Aviaeology Publishing @ SkyGrid Studio
SkyGrid Studio
Here you see Alison and I (Terry Higgins) in the midst of a recent Southwestern Ontario March 'surprise', keeping things clear for the local mail carriers (both Canada Post and Alison's hatchback). Although she has a whole other 9-to-5 occupation that keeps her quite busy, regulars among you know Alison as our customer service person.
SkyGrid Studio is a small family enterprise – initially a moonlight freelance illustration and design gig in the 1990s and now a full-time effort. The initial focus was on print media services for local small-to-medium sized manufacturers and tech businesses, with the odd aviation history / model hobby related job thrown in as opportunities came up. By the early-2000s, aviation history themed projects and related model-hobby industry work demanded ever more of the available studio time. Today this encompasses the whole gamut of related activity from research and writing to illustration, design and print project management for model-hobby producers, publishers, museums, and aircraft restorers. I also serve as the graphics editor and managing editor of CAHS Journal (the Journal of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society). |
Aviaeology Publishing
Aviaeology Publishing is the house imprint of SkyGrid Studio. Launched in 2006 with publication, historically accurate decal sets, and sundry similar items for like-minded aficionados in mind, it draws on a lifetime obsession with scale aircraft models and aviation history.
In keeping with one particular area of personal interest, the current line-up has a definite emphasis on Canadian and Commonwealth Second World War era aviation. Other themes will drift into view from time to time but most of the subjects of active research forays indicate that roundels and maple leafs will be dominant motifs for the foreseeable future. No description of Aviaeology activity would be complete without reference to the involvement of retired Library and Archives Canada professionals, Carl and Elizabeth Vincent. As life-long avocational historians they bring a wealth of both subject knowledge and method experience to the mix, with solid input during the research and editorial phases of nearly everything we do here. I am very fortunate to have them as both collaborators and mentors. Carl has also published work under the Aviaeology imprint and we will be bringing you more of that in the not too distant future. |
Production & Process
Subject-Centric Approach
Rather than chase new model kits to their world premier release dates, the Aviaeology production approach puts the subjects of our projects first – the target being products in various media based on as thorough as possible an understanding of the subjects they portray. Within that process, although the design of elemental parts may begin at an early stage, we strive to gather as much primary source materials as possible before committing to a final product design definition.
There are usually a half dozen or so projects in progress here at any one time. Some of which remain at the reference material accumulation phase for longer periods than others. If sufficient findings are sparse, elusive, or otherwise difficult to acquire, things may go more slowly than some would like. Projects becomes actual work in progress products once the research stack hits a certain critical mass. Time to target can vary throughout; some subjects are more difficult to research than others, some products easier to design, and others less easy to produce… accurately. Once production has been achieved to our satisfaction, we aim to keep our products in the market as long as a reasonable level of demand persists. With that, we consider ourselves fortunate to have had more than 60% of our decal sets become popular enough to have enjoyed multiple production runs. However, this too can take time, as printers' schedules and new products create the occasional bottleneck. As nearly every Aviaeology project is in the "personal interest" realm, certain subject files may remain open beyond production launch. New research thus has us feeling compelled to revisit existing products. As a result, we will sometimes create a modified version of existing items between production runs; decal set catalogue numbers suffixed with "m" and version-numbered Docs publications indicate such iterations. |
Order Handling & Shipping
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Aviaeology
c/o SkyGrid Studio
123 Church Street
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2G 2S3
519-742-6965
123 Church Street
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2G 2S3
519-742-6965
Terry Higgins |
Alison Higgins
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Zach Downey-Higgins
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General Inquiries
Information Mail Box
[email protected]
[email protected]
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