2014! http://www.chairmanting.com http://www.instagram.com/chairman_ting http://www.twitter.com/chairman_ting