HELLO, CKUA.
I’m Nigel, a graphic designer based in Edmonton. I’ve spent a good part of my career making things for musicians, festivals, venues, broadcasters, neighbourhoods and other people who care deeply about the things they make.
When I saw your call for Alberta artists and designers, I thought I’d put together a small collection of work that felt particularly at home here.
The projects below move between music, place and community, but they all begin with the same idea: giving people something to connect with.
01 SONGS OF SNFU
A visual history of one of Edmonton’s most important punk bands, bringing together illustration, design and archival material to tell the story of a band that helped put Edmonton punk on the map.
02 DON IVESON MERCH
Campaign merchandise for Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, deliberately designed to feel more like Edmonton than traditional political swag. Some of the pieces became surprisingly sought after around the city.
03 GATEWAY FESTIVAL
For the past eight years, I’ve worked with Gateway Festival in Bengough, SK, creating merchandise ranging from hats and T-shirts to hoodies and other festival goods, building a body of work for an audience that keeps coming back year after year.
04 CBC SASKATCHEWAN
A collection of badges created for CBC Saskatchewan’s flagship shows, turning familiar programs into small, collectible pieces of prairie culture.
05 HANK’S TAVERN
A shirt design created for SaskMusic’s Venue Project during the pandemic, celebrating Hank’s Tavern, a little bar in Bradwell, Saskatchewan and the kinds of places that shaped my love of music growing up.
06 SEDO
An identity system for Southeast of Downtown Edmonton (SEDO). SEDO was a club created around the people and neighbourhoods below the river valley. The club provided a rallying point for a community built around place and belonging.
07 SNFU, A HAPPY NUMBER
A seven-inch record package for SNFU, designed as a physical object as much as a piece of music packaging, with illustration and typography built around the band's particular sense of humour and attitude.
08 CBC LOCAL MUSIC MINUTE
Identity and promotional design for CBC’s Local Music Minute, a series highlighting musicians and music from across Saskatchewan and giving local artists a little more room in the spotlight.
08 45 at 45
At 45, I turned 45 songs that shaped that year into 45 illustrations, combining graphic design, collage and short reflections into a visual playlist that was part sketchbook, part diary and part fan-boy letter to music.
