Chris Allen is a super talented designer and photographer who I always seemed to hear great things about before I had the opportunity to meet him.
is a super talented designer and photographer who I always seemed to hear great things about before I had the opportunity to meet him. His work has been published in Color, Transworld Skateboarding, Font: Classic Typefaces for Contemporary Design, and h(y)r collective to name a few. He has produced work for the Gagosian Gallery, Etnies, The Cheaper Show, Lifetime Collective, Super Champion, Livestock, Made Mag, Endeavor Snowboards, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Film Studios and Pyrrha. Chris currently is working as a Senior Designer at the people behind . Cause+Affect is a consulting and design studio that specializes in brand identities, print, exhibition design and architectural environments. At the studio, Chris’s work environment changes daily - he could be on location working with a photographer, at the printer on press, working on concepts or refining a final artwork, presenting to a client, or buried in a book doing research for a project. This is Chris’ day to day.
The Proof
1. Jen, she truly makes me laugh with her antics. My biggest supporter, she keeps me humble—and she's been there every step of the way.
2. Ollie, my little friend. Not only is he a handsome gent he's very well versed in type and Swiss Design history.
3. A few working concepts for my friends over at Lifetime. Sometimes you have to get some things out of your system before you can get onto the good stuff, in this case it seems to be skulls. Type design inspired by David Singer.
4. Our Pecha Kucha Night program press check at B&L Printworks in East Van. Boris is a printer I would like to work with more often, he's truly a craftsman with a love for print. The first time we met he gave me a few Bob Masse prints (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin). Thanks Boris.
5. At Cause+Affect we recently branded a helicopter and private jet company and had the opportunity to do a little filed research, or what some might call job perks. This filed of ice was photographed somewhere in Garibaldi Park.
6. Hipgnosis: Walk Away René. What more can I say? It contains reams of insight and inspiration, stories from the days of paste ups and collage—pre computer. I found this little beauty in mint condition while in Santa Monica.
7. This photo is from an unpublished series documenting Kalavinka order made racing frame. Here Tanabe San, master bicycle frame builder moves with the precision of a samurai around his tiny workshop which is located in the back of his retail front Tsukumo Cycles.
8. Members of the Cause+Affect team and part of the Salazar crew at work in our Gastown studio. Left to right: Jane Cox, Jean Nicolas Dauwe, Steven Cox, Jesse Savath, Nathan Drillot
The Questions
What do you do and where?
I am graphic designer. I was a solo designer for a few years and also had a studio with a friend working under the name Betterdaze. I currently work at Cause+Affect in Gastown as Senior Designer. It's really nice to have found a home in a city with such few 'design' studios. Good people doing good things.
What neighborhood do you live in?
We live in Strathcona in a beautiful character building. A great neighborhood with great people, truly a community.
What are you working on?
Currently we are working on the rebrand of designers Wade Papin and Danielle Wilmore's line of jewlery Pyrrha. They are a local brand gone international with beautifully hand crafted product with brand collateral that is seriously pushing the boundaries within their industry
Where can we find your work?
You can find our work at and some of my other work at
Thanks Chris!
