UnderArt

A catalogue documenting Montreal's metro art, station by station.

Project Type

Publication Design

Role

Designer

Year

2026

Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment
Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment

A Gallery Between Stations

01

Design a catalogue on the public art commissioned for Montreal's metro system. The audience includes commuters, students, artists, architects, and tourists. The format needed to be informative and aesthetic, treating the artwork and photography as the priority. The cover had to announce the tone, and the interior had to hold a history section, artwork listings, and two data visualizations.

Artwork Photography: Isabelle Gadbois

Cover of UnderArt, a catalogue documenting Montreal's metro art, station by station
Back cover of UnderArt, a catalogue documenting Montreal's metro art, station by station
Catalogue spread with data visualization showing material types used in STM metro artworks
Catalogue spread with data visualization showing material types used in STM metro artworks
Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment
Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment

Following the Line

02

I organized the artwork by metro line rather than by year. A passenger riding the orange line can see exactly what art lives throughout the line. I wanted the book to feel like a path, moving through the network in the same order a traveller would. The landscape format came from the artwork itself. Most pieces stretch horizontally across station walls. A tall book would have fought them.

Catalogue spread with artwork images and description in Snowdon metro
Catalogue spread showcasing artwork images and description in Joliette metro
Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment
Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment

A Path Through the Network

03

The layout stays consistent throughout. A simple grid, generous negative space, and typography that never competes with the images. The history section includes a timeline of key dates, placed cleanly within the spread. One data visualization appears as a spread, tracking the materials used across the artworks. The cover features croppings of the artworks placed side by side, creating a continuous path from front to back cover, like walking through a gallery.

Catalogue spread with horizontal timeline of STM metro history dates from 1971 to 2025
Catalogue spread with horizontal timeline of STM metro history dates from 1971 to 2025
Carved stone artwork on metro wall with abstract geometric patterns
Context shot of STM artwork in urban environment