Aggie Toppins is a graphic designer.
The Good Service
The Good Service was my MFA thesis project at the Maryland Institute College of Art. I spent a year examining American funeral and memorial customs to find ways...
mfa thesis
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user research
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web design
The Good Service Exhibition
The Good Service exhibition took place at the Maryland Institute College of Art in April 2012. With a display of natural, pre-industrial funeral artifacts and...
mfa thesis
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exhibition design
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gallery work
Zines by Octagon
I make zines about the intersection of memory, mortality, and simulacra under the handle Octagon. Octagon issues 1 and 2 are on sale at Quimby's in...
zine
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print
Story Inside
This zine documents a co-creational exercise that explored collecting as memorial. I sent 18 people mason jars and asked them to place objects inside that tell a...
mfa thesis
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print
,
zine
Elegy
Elegy is a concept for an app that allows people to make curated memorial albums and share them via social media. I designed this as part of my MFA thesis...
mfa thesis
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app design
,
concept work
Westing
Poster series for Jason Meyer's solo show, Westing, which explored humankind’s relationship to nature. Each poster featured an image of a landscape with all its...
print
,
poster design
,
artist catalog
Vote For Lincoln
This 12.5"x19" poster was silkscreened and letterpressed using antique wood type from The Globe Poster Print collection in Baltimore. Edition of 35.
silkscreen
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letterpress
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print
Implied World
In this work of collaborative mapping, participants charted all the places they had been using map dots, markers, and a projection as a guide. When the projection...
participation
,
gallery work
Division of Labor Catalog
Exhibition catalog for Division of Labor, featuring the work of 11 artists, Current Gallery, Baltimore, MD, March 2012.
print
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artist catalog
,
publication design
Thank You, Jason
I made this film to thank my husband for all he did to support me while I was in graduate school.
video
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stop motion
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features a dog
All We Need Is A Template
This publication examines life as a template-based experience. It makes fun of contemporary trends toward "prosumerism" and "interconnectivity" by presenting...
zine
,
print
,
writing
Death of the Author
12.5"x19" silkscreen print featuring obliterated typography and a split fountain gradiant. Text reads "every text is eternally written," from Roland Barthe's The...
silkscreen
,
print
,
typography
See Through Poster
Exhibition poster for Mary Anne Arntzen's show at ICA Baltimore. Silkscreened by the illustrious Lou Joseph.
poster design
Jolly Greetings
5.5"x4" letterpressed greeting cards starring my basset hound, Jolly. For this project, I experimented with making my own wood type. As you can see,...
letterpress
,
homemade wood type
,
features a dog
Lyrics are Hard
I made this video after trying to decipher the lyrics to "Tumblin' Dice" by the Rolling Stones.
motion graphics
,
video
AIGA Chicago Snapshot Book
I designed this book with my good friend Frances Close for AIGA Chicago. To demonstrate the value of collaboration, we put together seven teams of Chicagoland...
annual report
,
print
,
collaboration
Random Infographic
I drew two questions out of a hat and forced relationships between them. My colleagues in graduate school answered the questions. I listed various...
information graphics
,
lateral thinking
Paint-by-number Cemetery
At a gallery event, I gave away copies of the template zine and displayed this oversized paint-by-number cemetery (which corresponded to the inside cover of the...
participation
,
gallery show
Li'l Lewis Sidekicks
This concept for a brand of children's travel accessories features imaginary characters named after the Lewis & Clark expedition. They are: Li'l Lewis the leader,...
branding
,
packaging
,
concept work
Our Wedding
These are some things I designed for our wedding, a giant camp trip in Baraboo, Wisconsin: My friend Jaime Endick took some lovely photos: We had lots...
print
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wedding
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buttons are fun
Sympathy Card Set
Letterpressed set of three sympathy cards, designed to provide ongoing support to a bereaved friend. Each card is meant to be sent over the course of a year. The...
letterpress
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print
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stationery
Chicago History Museum Lincoln Bicentennial Marketing
This space at the Chicago History Museum promoted citywide events for the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. It was part of a year-long marketing campaign...
environmental graphics
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exhibition design
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marketing campaign
It Could All Change
3-color silk screen print in two editions. This is the Small and Tidy edition of 10. 12.5"x19" with a silver-toned background. This is the Large and...
silkscreen
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poster
,
print
Town Hall Stencil
Fun times with type design: an uppercase bifurcated serif with a sans serif sidekick.
type design
Complete Achievement: Heraldry for the Home
The Complete Achievement is a line of printed home goods based on heraldic symbolism. I designed a trademark monogram and made three sizes of wood type for...
branding
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logo design
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monogram
I Know HIV Campaign
These public service announcements confronted myths about how HIV is transmitted. They were placed in high schools that partner with Project Kindle, a nonprofit...
marketing campaign
Guild for the Blind Annual Report
Annual report for the Guild for the Blind, an Illinois nonprofit that helps the sight impaired.
annual report
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print
,
publication design
AnimalNews
Quarterly newsletter for Morris Animal Foundation for which I got to look at cute pictures of animals all day.
print
,
publication design
Memento Mori Greeting Cards
Series of letterpress greeting cards based on 18th-century gravestone symbols. Memento Mori, which means "Remember you will die," were popular reminders at that...
letterpress
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print
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stationery
Packaging Violator Buttons
Buttons based on consumer packaging violators. Now, more buttony than ever! Pocket model: Young Sun Compton
buttons
The Lisa Company Identity
Logo design for The Lisa Company, lead by Lisa Holton, a writer and producer with her roots in the newspaper industry and her sights set on digital media.
branding
,
logo design
Morris Animal Foundation 2007 Annual Report
Annual report for Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds veterinary research. The report celebrated unique animal bodies while telling the...
annual report
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print
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publication design