— THE CREATIVE BRIEF
A photography book for a timely program born out of the COVID-19 pandemic that helped restaurants and bars in Toronto get back on their feet.
The CaféTO Book: Pandemic, Patios, People, Places, Planning documents CaféTO – a timely program born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, to help restaurants and bars in Toronto expand their outdoor dining space so that businesses were able to stay afloat and life could be enjoyed safely during the most challenging of times. The impetus for this book is a series of curbside patios around the city designed and coordinated by IBI Group to help the City of Toronto bring the food and beverages industry back to life during COVID times. The limited-edition 340-page hardcover book is filled with stunning photography, striking facts, heartfelt quotes, punny phrases and interesting layouts that work together to tell the story of resiliency and creativity during a city’s darkest times.
— THE THOUGHT PROCESS
Conceived as a Toronto-themed time capsule for the COVID19 pandemic, The CaféTO Book features over a hundred photographs but is far from your typical photography book.
From the choice of fonts, selection of rich content, creation of a book sleeve, use of holographic foil, and design of the arrow symbol inspired by Toronto traffic signs to the presentation of every piece of information in style came about after months of research, planning and brainstorming. The result is a timeless book awaiting its next opportunity to bring delightful storytelling to a lucky reader. The book opens with the question: What do the Pandemic, Patios, People, Places and Planning have in common? The answer is undoubtedly: CaféTO, printed in a smaller font size at the bottom edge of the page but turned upside down to mimic the format of newspaper riddles. Similar to the opening, the book is jam-packed with many more easter eggs that strive to add extra layers of surprise and joy upon their unexpected discovery. Notably, the book includes photos containing inconspicuous elements that elevate the narrative in each chapter; a cut-out of an arrow pattern revealing the photo over and underneath it no matter which direction you flip the page; an arrow motif used as a flexible graphic symbol throughout the book to signify the end of a chapter and in the credits section, it is used to indicate the photo credit and their corresponding pages.
— THE SOLUTION
A timeless time capsule designed to appreciate in value with time and appreciation for a resilient city and its people during unprecedented times.
At an impressive size of 11 x 11 inches, fully wrapped in matte black paper with air-brushed black edges on all sides and a black debossed title on the spine – the book is meant to grab your attention in the most subtle way. Contrasting the book’s full black attire is the bold CaféTO title foil-stamped in holographic foil placed front and center with the date 2020-2021 elegantly debossed in black underneath. To conclude the book on a special note, a debossing of the iconic CaféTO sign appears on the back cover. Unsurprisingly, every inch of the book was designed with intention and executed with care to match the dedication and attention to detail required to successfully plan and coordinate a city-wide program like CaféTO. The book is produced in 100 copies only with each copy having its own number handwritten on a dedicated page in the book. The CaféTO Book is bound in a black-and-white city of Toronto map with splashes of holographic colours highlighting all the city areas the successful CaféTO program has touched.
No story is complete without a video, so here's a video just in case words and pictures aren't your thaaaaang. Fair warning: there will be words and pictures in the video. Bon Appétit :)
