Tomorrow Is Too Late

Editorial design / Graphic design / Ideation

The 1980s: On the upside: big hair, bright colours. On the downside: the Cold War, double-digit unemployment.

In Toronto—and across North America and Europe—a punk rock scene known as “hardcore” emerged as a fast, vibrant voice of protest.

Thirty years on, a handful of hardcore veterans began to dream of documenting that scene. We were enlisted by the book’s authors, Derek Emerson and Shawn Chirrey, to help copyedit and design the book. We set ourselves an ambitious goal of keeping the era’s DIY spirit alive within a sophisticated design and professional format.

The result, Tomorrow Is Too Late, is packed with more than 300 pages of rare photographs, original flyers and raw memories from the people who were part of the scene.

Printed in black and white as a nod to the zines and posters of the movement’s heyday, the book features a hand-drawn TOHC logo on each cover and is accompanied by a seven-inch vinyl record of some of the top tracks of the day.

By taking in the bands, the shows, the clubs, the zines and the record shops, Tomorrow Is Too Late weaves together an oral history that is both a treasure trove of serious music memorabilia and an exploration of a unique, pre-internet underground subculture.