Aquent Gymnasium

thegymnasium.com — From visual and front-end design, brand exploration, and course development; to email design and development, content marketing, and copywriting.

Display text, UX Design: Prototyping as Process, on blue-lined graph paper.
UX Design: Prototyping as Process webinar — Promotional social artwork for Twitter and LinkedIn; designed in May, 2019.
Gymnasium homepage hero promoting the course, Prototyping for Digital Products and Websites.
Gymnasium — Homepage hero and course artwork for Prototyping for Digital Products and Websites; designed in March, 2019.
2018 and 2020 American Staffing Association Elevate Award winner.
ASA (American Staffing Association) Elevate Awards — Aquent Gymnasium won (and continues to win) the American Staffing Association’s first-ever Elevate Award in (another in , and again in ), honoring the most outstanding work-based learning programs in the staffing and recruiting industry; original photo credit to Andrew Miller.
The Gymnasium Blog on Medium — Details of various blog hero artwork from 2017–2019; designed in 2017–2019.
The Gymnasium Blog homepage.
The Gymnasium Blog on Medium — All blog artwork from 2017–2019, except Hacking Horace Mann’s Loftiest Dream (credit to Andrew Miller); designed in 2017–2019.
Gymnasium logo alternate square.
Gymnasium Logo Alternate — Square logo design, used on The Gymnasium Blog on Medium; designed in July, 2017.
Media Queries for Popular Devices cheat sheet.
Media Queries for Popular DevicesPromotional cheat sheet webpage; designed and developed in August, 2015.

Dizzy Moods Lettering

Bespoke lettering for exhibition window display and catalog, for Boston and NYC based photographer Leonard Greco; designed in 2015.

View of exhibition lettering from street view.
Exhibition lettering (window view).
Detail of Dizzy Moods exhibition lettering
Exhibition lettering (vinyl, detail).
Cover of Dizzy Moods exhibition catalog.
Exhibition catalog cover.
Inside of Dizzy Moods exhibition catalog.
Exhibition catalog interior.

Erin Dionne, Author

Award-winning promotional website for tween, teen, and young adult book author Erin Dionne; 15th Annual HOW Interactive Design Awards, Merit Winner, 2013; designed and developed in 2013.

Homepage of archived offline version of erindionne.com.
View an archived version of erindionne.com.

Cassandra Louise Baker, Visual Artist

Promotional website for Boston and NYC based visual artist Cassandra Louise Baker; designed and developed in 2010; updated in 2022 (for small screens). R.I.P.

Home page, desktop view.
Work details page, desktop view.

Hypnotic Discotheque Fascination

Clever use of color and music transform a simple concept into a fun game.

Good Experience Games; October 25, 2009

Hypnotic Discotheque Fascination — A hypnotic music-based Flash® game; art direction and game design by Justin Gagne, coding and game design by Andreas Zecher, and music and sound design by Martin (Snuggles) Straka; designed and developed in 2009.

A 40 second demo of Hypnotic Discotheque Fascination. (Alternatively, listen to Martin Straka’s hypnotic soundtrack via Bandcamp or Spotify.)

Dot Display Font

HTML and CSS based display font (a decade prior to pure CSS lettering becoming a thing); designed in 2009 (in use 2009–2012).

Detail of the heading, boutique, typeset in Dot Display CSS font.
Dot Display CSS font specimen (detail).
Webpage with the heading, boutique, typeset in Dot Display CSS font.
Dot Display heading featured on Velle’s Boutique webpage.
Webpage with the heading, couture soundtracks, typeset in Dot Display CSS font.
Dot Display heading (in blue) featured on Velle’s Couture Soundtracks webpage.

Create Magazine

Signing On — Editorial design for Create Magazine; designed in 2005.

Create Magazine
Contributing designer for Create Magazine, Winter 2005, Boston edition. (Later used as a typography project, while teaching at Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts. See example student classwork by William Hekking.)

Velle Logotypes

Bespoke logotypes for web-based magazine and studio Velle, and imprint; designed in 2005 (in use 2005–2012).

Monochromatic, black fill, Velle logotype.
Velle logotype; based on a letterform sketch by Jan Tschichold.
Monochromatic, black outline, China Fon House logotype.
China Fon House logotype — Velle magazine imprint; inspired by the work of the Designers Republic (tDR).

Faculty Exhibition Poster

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) — Montserrat College of Art Faculty Exhibition Poster, 3-color screen print on plexiglass, 18 in. × 24 in. (~ A2), printed by Anthony Landry (at Proletariat Press); designed in 2004.

2014 Montserrat Faculty Exhibition Poster
Detail of faculty exhibition lettering, sketch in black ink pen on blue line graph paper.
Detail of display type lettering on graph paper.

Contact

About Justin Gagne

A young Justin in pajamas, sporting a self-made newspaper hat, is busy drawing at the kitchen table.
Justin — hard at work. (Hello, remote world!)

More often than not, I design in code, in the browser, and sometimes in Figma, Sketch, or any tool other than a hammer. And don’t forget about paper (low-fidelity for the win).

Designing in the browser lets me test and refine designs in real time. Within 24 hours, a production-ready prototype is available for team feedback. But it’s not race. The details and discussions matter. It’s about a seamless flow from design to development for quicker iterations, leading to better user experiences for everyone. Fewer silos; more collaboration — thank you.

I’m a designer who believes writing is designing. And the virtues of lean contentit’s RAD (reliable, authentic, and direct). I care about language, whether code or content. Visual design and imagery, too, of course, though tend to come a little later. Forget getting hung up on pixel perfection (at least for now) and focus on the content first. Sure, make the images talk, but keep the language real. (Use your words, please.)

While we’re at it, making content and experiences accessible and inclusive isn’t a task or requirement. It’s a fundamental part of who I am and how I approach my work. Accessibility first is not an add-on — it’s a way of seeing and doing. Alright, I’m done.

Out of (home) office, I do — and teach — a leader and educator at heart, teaching design and writing courses. I’ve taught at colleges in and around Boston for two decades (and then some). Make it in Massachusetts institutions: Emmanuel College, Montserrat College of Art, and the former Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts. I currently work and teach in Prague. Na zdraví!

After hours, you can find me — out on my next foodie quest, salvaging old tech, or enjoying a cozy rainy evening at home.

Show and Tell

A few highlights from the 2024 end-of-year reception and exhibition, Bits & Bytes, presented in Spatial, featuring my Graphic & Media Design Studio’s Final exams at PSCC in VR (Klauzury na PSCC ve VR) via Instagram.

And a short three-part interview (2022) about teaching via Instagram:

  1. Introducing Myself
  2. What I’m Like
  3. Tips for Students

Thanks