Powwows to Pages: Deconstructing Design Methods in Publishing

January 18, 2025

Powwows to Pages: Deconstructing Design Methods in Publishing

Join acclaimed designer Brian Johnston and McClelland & Stewart Publisher Stephanie Sinclair for an insightful conversation about the unique challenges and successes of Indigenous design and publishing in North America.

Hear from these accomplished Indigenous creatives as they share their personal journeys and offer a behind-the-scenes look at the entire publishing process - from the initial idea to the final printed book.

We'll explore:

• Appropriation vs appreciation

• The impact of capitalism and globalization

• Breaking down the silos

• Finding your voice and building community

Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from industry leaders and learn more about the vital role of Indigenous perspectives in the world of publishing.

Saturday, January 18 at 11AM PT

Brian Johnson is a partner of Polymode where he focuses on creative direction, design production, writing, and teaching. Born into a family of printers, Johnson is deeply invested in the production of good design without the expense of sacrificing our humanity or environment. He is a member of the Monacan Nation and holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has guest lectured at the School of Visual Arts, Washington University, University of California Santa Barbara, and the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. His recent clients have been Glenn Kaino Studio, the Getty Museum, Studio Museum Harlem, Pulitzer Art Foundation, Phaidon Press, The New Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum where his writing appears in Willi Smith: Street Couture. His most recent publication: Queering the Grid: Reading Codes in Dan Friedman's Teachings (with Silas Munro) has led him to his current design writing research on Friedman's 1994, Radical Manifesto, which will be approaching its thirty-year anniversary.

Stephanie Sinclair is the Publisher of McClelland & Stewart. She is a Cree, Ojibwe, and German/Jewish settler. She has worked for more than twenty years in the performing and creative arts, and from 2012-2022 in literary management. She began that work at Transatlantic Agency in 2012, where she rose through the ranks to senior agent, representing literary fiction and non-fiction with a focus on Indigenous creators and political engagement, and additionally helped manage translation rights programs for Page Two Books and Drawn & Quarterly. Her authors were acknowledged by virtually every awards jury in the country, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Governor General's Award, the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the LAMBDA Awards, the Toronto Book Award, and many others. In 2020, Stephanie joined CookeMcDermid Literary Management, and found even more success-becoming the #1 ranked agent in the country in both fiction and non-fiction, according to Publisher's Marketplace. Through it all, she has been a fierce advocate and activist, serving as a mentor and curator, and organizing publishing events to challenge colonial practices in publishing and to advance the work of reconciliation.

 

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