Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had Jason Logan, Founder of The Toronto Ink Company.
Jason looked at the many layers of meaning that ink can be and how that definition relates to the larger world of natural color and finding color in unlikely places. He also talked about working in, and with, and as a part of nature as an urban color forager. We also got to see some great sneak peeks of a film he is working on.
Watch the recording below.
Jason says: “Most importantly, this hour aims to embrace the opportunity to get a bunch of colour radicals in the same room to talk through the big ideas and hands-on specifics of living colors. I can’t wait to hear and think through questions from the group.”
Check out The Toronto Ink Company website and subscribe for his newsletter which is one of the best pieces of mail you will ever get in your inbox!
Follow @torontoinkcompany on Instagram and follow #makeink to further blow your mind.
Shop Jason’s book MAKE INK here.
Shop all of our dye inks here.
Shop those amazing Montana Empty Acrylic Markers he uses! (I did!)
ABOUT:
Jason Logan is an internationally recognized designer, creative director, author, and artist. He has worked as a designer and creative director at the New York Times, National Post, The Toronto Star, Rogers and the CBC. His illustrations appear regularly in the New York Times and his fine art has been exhibited in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, and the Yukon. His work has been recognized by the AIGA, SPD, the Centre for Social Innovation, and the Canada Council for the Arts. His most recent book MAKE INK: a foragers guide to natural inkmaking was included in The Guardian’s Best books of 2018. He is working on a documentary about ink directed by Brian D. Johnson and produced by Ron Mann with support of the National Film Board of Canada.
The Toronto Ink Company was founded in 2014 by designer and artist Jason Logan as a citizen science experiment to make eco-friendly, urban ink from street-harvested pigments. We make ink, lead workshops and investigate the history of inkmaking and the science of distilling pigment from the natural world. The inks are sold in California, Toronto, New York and Japan in small batches while outreach is focused on the potential for overlooked urban colour foraging from materials such as soot, rust, cigarette butts, peach pits, and black walnut, and how to mix, test, and to transform these ingredients into rich, vibrant inks that are sensitive to both place and environment. The company aims to combine science, art, and craft to open up ink making to a world community while fostering a revolution in colour-finding that takes back a central tool of human communication and creation.
FEEDBACK FRIDAY
If you are not familiar with FEEDBACK FRIDAY, every week, we speak with dyers, artists, scientists and scholars about our favorite topic, natural dyeing and color. Curated by Amy DuFault, Botanical Colors’ Sustainability Director and presented by Botanical Colors’ Founder Kathy Hattori.
We even have our own theme song thanks to musician Jimmie Snider (click here to hear more of his music)!