About - Yesim Tosuner / Backyard Design

YEŞİM TOSUNER

Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Yesim has been working as a graphic designer, illustrator, and a multimedia designer for close to 20 years. Before moving to Toronto in 1998, she has lived and worked in Istanbul, London (UK) and Halifax (NS). Her education in theatre, fashion and graphic design and years of experience in inter-disciplinary projects have shaped her unique style. She is best known for her unusual and elegant design work for CD packaging for which she won an Applied Arts Magazine Award in 2011. Yesim’s approach to design values a balance between simplicity and boldness, creativity and craftsmanship.

As a multimedia artist Yesim worked in collaboration with John Southworth, Jane Bunnett, Ensemble Meduse and David Buchbinder. Her work has been shown in festivals and venues such as MA Scène Nationale (Montbéliard, France), the Sound Symposium (Newfoundland), Festival of the Sound (Parry Sound), IdeaCity, AGO, the Music Gallery (Toronto) and McGill University (Montreal).

SELECTED CLIENTS

Alison Melville (Pipistrelle Music), Allison Au, Andrew Downing, Anthony Braxton, Bev Hisey, Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, Bill Westcott, Brenna MacCrimmon, Brook McIlroy, Canadian Music Centre, Carl Testa, Charles Hamann, Darren Sigesmund, David Restivo, Elastic Recordings, Ensemble Made In Canada, Ernesto Cervini, Fides Krucker, Greg Hambleton (Axe Records), John Burge, John Millard, John Southworth, Kai Leather Products, Kris Davis, Kyle Brenders, Lava Dome, Lina Allemano, Maryem Tollar, Nick Fraser, National Volunteer Week 2015 – 2017, Patricia O’Callaghan, Rachel Mercer, Rebecca Hennessy, Rich Brown, Rob Clutton, Romina Di Gasbarro, Ronley Teper, Sienna Dahlen, SO Duo – Sumru Ağıryürüyen, Orçun Baştürk, Tania Gill, Taplin Weir, Tara Davidson, Terri Lyne Carrington, Toronto Society of Architects, William Carn

AWARDS

2015 – OAC Professional Development Grant

2011 – APPLIED ARTS DESIGN AWARD for View
– appliedartsmag.com

2002 – THEATRE ONTARIO Professional Theatre Training Program Grant
– theatreontario.org

RECOGNITION

• on VIEW by Tara Davidson

(…) Another aesthetic to the record definitely worth mentioning is the attractive cover art – which on the Toronto jazz scene right now is surprisingly hard to come by. Credited to Yesim Tosuner of Backyard Design, the artwork may seem familiar, sharing the same concept used by Andrew Downing and Lina Allemano on recent releases. Altogether a fantastic example of a great unifying concept and calculated simplicity, working alongside the music, making it a pleasure for fans to pick up the physical record. There’s nothing that spoils great tunes and fantastic playing like an awful album cover, and it’s great to see that View is not one of those.(…)
– THE PURPLE CABBAGE, May 2011

• on JARGON by Lina Allemano

(…) The quirkiness seems to extend further than just the music – the disc’s digipack is adorned with an interesting assortment of things: a sea anemone hangs out with skydivers, an astronaut floats along with a party of jellyfish, and the disc itself is home to a turtle.(…)
– SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, December 2010

• on KULAK MISAFIRI by Brenna MacCrimmon

(…) The album comes in a gorgeous package (…)
– Mike Chamberlain, HOUR.CA, March 2009

In the exquisitely designed booklet of her musically abundant and aesthetically seductive new CD, Kulak Misafiri: Events in Small Chambers, singer Brenna MacCrimmon offers (…) Kulak Misafiri: Events in Small Chambers certainly has many qualities to make it a special classic of contemporary world music – and holding graphic designer Yesim Tosuner’s beautiful booklet in one’s hand is a bonus.
– James Strecker, ON THE ARTS, 2009

(…) there is an aesthetic that emerges all of a piece in this album. Consider the drawings, the old-style type-face, the choice of songs, and their words in translation. Together with the music, they form a lovely whole that nourished my sagging spirit and added richness to my day.
– Customer review, CD BABY, 2009