Neighbourhoods

Context

Toronto has always had a complicated relationship with its own identity — a city of distinct, fiercely local communities that rarely saw themselves reflected in mainstream streetwear. In 2013, I founded a brand to change that: an apparel label built around the names, streets, and cultural geography of the city's neighbourhoods. What started as an experiment ran for six years, went through three names, and grew into something genuinely considered.

Process

Typography was always the hero. Rather than leaning on skylines or generic city iconography, the work put the neighbourhood names themselves front and centre — trusting that the words carried enough weight, pride, and local specificity to do the job on their own. The design language was built to resonate with people who actually lived in those places.

Output

The brand evolved through three distinct chapters. It launched as The Neighbourhood Project in 2013 — each neighbourhood rendered in its own modified typeface, black and white, raw and DIY in energy. In 2017 it became Toronto Supply Co, and the work matured: the designs were rebuilt from the ground up, colour entered the palette, and the aesthetic became more deliberate. By 2018 the brand had found its final form as simply Neighbourhoods — monochromatic, single typeface, nothing wasted. Six years of iteration distilled into its most confident, minimal expression.

Impact

Six years in market, three brand evolutions, one through-line. Built, run, and art-directed independently from the ground up — strategy, visual system, product design, and customer relationship all owned by one person (me). The progression from raw and expressive to refined and minimal isn't just a design story. It's a demonstration of how a practiced eye develops over time.

Collective Arts Brewing

Morrissey Repair + Renew