It’s a puzzle: B.C. designers, artists create jigsaws to beat the pandemic blues
Robazzo’s Puzzle Labs features works by Canadian artists; Vancouver cartoonist Lorne Craig depicts Granville Island
Transversal Grains No.1 by NASARIMBA is among the original works by Canadian artists found jigsaws by Studio Robazzo’s Puzzle Lab.
PUZZLES HAVE SEEN a resurgence in popularity amid the pandemic, giving people one more way to pass time indoors within their bubble. Now, some local creatives are getting in on the game with jigsaws that feature original artwork.
Victoria-based design firm Studio Robazzo recently launched Puzzle Lab, which makes contemporary wooden puzzles featuring works by Canadian artists such as Joanne Thomson, Miki Morita, Julie Amlin, Lake Ramsey, and more.
Pictured on this puzzle is The Guardian by Mandy Leinbach.
Tinka (Christina) Robev and Andrew Azzopardi are Robazzo’s founders, whose portfolio includes everything from graphics and branding to installation art, stage design, and large-scale projects for clients like TED, TEDx Victoria, Thinklandia, Vancouver International Film Festival, and Pacific Rim College Online, among others. Azzopardi focuses on computational design—a practice involving writing custom computer algorithms to generate highly complex geometry—and digital fabrication, using robots like laser cutter, 3D printer, and CNC router to create complex shapes.
“The puzzles were born out of a desire to get off our screens,” Robev tells Stir. “Because of COVID, we both spent a lot more time watching TV and scrolling through social media.
“So we put our heads together to come up with a thoughtful new product line: one that encompasses our passions for beautiful aesthetics, computational design, digital fabrication, and good old-fashioned analog fun,” she says. “Andrew wrote some algorithms to create our signature wacky wavy piece shapes, while I curated the first round of graphics….We’re partnering with Canadian artists to feature contemporary artwork on the puzzles, both as a way to provide puzzlers with exciting visuals and give the artists another platform on which they can build up a reputation and following.”
See Puzzle Lab for more information.
The See You on Granville Island puzzle features illustration by Vancouver cartoonist Lorne Craig.
In Vancouver, meanwhile, Granville Island Delivery Co. founder Michelle Ng has teamed up with local cartoonist Lorne Craig for the See You on Granville Island puzzle. the 500-piece customized jigsaw features real individuals and ventures in cartoon caricature.
“This jigsaw puzzle is a way for us to promote the community we are part of, and their businesses, and share the excitement of Granville Island as people start to return to this iconic destination,” Ng said in a release.
The puzzle can feature a total of 50 businesses and people, who can special-order their caricature to be drawn right into the artwork.
“We have people send a photo with their order,” says Vancouver cartoonist Lorne Craig. “Then we draw them in and they get to have the fun of looking for their little self somewhere among the 500+ pieces. We also send them the original caricature drawing, suitable for framing with a small frame.”
More info is here.
Related Articles
