Events for designers & creatives

This calendar lists in-person and online design and arts events for graphic designers, illustrators, and visual creatives. We built this to help strengthen our community and reduce gatekeeping and barriers to connection. All events are based in Toronto.

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Recently Added

Sound into Colour – Miles Davis & Harold Feist – Double Solo Show

From wax to Metal: Charms Workshop

Queer Art Club: Cyanotype Workshop

RGD Virtual Career Week

Creative Circuits

Bloom Immersive

Featured Events

Hiroshima Appeals: A Poster Exhibition of Global Messages

The Japan Foundation

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the entire annual series of the Hiroshima Appeals poster project is exhibited.

League of Letters

Toronto Design Directory x The Combine

League of Letters is a knockout lettering tournament where designers, letterers, calligraphers, and type aficionados of all kinds compete to win. This tournament tests your lettering skills, your design instincts, and how quickly you can get your ideas on paper.

Happening Today

Printing with Plants

Printing with Plants

Plants are an abundant source of inspiration for art-making and in this workshop you’ll learn techniques for using plant materials to create and print images. A selection of small frameless screens and gel plates will be provided to experiment with screen and mono printing on paper and fabric using foraged and pressed botanical specimens.

Upcoming Events

Arabic Calligraphy

Arabic Calligraphy

Toronto Public Library

Learn the history and basics of Arabic script, including how to hold the pen, scaling, and beginner exercises to build precision. Perfect for beginners, this session blends tradition with creativity, giving you the skills to create your own calligraphic art.

Espresso Exchange: A Fall Soirée for Design & Dialogue

Espresso Exchange: A Fall Soirée for Design & Dialogue

Designers & Coffee

An autumn soirée for designers, with conversation at its heart. Espresso Exchanges by Designers & Coffee gather designers into intimate circles for dialogue that lingers—career pivots, portfolios, creative therapy, and the stories shaping our practice. Each circle is small enough for candor, expansive enough for new perspective.

League of Letters

League of Letters

Toronto Design Directory x The Combine

League of Letters is a knockout lettering tournament where designers, letterers, calligraphers, and type aficionados of all kinds compete to win. This tournament tests your lettering skills, your design instincts, and how quickly you can get your ideas on paper.

Art Toronto

Art Toronto

The most significant art event in Canada, Art Toronto connects collectors, curators, galleries and artists from across the country and around the world. Encounter striking installations from the moment you set foot in lobby and woven throughout the fair. Take your time—explore, reflect, and return.

Creative Circuits

Creative Circuits

Bloom Immersive

An evening for creatives and the curious to mingle, and learn about gen AI and creative tech. Whether you're crafting interactive experiences, curious how creators are using AI tools in their work, or simply interested in the future of human-machine collaboration, this event is for you.

Design Canada

Design Canada

OCAD University

Through the lens of graphic design, Design Canada explores the transformation of a nation from a colonial outpost to a vibrant multicultural society. What defines a national identity? In the 1960s and 70s, these questions were answered by a group of innovative Canadian designers who used design to unify the country.

Design Talk: Daniel Robitaille & Ryan Crouchman

Design Talk: Daniel Robitaille & Ryan Crouchman

Daniel Robitaille (Creative Director, Paprika) will sit down with guest host Ryan Crouchman (Partner/VP/ECD/Design, LG2 Toronto) to talk about his work and career, and his approach to design.

Printmaking On & Off the Press (4wk)

Printmaking On & Off the Press (4wk)

Learn a variety of techniques to expand upon your printmaking practice. Topics include Relief, Monotype, Drypoint and Experimental. This is an opportunity to use or learn to use an etching press which makes the process easier. However, many of the techniques shown can also be adapted to print without a press.

Introduction to Linocut Printmaking

Introduction to Linocut Printmaking

Toronto Botanical Garden

Please join us for a delightful afternoon of printmaking! Learn how to create original Linocut prints using native tree leaves found at Toronto Botanical Garden. By the end of class, attendees will take home four 7 x 11 prints and four 5.5 x 7 prints, plus the knowledge of how to set up a linocut workspace at home.

Soft-Cover Bookbinding for Fun

Soft-Cover Bookbinding for Fun

Calling all writers, hobbyists, and artists alike! Interested in binding together your poetry or loose drawings? Would you like to make your own sketchbook or journal? This class serves as a gateway to bookbinding and introduces you to three basic methods to make a simple book.

Botanical Gelatin Prints & Letterpress Text

Botanical Gelatin Prints & Letterpress Text

Big River Bindery

Create unique, layered monotype prints on paper using a gelatin plate, hand-printing techniques and leaves & plants from your garden or neighbourhood. Then learn the basics of letterpress printing to add meaningful text to your work.

