The Nor Collection is a not-for-profit archive of design and material culture. It is a not-for-profit, co-operative and collective effort to document, preserve, and question our material culture.

Want to get involved? Join up as a supporter here – this gives you access to our regular email publication, and gives you the option of backing our work through a monthly or annual contribution.

Want to get more involved than that? Great! Nor is a member-driven co-operative. We're always on the lookout for people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and join in. Email us for more info on that.

The Collection

Launched almost 20 years ago as the Canadian Design Resource, we began as Canada’s first crowdsourced cultural history platform. In what started in an ad hoc manner, we captured stories, images, details, names, dates and more that had been lost to time. Building on this legacy, Nor is an entirely new organisation, raised up and built collectively by its community.

In the form we take today, we aim to be a living design museum, an interface between worlds, and a champion of a more challenging discourse.

The items you see in the collection today are gathered from a variety of sources, by volunteers. While we work on shaping our ongoing approach to the ethics and sustainability of our archival approach as a new co-op, we welcome your contributions. If you're interested in learning more about uploading material to the collection, reach out!

Team

The Nor Collection was designed and developed by the volunteer team from The Nor Co-operative, with support from our sponsors.

Project directors: Joel Derksen and Patrick Pittman

Design and UX: Joel Derksen, Tom Creighton, Chris Lange

Development, coding, and technical direction: Patrick Pittman

Want to volunteer your own design or coding help? Reach out!

Nor could not exist in its present form without the decades-long efforts and enthusiasm of Todd Falkowsky, co-founder and chief champion of the Canadian Design Resource, and ongoing emeritus ball-of-energy for Nor.

Board

President and Treasurer: Patrick Pittman

Vice President: Tafui McLean

Secretary: Joel Derksen

Board members: Bonne Zabolotney, Chris Lange, Stephan Rosger

Our sponsors

Support for the initial development of Nor comes from our proud corporate sponsors: No Media Company and Studio Otherness.

Please reach out to find out more about becoming a corporate sponsor.