VICTORIA, B.C.—With Canadian Biker magazine as one of its clients, designing the Canadian Motorcycle Show guides for the Canadian National Sportsmen Shows was a natural progression for Victoria, B.C.-based Creative Licence.


Art director and designer John Skipp describes the guides as a 32-page book meant to both please the suppliers and grab the interest of visitors. “You are trying to capture everything from each brand,” he says. “You have to try and make everyone happy. A company like Honda on one page and Harley Davidson on the other, coming up with something that makes everyone happy is difficult. The books have to meet the brand standards for each one of these companies.”

Choosing a font for the books was not a big issue, says Skipp because the main goal was to make them as easily readable as possible. “The fonts are usually utilitarian, so you can use Helvetica and Impact and anything that you can get bold and legible.”

The four shows are held in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto and each has its own colour scheme which meant adjusting the book to match, says Skipp. Contact: Creativelicencedesign.com, Sportshows.ca