The Urbanite – Jon Liedtke – May 21, 2014
Scotty Graham has made quite a name for himself over a short period of time in Toronto as a graphic designer. His recently released Cards Against Toronto – similar to the popular crass card game Cards: Against Humanity – and a series of Rob Ford Valentines and Mother’s Day Cards helped to elevate the Windsor ex-pat onto the national stage.
Born and raised in Windsor, Graham moved to Toronto at the age of thirty when the recession hit to find work. “I had to put all that creative stuff aside and find a job and nose to the grind and ended up working with a good company in aviation and worked my way up the ladder.”
After realizing that climbing the corporate rungs wasn’t for him, he said goodbye to pursue more creative things.
“Low and behold the first little project I did was valentines with our famous Mayor Rob Ford on them and they ended up being a hit and I got a lot of attention for it and so I’m just trying to leverage that and ride the wave,” said Graham who added that he’s got some other ideas on the backburner.
“It’s really exciting, I can’t believe how fast its happening,” he said referencing the attention that both Cards Against Toronto and his Rob Ford greeting cards have been getting. “I’ve been waiting a long time for it.”
Graham admitted that the Ford greeting cards are geared towards people who are “really into politics”.
Cards Against Toronto was conceived when Graham had to attend a potluck and decided to make a fun game. The first inception was written by hand and Graham has been “adding to it, [and] refining it. I just thought it was time to either do something with it. I looked into really getting serious about it, put it together and had it produced.”
The game sells for $25+ HST and includes 240 cards.
Cards Against Windsor isn’t off the table with Graham expressing interest in developing a set of cards.
“I would love to, but what strikes me about WIndsor is that I’ve only been gone five years and I can’t believe how much has changed. I go back and I get lost in my own neighbourhood. I fear that my references are all dated, but I haven’t ruled it out.”
Windsor holds a special place in Graham’s heart and he most misses the people, his family, properly done shawarma and the ability to get across town in less than 20 minutes.
“It really is harder to see friends [in Toronto], it takes more effort. I miss that community.”
JON LIEDTKE – May 21 2014
Page 15
Jonathon Liedtke is the managing editor of The Urbanite, Windsor’s alternative newspaper. He is also a member of Windsor’s “Punk with Horns” band The Nefidovs, and as such, is committed to enhancing and sustaining the arts community.
Leave a Reply