Queer Art Club: Cyanotype Workshop

Queer Art Club: Cyanotype Workshop

Calling all queers who want to learn how to create photographic custom prints! You'll learn the basics of cyanotype printing to create beautiful Prussian blue, white-on-blue images by exposing objects onto paper. No prior experience needed!

Menagerie Market: Pop-Up at Kensington Market

Menagerie Market: Pop-Up at Kensington Market

Menagerie Market

Join us at the Menagerie Market's Pop-Up @ Kensington Market for a unique shopping experience featuring 30+ local makers & small businesses!

Cover to Cover: A Mini Magazine Conference

Cover to Cover: A Mini Magazine Conference

Issues Magazine Shop

Join us for a one-day mini magazine conference that celebrates the people, ideas, and stories shaping magazines today—across independent titles, commercial giants, and the many voices and businesses that support them.

Leaders in Design: The New Age of Design

Leaders in Design: The New Age of Design

Join us for an insightful panel discussion featuring design leaders as they explore the transformative role of technology in shaping the future of design.

Intro to Silkscreen (5 Weeks)

Intro to Silkscreen (5 Weeks)

Interested in screen but not sure how what you can do at home with it? In this 5 week course, you'll receive an introduction to emulsion-based silkscreen.

The Conté Club

The Conté Club

Made by Emblem is hosting a drop-in life drawing session on the last Wednesday of each month! Come join Erik Mohr (Creative Director) for a relaxed evening filled with mark-making.

Drawing with Felt & Thread

Drawing with Felt & Thread

Spend the weekend exploring how to create textile drawings using thread and felt as your pencil and paint. You’ll learn how to needle felt, stitch, and bead to create your own images on a selection of fabric surfaces.

Toronto Stationary Show

Toronto Stationary Show

Toronto Stationary Show

The Toronto Stationery Show unites the community of stationery enthusiasts in the city and around the world. We are artists & businesses who are passionate about snail mail and paper related goods. Discover new and local creatives at our events!

Letterpress Printing Workshop

Letterpress Printing Workshop

Big River Bindery

Join us as we use wood and metal type to print posters, cards, and mementos. Letterpress uses movable type to set and reset words on the page. Students will learn how to run letterpress equipment and make their own printed artwork.

RGD Virtual Career Week

RGD Virtual Career Week

Associate RGDs, Student RGDs and other emerging designers (including those not currently Members of the RGD) are invited to sign up for 30-to 45-minute virtual portfolio review and/or mentoring sessions with senior creatives from across Canada.

2025 ADCC Awards

2025 ADCC Awards

On November 6th, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada will announce the winners of our 2025 ADCC Awards.

AdClub Student Day 2025

AdClub Student Day 2025

AdClub of Toronto's Student Day is one of the largest Advertising industry related networking events of the year! Back for the seventh year in a row. If you want to break into Media Strategy, Media Buying, Publishing, or Creative, this is where it all starts.

Multi-block Linocut Printmaking

Multi-block Linocut Printmaking

Big River Bindery

Explore linocut carving & printing techniques to make a small edition of colourful prints on paper. Learn how to create new colours by overprinting design elements using process pigments, transparent extender & an antique book press.

Mixed Media Collage: Cards & Multiples

Mixed Media Collage: Cards & Multiples

Collage is a skill! Explore different design possibilities in order to see what works and what doesn't. Create small works on paper or cards through drawing and painting. Possibly alter previously made works and found images into new pieces.

From wax to Metal: Charms Workshop

From wax to Metal: Charms Workshop

For those who love working with their hands, introducing Charms, part of my creative play series, From Wax to Metal. An intimate making experience in Toronto. Now open for registration while spots last. Best, Katya

AI-Powered Job Search & The Hidden Market

AI-Powered Job Search & The Hidden Market

Join us for an engaging and practical workshop on leveraging AI tools for job search and uncovering hidden opportunities. You’ll discover how to use artificial intelligence to streamline your search and optimize your application materials. NABS Career workshops are exclusively for professionals in media & advertising.

Holiday Cardmaking (Relief Print)

Holiday Cardmaking (Relief Print)

Surprise your family and friends with handmade holiday, birthday or just because cards, printed by you! You will be taught the printmaking process and create custom cards. We'll make small monogrammed stamps you can use on your envelopes as a warm-up.

Design Leadership Conference 2025

Design Leadership Conference 2025

Join 250+ senior ICs and design leaders for two days of candid conversations, curated roundtables, and shared momentum. No fluff—just frameworks, connection, and clarity.

