Packaged Toronto

Authors: Matthew Blackett, Wayne Reeves and Alexandra Avdichuk

Publisher: Spacing Media

Very little is known about the work of early graphic designers in Toronto and Canada, whose skills, artistry, and inventive spirit laid the foundation for the nation’s unique design identity to emerge after the Second World War. In Spacing’s Packaged Toronto — through detailed photography and historical essays focused on an underserved period of Canadian design — readers are taken on a journey back in time to the period between 1870-1950 to witness the emergence of the city’s aesthetic.

Matthew Blackett is the publisher, creative director, and one of the founders of Spacing. He is the author, editor, and photographer of The Beautiful Mess of toronto Laneways, has edited seven books for Spacing, contributed to numerous Canadian newspapers and magazines, and frequently contributes to CBC Radio and Television.  He is also an award-winning graphic artist, product designer, and deeply-committed advocate for Toronto. Matthew was a co-recipient of the Jane Jacobs Prize in 2010 and was awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his dedication to urban issues in Canada.

Wayne Reeves: As the former Chief Curator for Toronto History Museums, Wayne managed the city’s artifact, fine art, and archaeological collections, and Market Gallery. Since the early 1990s, he has written and helped create exhibitions about many historical topics, all with a Toronto focus: waterfront planning and infrastructure development; children’s leisure time; the home front in the First World War and contemporary war artist Gertrude Kearns; the lower Don Valley Landscape and the Leslie Street Spit; and (tackled separately) beer, bicycling, and the Beetles. He and his staff frequently pen articles about Toronto objects for Spacing‘s book series and magazine.

Alexandra Avdichuk is the Supervisor of Collections and Conservation for Toronto History Museums, which includes a collection of over 150,000 artifacts, and a million (or more) archaeological specimens. She is responsible for overseeing the collections management, conservation, and exhibitions development program for the City’s ten historic site museums. She is a graduate of both the University of Toronto Master of Museum Studies program and the University of Victoria, Cultural Resource Management Program. In addition to her work with the City, she also teaches Care of Collections at Centennial College.