Reflections is an annual poster show and sale hosted by the students of Capilano’s IDEA School of Design. Each year features a collection of student art centred around a common theme, and raises funds to further the students artistic pursuits. 2016’s Reflections series explores one of Vancouver’s most ubiquitous elements – water.

Each student was challenged to produce an image, using illustration or typography, that explores some aspect of this natural resource, whether personal, political, environmental, or aesthetic. We began with research, rough sketches and writing, and refined and revised our ideas to convey clear visual messages that have impact from ten feet away, and draw viewers closer to investigate, as posters often do. We employed both traditional and digital mediums and tools, and various forms of virtual and photographic manipulation to produce our final imagery.

My poster was the outcome of a variety of experiments that mixed typography, ice, and photography. My exploration first involved printing the quote on transparent paper, then freezing it and photographing with long exposures while experimenting with lighting. After literally hundreds of variations, and driving my wife crazy with a fridge full of blocks of “designer” ice, the poster was complete. The end result encapsulates the feeling that Kafka’s quote evokes, of a book chipping away at our thoughts as we read it.