The popular Imaginus poster sale returned to Humber Polytechnic's North campus.
Imaginus Canada Limited sales associate Fred Dodier said this was his third year working the event at Humber, which ended on Dec. 3.
“I feel like it's really easy to buy from us as we are at a school and have really low prices compared to other places that sell posters," Dodier said.
He said that the setup takes a minimum of two hours and includes him, his colleague Jakob Couture and four volunteer assistants.
Dodier said this is his 25th location this fall season, and they sell throughout Canada.
“Location is a very important part because we need to be in a place where there is a lot of traffic," he said. "Any location can be great, but it depends on the number of students, location, school size, and that is how we drive traffic.”
Couture, an Imaginus Canada Limited sales associate, said this is his first year working for the company and operating events like this.
“This place is perfect, with a high ceiling, a lot of space," he said. "This event is always popular, but because we are here during exam time, sometimes students are in and out. But even still, students love it when we come to their schools.”
He said the company relies heavily on student requests.
“There are two things that are really important: the posters and the suggestions from students," Couture said. "We keep a lot of suggestions. If the students put it on the suggestion sheet, we may feature it in the following year.
"We always try to keep things new and fresh and keep in mind what students want as they are the reason we are here,” he said.
Couture said his favourite posters are art-based ones as well as music artists such as the late Mac Miller.
“It gives art a second look," he said. "Sometimes, when scrolling online, people do not pay attention to art. When seeing it in person, sometimes they will really look at it for a while. When you just take a second and see why it is so beautiful, you have your own perception."
Early Childhood Studies student Olivia Casuga said it was her first time at the poster sale, and she was delighted to find so much of what she was looking for while shopping.
“I think it is nice seeing the artists' posters in person, size, design, there is more variety,” she said
Casuga said she is looking for posters featuring pop artists and that she loved the low prices.
“I have been looking for my favourite artists like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams, ones like that. I have also been seeing a lot of price points ranging from around $8.50, and I would say that’s very affordable,” Casuga said.
She said there are many standouts when browsing as she walks around, and the attractions along the way.
“I think the poster designs can be a good reflection of the artists or your love for an artist or an aesthetic, they can bring a vibe to your room at home. This is a good way to find stuff you like or decorate your room. Overall, it’s a great event to have,” she said.
It was paralegal student Siana Stainfoths' first time, too.
“I like looking at things in person, and kind of seeing if it is my vibe and all the options. Being able to connect with people and seeing the way it is set up is awesome too, it brings people together,” she said.
Stainfoth said she would like to see more variety of her favourite artists apart from the trending ones.
“I do like all the posters, but I would kind of like to see more, maybe more artists of certain kinds like Arctic Monkeys and Billie Eilish or even stickers of the artists or of movies instead of continuous Sabrina Carpenter,” she said.
She was happy to get her hands on the posters from artists that she loves.
“I got Billie Eilish, The Princess Bride, Arctic Monkeys, I have looked at posters for a lot of different movies as well, like Star Wars, I love Star Wars,” Stainfoth said.
She said certain posters speak to her, whether it is design, style or colour.
“These are decently priced. If you were to get these from the artist directly, it would be around $50 to $60. I really think paying $8.50 at minimum is reasonable for all the detail and size,” Stainfoth said.
She said she loves seeing posters of her favourite bands that she and her dad love, including AC/DC and Metallica.
Business student Sueandra Stewartson said she has come out to this event for the second time, and she would like to see more advance notice about the sale.
“We almost missed it, we were just walking around, getting food and saw the event taking place. To find out about events, I usually see signs around campus, and I find that it would be so much better to know of its arrival in advance,” Stewartson said.
“It's more accessible, I feel like sometimes when you are buying posters the sizes online, you don’t really see what it will look like and being able to see the posters physically is easier. I really like that they are doing this, it is cute, and it is really cheap as well,” she said.
Stewartson said she has purchased countless posters between this year and the previous.
“I bought a Phoebe Bridgers and Lana Del Ray poster,” she said.
Stewartson said she would like to see a larger range of smaller artists in the future.
“I think it is really cool to have exposure to great artists, or even in the future, maybe incorporating artists at our school who are smaller and not known as much,” she said.
She returned to the event to look for TV Girl and Radiohead posters, as those are some of the artists she loves.
“Once you like the artist, and then they have a really cool album cover, and it connects to a specific song. You are like, ‘Ooo, I want this in my room, everything coordinates together.’ I also think it is really nice to see everybody's different music taste, and see what they like,” Stewartson said.
