Hi, I’m Sam Johnstone. I’m a Toronto based graphic designer & illustrator and partner of the design studio Night Shift. For any inquiries, email hello@nightshiftstudio.co or go to nightshiftstudio.co to see more of what we’re up to.

I also operates a small clothing brand called Muro. You can check it out at its online store, on Instagram or Facebook.

I previously worked at Virgin Mobile Canada & J Walter Thompson Canada,  and was on the board of directors for Inkubate Art Exchange. Brands I’ve worked on include Air Canada, Listerine, Mazda, Nestlé, Peace Collective, Tim Hortons, University of Toronto, and Walmart.

You can follow me on Instagram or at VSCO.

Design is a cultural practice. The context, intention and end result of any design work should be judged based on how it affects people, and how it contributes to our cultural landscape.

I believe in the idea of gesamtkunstwerk in that all designed material should aim to a cohesive, considered whole. I believe that every piece of design should answer to logic, by either submitting to a practical foundation or subverting one.

I believe that design should strive to beautiful, and that the search for beauty is not at odds with any other desired outcome. And that beauty is quiet, and requires patience, grace, and confidence.

Investigating what we see, commitment to form, narrative empathy, virtual bands, patterns, graphic archeology, New York in movies, Mount Eerie, making bad bets, recognizing yourself as alien, grey crew-neck sweaters, stories about foxes, self-imposed solitude, the art of James Jean, the art of Teagan White,  truth, work that reflects the human scale.

Oscar de la Renta

Intern, 2012

École Parsons à Paris

Visiting Student in Communication Design, 2012

Sputnik Design Partners

Graphic Design Intern, 2011

OCAD University

Bachelor of Design in Graphic Design, 2009-2013

By the Pound VI

Goodfellas Gallery, 2015

Take Home the Unknown

South Asian Visual Arts Centre, 2014

Salon des Inclusivité

Black Cat Artspace, 2014

Swash & Serif

Ligatures at Black Cat Artspace, 2014

Kinship: A Social Exhibit

Gallery 1313 (Curator), 2014

98th Graduate Exhibition

OCAD University, 2013

By the Pound II

Sleeping Giant Gallery, 2010

DesignTAXI

Digital Publication Feature

Invision Blog

Digital Publication Feature

Omit Limitation

Digital Publication Feature, The Isolation of Samuel Morse

Adobe Creative Jam Toronto 2015

Best Motion Design (with Kemar Lawrence)

Advertising & Design Club of Canada

Merit Award Winner, Directions 2015

Applied Arts

Complete Design Promotion Winner, 2015 Design Awards Issue

OCAD University

Joubin-Selig OTSS Scholarship Winner