NEW YORK, USA — Sunday Afternoon, a women and BIPOC-owned creative company with a focus on brand design and artist management, has released CANAL Issue 2, a 108-page, dual-language print, and digital broadsheet. The magazine incorporates photography, design, typography, film, and creative technology to pay homage to the quintessential NYC main street in lower Manhattan which it calls home.
Canal Street is a teeming, non-stop locale of clashing cultures, both bridging and combining the art scene and luxury retail of Soho with the rich history and hustle of present-day Chinatown, and serves as a constant source of energy and inspiration for the studio.
Print and Out-of-Home Augmented Reality filters
The second edition of the award-winning CANAL, created in collaboration with Sunday Afternoon’s roster of film and multidisciplinary artists, reflects that vibrant pulse, upping the creative energy and spirit by taking the already successful Augmented Reality (AR) integration of Issue 1 to the next level with more stories and ideas, more art and collaborators, more content that tells the stories of the people in their beloved neighborhood.
Issue 2 features more than a dozen unique AR filters, including vibrant typographic treatments on the front and back covers, video vignettes, an interactive board game, and a 3D scan of the iconic and recently retired Mei Cart run by Mei Leung.
CANAL Issue 2 also launches with a large-scale AR filter that will live on the famous red, dragon-adorned NYC information kiosk at the intersection of Canal and Walker St. in Chinatown. The AR filter will emulate the CANAL Issue 2 cover, but on a massive 8-foot by 8-foot banner visible to all passersby. A companion AR experience for the embedded short film “Chasing Light” (details below) was also installed around the corner.
CANAL was created as a playground of sorts for the team of studio partners Ahmed Klink, Juan Carlos Pagan, Audrie Poole, and Rich Tu, with no rules, just design. Images, many by Ahmed, an accomplished photographer and film director, are complemented with dramatic and whimsical flourishes of type treatments by the Sunday Afternoon design team.
Copies of CANAL Issues 1 and 2 are available from Sunday Afternoon.
“Chasing Light”
One of the main features of CANAL Issue 2 is the embedded short film “Chasing Light”, a documentary and photo series directed by Sunday Afternoon Roster Director Geoff Levy.
The project, produced and creatively conceived alongside Grand Crew, brings a live-action cinema-like experience within the pages of the magazine. Readers scan the spreads with their phones to unlock live-action footage from the documentary film and follow along the narrative journey as they turn the pages of the magazine.
The short documentary features Chinatown Partnership Director Wellington Chen and five Chinatown businesses, who reflect on the neighborhood’s evolving identity, the imperative to document its change, and the importance of bolstering future generations while honoring its heritage.
Audrie Poole, Executive Producer and Partner at Sunday Afternoon, said, “This issue is a true convergence of print, design, technology, and film, and showcases the creative talent of the entire studio and artists roster. It’s a playground to capture the vibe of Canal St, using AR and film to build an experiential project that pushes the boundaries of mixed media in a highly engaging way.”
“CANAL magazine is a labor of love, and that love has spread to so many more wonderful humans who wanted to be a part of this issue. Canal St. is a distinctive experience, and the magazine reflects the energy, history, and people of the neighborhood,” Juan Carlos Pagan, Co-founder and Partner at Sunday Afternoon, commented.
Ahmed Klink, Co-founder and Partner at Sunday Afternoon, added, “This is our home and a tremendous source of inspiration for our team. We channeled that diverse intensity and creative spirit into this new broadsheet magazine that uses art, design, and technology to honor this wonderful New York oddity that is Canal St.”
“The best part of the magazine experience is that it can be appreciated in its traditional form, and through AR, the reader can unlock even deeper storytelling,” concluded Rich Tu, Executive Creative Director and Partner at Sunday Afternoon.
