Canstruction 2012

Once again our team at Industrial Brand helped fight hunger in the 2012 Canstruction Vancouver event.

This time we joined forces with Pacific Blue Cross and Omicron.

There were big shoes to fill as the competition has been growing over the years, and for the first time ever, the event would be at street level in various locations along Georgia Street—huge exposure! With 19 teams entered and a projected 91,000 cans for us all to stack, arrange and turn into art, we were ready for a fun and challenging competition since this would mark our seventh time in this competition.

The theme of “Vancouver” was a rather broad topic sure to result in a myriad of typical landmarks and icons. We wanted to do something a bit different, but equally memorable. We began to ponder on the luxury of food and the seeming lack of awareness about the problems of hunger lurking in our gleaming city. Then it hit us…

From the cheeky begging bandits of Stanley Park to the alley-roving nocturnal gangs scouring through our refuse bins, the rascally raccoon is as much Vancouver as our mountains, water and shimmering glass towers. The urban raccoon could easily be considered Vancouver’s unofficial mascot. Unbelievably, these critters often eat better than some of the humans in our city. For many people in this city the source of a meal is not certain and definitely not guaranteed.

Our involvement in Canstruction is about working together to ensure fresh food and sustenance for the human population of Vancouver. Canstruction is just one part of that, and ultimately, if more of us eat well, our raccoons will too!

Perhaps appropriately, our sculpture won the Graphic Design Award this year. While not the top prize, to us, it seems like everyone’s a winner.