We were lucky enough to have Bree Apperley design two student membership posters for us…going up now in a school near you! Bree is a Canadian expat, currently working as a designer at the Princeton Architectural Press in NYC. I’ve put up this Q & A to help you get to know her better.

Liana Schmidt



Mercer Union Student Membership Posters, 2011




Liana: What led you to pursue design?

Bree: After my foundation year in art school, the year where you try all sorts of different mediums within applied art, fine art, and traditional craft, I felt very strongly that I wanted to place my practice somewhere in between art and design but I wasn’t quite sure yet how to do that. At ACAD where I went to school for my first (Fine Art) degree, there literally was a bridge between these two areas of study and not that many students crossed to see what was happening on the other side.

That always seemed kind of sad to me and I wished there was a more integrated approach to art education at that time. I thought the Bauhaus philosophy where applied art and fine art existed on the same level, with equal importance given to both of them, was something that should be reconsidered. I always felt equally interested in both realms of “making stuff” and there was something novel about walking the line between the two. That way I could kind of combine a critical, avantgarde and poetic way of thinking within accessible and popular media, like prints, books, functional objects, videos, websites, photography…I guess I felt that if I held a degree in both I could somehow find a happy medium in there somewhere. So two years after graduating with my Fine Arts degree I went back and studied Design.

L: How has the blogosphere changed your practice?

B: I can honestly say in all nerdiness that it has opened up a whole world to me. In particular, maintaining my own blog(s) has been the perfect outlet. Mostly visual, part sketchbook, part diary, and totally connected. I didn’t even fully understand the networking capabilities of having a blog when I first started. Networking is not really a word I like or something I like to do, but I do love meeting other people with the same interests and getting inspiration from all there is out there and that just happens to be a major side affect of blogging.

The internet has had such a profound affect on our culture and I think it has made the world very, very small and has brought people closer to one another. And if you are a person who is curious and passionate about a subject, the internet is really an endless well of information and inspiration. It is hard to even wrap my head around how important it has become to my growth as an artist (and person!). I think the whole thing is very empowering. Many opportunities have come my way as a result of participating in the blogoshpere and I feel really lucky to have stumbled into this ongoing conversation about so many of the things that interest me.

L: You have an impressive tumblr account. Is updating it important to your routine?

B: Yes! Very important! It is the top #1 way that I keep excited about stuff and making things. I never fully understood how visual I was as a person until I started my tumblr account. I think that is really the way I process the world. Tumblr is so perfect for that because I don’t have to worry about contextualizing everything. It is totally liberating – like a visual free association, Kerouac-style. It is a very alive place for me.

L: What are 3 of your favourite blogs/tumblr sites to peruse:

B: Ugh. That is a tough question because I have so many!! I also kind of go through phases…but three I have a lot of respect for because they are very well thought out and committed to their subject in a unconventional way are:

1. Real Normal

2. Happy Accident

3. Click Opera (now can be found at the tumblr site Mrs. Tsk *)

L: What do you love about gifs and can you please make one for us…

B: I think the allure with animated gifs has something to do with a kind of in-the-midst-of-the-Technological-Revolution nostalgia for the early days of the internet. They reference the computer vernacular, an early pre-flash animation way of making computer magic. Animated gifs are low-tech and goofy in a way that is really charming and unexpectedly has a lot of creative potential. I would love to make one for you!

Our very own gif!