In Thunder Bay, it’s a camp not a cottage.
That’s just one of the many Thunder Bayism illustrations made by Doug Gorrie. The local graphic designer made the series to express some of the unique characteristics only found in Thunder Bay.
He said some of his work posted on Facebook account is old but has still gotten a lot of attention.
“Everyone talks about these things but no one was putting it down,” Gorrie said. “I drew a lot of conceptual posters for artists all over the country so the ideas kind of just flowed. The ones that are up right now that everyone have seen I just came up with myself especially the shag one. I think everyone gets bombarded with shag tickets. It got worse with Facebook because now you get millions of requests.”
Gorrie said he originally wanted to create a calendar but has instead decided to make a poster collection.
While for the most part people have enjoyed his work, he said some pieces such as his comment about bars burning down instead of closing made a few people upset.
“It was never meant to be malicious,” he said. “Some people took it that I was insulting Thunder Bay. I think it’s some of those quirky things around town that make this place what it is. It was never meant to make fun of it.”
Gorrie said his new illustrations will be even better than the ones that he has up now. Gorrie, who is living in Toronto, said he would be more likely to do illustrations for Atikokan and Dryden than any city in southern Ontario.
“Torontoisms aren’t as fun,” he said.
He added that people can purchase t-shirts and posters online and will announce the shops that will carry them in town sometime soon.
Follow Jeff Labine on Twitter @Labine_reporter
