If journalism school was a tad less pricey, there’s a great chance that Nigel Hood would have turned away from graphic design programs, and never started Hotel Graphic Design Co.
“No, I don’t particularly design for hotels,” smirks Hood. The name of his brand is a playful combination of Hood and his wife’s last names.
Hood’s fondness with retro industrial style logo designs closely connects to his interests in punk music, hockey and local distillery culture. Humbly refusing calling himself a fast learner, Hood enjoys the process of researching for every new project — his historical graphic design projects “The Saskatchewan and Alberta Ghost Towns Series” took him weeks to fill in the details. His punk roots were shown in his very first commission, “From the Rake Vaults,” for Edmonton-born-and-bred punk legends, SNFU.
It’s not like Hood never thought of how life would be if he never left Regina. Looking back at his early designs, he knows well that the connections and memories he made from having this graphic design business is making it harder each day for him to leave Edmonton.
“Edmonton is not like other cities. This is a place you can start a life and become a part of the community real quick.”
We can appreciate Hood’s graphic design contribution to Edmonton’s most mainstream of cultures: the Oilers. The ACE Award winner designed “Edmonton Hockey Schedule 1984-1985” project portraying the greatest team in NHL history.
“Growing up in Saskatchewan, I was not tied to any of the NHL teams,” says Hood. “But when you come to Edmonton, I think you need to know the Oilers first, then somehow also pick up the other cultures here.”
He also designed the logo for Amarjeet Sohi’s mayoral campaign.
Shop print art and designs at Hotel Graphic Design Co. and at the Royal Bison.
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