Taking the pulse with Benjamin Gatien

Benjamin Gatien's relationship with the Applied Arts Awards has come full circle. After earning recognition in the 2023 Applied Arts Student Awards, the  2024 Laval University graduate and designer at LG2 Quebec, returned in 2026 to earn multiple Young Blood category wins in the 2026 Applied Arts Design Awards for Panorama and A Very Kitschy Christmas.

In this edition of Taking the Pulse, Benjamin reflects on the ideas behind both award-winning projects, his creative process, and what inspires him as he builds his career.

Can you walk us through the specifics of creating this piece (Panorama)

Panorama sits at an unusual intersection: it operates in law, but in a world shaped by music. Our strategy was to make that tension the heart of the brand rather than smoothing it over. We started from a rigorous, almost institutional structure to signal trust, stability, and a solid foundation, the qualities a legal partner needs to project. That structure isn't just a visual choice; it's the brand's promise of reliability. We built it through deliberate decisions: black and white as the corporate base, and Optimo's wonderful Rand Medium as the typeface. The evolving grid isn't accidental either. It's tightly defined and brought to life by the line, which adds a sense of movement while keeping everything structured and resolute.

From there, the creative challenge was to bring in a digital and musical layer that reflects the industry the company serves, without undermining that sense of rigour. The breakthrough was treating the line as the connective element: by extracting it from the structure itself, we generate musical visuals that also evoke the Canadian panorama, from coast to coast. The system feels like it's coming from one logic, not two competing ones.

Just as important was the strategic need to make the brand work in the client's hands. We built a generative process, which meant learning a few new techniques and software, so the team can produce expressive visuals autonomously while staying perfectly on-brand. The result is a flexible identity: it can be playful and creative when the moment calls for it, and quietly corporate when the document demands it, all from the same coherent foundation.

What do you hope people say/think when they see your piece? (Panorama)

For a client in such a niche space, landing on an idea that reads quickly and brings something fresh to the brand already feels like a real win. My hope is that when people look at the work, they find it clever and fresh. Of course, you have to dig a little deeper into the project to catch all the nuances, especially since the client lives in such a specialized world. But more than anything, I hope the project brings something new to the table, a little something extra, a certain je ne sais quoi.

Can you walk us through the specifics of creating this piece (A Very Kitschy Christmas)

What's funny is that I'm really not an illustrator by trade, and I had a mission to pull this off quickly. It just turned into a good, fun idea: using the food codes of 1970s and 80s Christmas, which is basically the kitschy, retro theme behind the whole party.

So we took those ingredients, the funky shapes and textures, and played with them in a dynamic, friendly way. I tried to make the illustrations feel like they were moving, with a bit of perspective to give it more of a party energy. Paired with the motion work that Daniel Martinez-Mendoza created for the project, it gave the whole thing a little something extra, something more playful and likeable.

I tried to keep it simple, and it all worked out in the end, haha!

What are you working on professionally? Anything outside of the usual?

Right now, the honest answer is a bit of everything, and that's the beauty of working at LG2. I joined right out of university, and the projects have never stopped being this varied: corporate work, theatres, large-scale packaging. Jumping between such different worlds is really what keeps things exciting day to day.

As for anything outside of the usual, I'd say that range is the unusual part. Each project pulls me into a new topic, a new tone, a new set of constraints, so there isn't really a typical day. In a way, every project is unusual, which means it's also just my everyday.

How do you stay creative/inspired?

What keeps me inspired is often seeing how others solve their problems, how other agencies and studios approach the challenges in their own projects. When I come across work that truly convinces me, it lights a fire under me and pushes me to take my own process further. I love watching how people keep finding ideas that are simpler and fresher to solve a problem; that's what really fuels me. I also genuinely enjoy talking through projects with my colleagues. Those exchanges amplify our vision and always push us to go deeper into the work.

The other thing, and I know it's a bit of a cliché, is traveling. When I'm on a trip is the moment where I feel the most inspired, even without a specific project in mind. Just walking through the streets, I get these little rushes of creativity, haha. I'll snap photos of small fragments of words and typography that might seem random to anyone else, but to me they're genuinely inspiring in the way they're composed and perceived. That's where a lot of my best ideas come from.

What is your dream work environment?

For me, the ideal work environment is bright, spacious, and full of life, surrounded by creative people. I picture a place with a view on the St-Laurent River, plenty of greenery, a bird feeder just outside, and large windows that I'd open up in the summer. I'd also want a ton of books close at hand to leaf through; it's a more sensory, tactile kind of inspiration that I would always like to make room for.

Just as important is the team. I'm lucky that the box is already checked: my direct design team here in Quebec is small, but we trust each other and push one another to go further, always with respect. At the end of the day, a great work environment isn't just about the space; it's really the team that does most of the work.

Benjamin's progression from Student Awards winner to Young Blood honouree is a testament to where curiosity, dedication, and strong ideas can lead. As his career continues at LG2 Québec, his work serves as a reminder that today's emerging talent is shaping tomorrow's creative landscape.