TRENDSPOTTING

Town to country
Why some designers are leaving the big city
with their sights set on small-town living
WHEN Ben Hagon left his Toronto design job behind to England, and Chicago to return to Calgary.
move to Kitchener, Ont., in 2006, he didn’t ”go out to “It’s a trade-off between the calibre of [clients] and the
pasture” – despite popular belief. role you get to play in an agency,” she says. “You become
“I’ve never worked harder,” the creative director of a big fish in a small pond with more ownership and
Hagon Design says of his decision to move his life, and responsibilities when you move to a smaller agency.”
career, away from a major metropolitan area towards a Mondor, Hagon, and de Jesus – who are all under 40
smaller-city lifestyle. – agree that quality of life is also a major draw for cre-
The decision to move from big cities to smaller ative industry professionals in smaller urban centres.
centres has been an emerging trend for those in “Buying a house in Toronto on a design salary is not
Canada’s design industry. While
design hubs like Toronto, Montreal
and Vancouver once had a strong-
hold on creative types – and the jobs
to fund them – some designers have
noted that living large isn’t what it
used to be.
“The accessibility and technology
in the last five to ten years means you
don’t physically have to be there,”
says senior designer Philip Mondor,
of working with clients in a major
area. Mondor left his position at
Toronto’s Hambly & Woolley in
2007 to join Barefoot Creative in
Kitchener, Ont.
“It’s nice to be close to clients but Philip Mondor ditched his big agency gig to settle down in a smaller city
on a day-to-day basis there’s no
impact because of calling and emailing.” possible,” says Hagon, with the others noting that a
Hagon agrees, adding that the needs and desires of decreased commute time adds to the appeal.
small-city businesses are expanding to include the skills The aversion to commute was echoed in the last
of former big-city designers. Statistics Canada census in 2006, which found the num-
“Clients now want a global-style look and work qual- ber of people commuting to work by car has been
ity. They want it but they don’t want to have to go to decreasing since 2001.
Toronto to get it.” Of course, it’s not easy to leave a network of business
While downsizing city-wise might be considered a and contacts to start anew in a smaller market.
shift towards retirement or a slower lifestyle, that “I know from leaving the city, where I was before,
couldn’t be further from the truth for these young that was the hardest decision,” says Mondor. “It was a
designers who are in the prime of their careers. very bold thing to do. I was established and comfort-
The opportunities in smaller cities have even led able… but things have evolved. No regrets necessarily.”
some former big-city dwellers to start their own busi- Hagon adds that designers who base themselves out-
nesses, rather than attempt to find work with an estab- side the big cities have to work harder to stay in the loop.
lished company. “It’s easier not to keep up when you’re not in
Brian Branch, the owner of Moncton, N.B., design Toronto,” he says. “If you very much want to do great
firm Branch Graphic Design, moved from Quebec to work, you have to make an effort to keep up with busi-
New Brunswick after graduation and says he expected ness, go to conferences.”
this type of movement to become a trend. While Hagon found it hard to start over, he’s now
“The economy here is good compared to other seeing the rewards.
places,” he says. “…People get to know you and it might “When I first got here, there wasn’t really any work
be easier [to start a business] in a small community.” but there’s been a shift since then and I want to see it
Natalija de Jesus is a design professor at the Alberta continue,” he says of Kitchener, about 100 kilometres
College of Art and Design in Calgary and a senior southwest of Toronto. “You can carve out the kind of
designer at interactive agency Critical Mass. Some of work you want to do; it’s a healthy design community.”
her coworkers have traded in their jobs in London, — Lyndsie Bourgon

8 Jan/Feb 2010 | www.designedgecanada.com