DesignMeets x Business Design Initiative: AI & Human-Centered Design

DesignMeets x Business Design Initiative: AI & Human-Centered Design

As AI accelerates into our organizations, creative tools and frameworks, it challenges assumptions at the core of human-centered design. This session invites design practitioners to notice, question, and reflect together on how AI is reshaping our practice, and build a collective picture of how human-centred design is evolving in the age of AI.

Hiroshima Appeals: A Poster Exhibition of Global Messages

Hiroshima Appeals: A Poster Exhibition of Global Messages

The Japan Foundation

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the entire annual series of the Hiroshima Appeals poster project is exhibited.

Mindset & Resilience in a Changing Job Market

Mindset & Resilience in a Changing Job Market

Build emotional resilience and strengthen your emotional intelligence with practical strategies to navigate career uncertainty. You'll learn how to develop a proactive mindset to manage the emotional impact of layoffs, organizational restructuring, and the evolving job market. NABS Career workshops are exclusively for professionals in media & advertising.

Linocut Printmaking: Holiday Greeting Cards

Linocut Printmaking: Holiday Greeting Cards

Big River Bindery

Explore linocut carving & printing techniques to turn a simple design of your own into attractive one-colour greeting cards. Take home a set of 5 hand-printed cards with envelopes and the knowledge of how to print more on your own.

Laced Case Binding

Laced Case Binding

Big River Bindery

In the 16th Century, inexpensive books could be made with handmade paper as the cover. The cover would be laced to attach the text block to the cover. This workshop will teach you to create a sturdy book that will hold up to repeated use.

The Conté Club

The Conté Club

Made by Emblem is hosting a drop-in life drawing session on the last Wednesday of each month! Come join Erik Mohr (Creative Director) for a relaxed evening filled with mark-making.

Holiday Open House 2025

Holiday Open House 2025

Start and finish your shopping at 401 Richmond this festive season including 20+ open artist studios, 15 galleries, 2 shops, and a licenced café with gourmet pantry. Find artwork, objects, books, toys, clothing, accessories, cards and much more.

Spotlight AI

Spotlight AI

Join us online for this full-day of sessions on the implications and possibilities of AI for the digital creative industry.

City of Craft 2025

City of Craft 2025

The Theatre Centre

City of Craft aims to build community in the Toronto craftscape, support independent artists and craftspeople, and encourages the larger community to get involved with crafty happenings in the city.

Coptic Bookbinding

Coptic Bookbinding

Join me to learn one of my favorite book structures, the Coptic binding. This beautiful book will have hard covers and an exposed spine so you can see the stitching. It lays flat when open so it’s comfortable for writing, drawing and for lefties like me.

The Conté Club

The Conté Club

Made by Emblem is hosting a drop-in life drawing session on the last Wednesday of each month! Come join Erik Mohr (Creative Director) for a relaxed evening filled with mark-making.

Design Evenings TO: Building Design Teams That Scale

Design Evenings TO: Building Design Teams That Scale

Lenny Laurier explores how design teams can scale impact while balancing user experience, technical capabilities, and cross-functional alignment. Attendees will gain practical frameworks for hiring and coaching designers, growing culture, and making design a strategic driver across products and organizations of any size.

Past Events

'Cause maybe they'll happen again, y'know?

Printing with Plants

Pixel Jam • Designers After Hours

Freelancing for Career Transitions: Your Guide to Getting Started

Linocut Printing Workshop

Open Studio

Drink & Draw Toronto #82 Monsters of fall 👹

Long Stitch Bookbinding with Recycled Covers

Gel Plate Monoprints on Washi using Custom Stencils & Masks

CTRL+SHIFT Vol. 7 - Gen AI Meetup

RGD‘s Design Educators Conference

Designing the Future of Reporting: Toronto Climate Week Sustainability Happy Hour

Lino Cut Workshop

Overcoming Burnout & Reclaiming Power at Work

Fabric Printing Workshop

RGD’s DesignThinkers Toronto

Homemade Magazine × DesignThinkers - Launch Party

Design Can Save Us From Ourselves

RGD’s Typography Workshops with Eleni Beveratou - Toronto

Connecting Cultures Through Typography

Menagerie Market: Pop-Up at Kensington Market

inPrint Zine Exchange: Hallowe'en Horrors!

Lino Printing 2: Reductive Printmaking Workshop – Multi-Colour Prints

Build a (Lego) Print Together

How to Beat the ATS and Get Your Resume Seen

Collage Night

The Green Line Zine Workshop

Relief Printmaking (5 Weeks)

List your event for free →

Freelancer Profiles

Olivia Montagnese

Graphic Designer & Artist

Karolina Loboda

Creative Director & Brand Designer

Community Event Calendar

Design Canada

Design Leadership Conference 2025

Design Leadership Conference 2025

We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

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