Though she was born in Estonia, Kaisa has been active in the Toronto-Estonian community after moving here with her family in 2017. She notes, “When I first came here, I joined Estonian Girl Guides (Gaidid) and went to Kotkajärve for winter camp (lumelaager). After that, I was involved with Estonian Music Week. I also filmed some of the Tartu College 50 rooftop videos. I volunteer at these sorts of events. Recently, I went to Metsaülikool (forest university).
She’s also been active in producing video content for VEMU and Tartu College—experiences which she credits as fundamental in affording her the job she has now. “Creating content for the Estonian community (VEMU and its project Estonian Music Week) gave me the knowledge and confidence to pursue more creative jobs, like the one I have now as creative director [at The Varsity],” she said. “I think the openness and trust from the Estonian community in letting kids (like me) come in and film and help out at their events inspires a lot of confidence in young adults to pursue creativity.”
Founded in 1880, The Varsity is one of the oldest student newspapers in Canada. It has a dedicated team and a number of volunteers and contributors. As a weekly publication, The Varsity delivers new content to each of the university's three campuses in print and online every Monday.
Kaisa showed me around the office to get a better feel for what she and her team do on a day-to-day basis. Though I visited when no one was around, the air buzzed with the hum of creativity, where every surface and object seemed to hold a story or a spark of inspiration: the walls were plastered with art magazines, issue covers, and sketches from brainstorming sessions. Stuffed animals lined worn-in couches; memes were taped to walls, and standing in the corner was a giant papier-mâché letter V.
“…my inspiration comes from my grandparents' old art magazines. They've accumulated a ton of them since they moved here from Estonia.”
(Kaisa Kasekamp)
Kaisa began her journey at The Varsity two years ago as a design editor. Since then, she has progressed into the role of Creative Director. “I work around thirty hours a week in this role. I am responsible for managing my team, visualizing each week's cover, and putting it together.”
“I love a retro look to newspapers, so I try to incorporate mostly primary colours and some Bauhaus elements. I try to execute a fun, nostalgic feel to the covers,” she said. “But, in general, my inspiration comes from my grandparents' old art magazines. They've accumulated a ton of them since they moved here from Estonia. They have all kinds of ones, from European landscapes to Soviet photography of Estonia. For example, for the paper's last edition, I was really inspired by their 80s Canadian Opera Company magazine. It's so awesome to open up so many beautiful pieces of media and find inspiration in them.”
In the future, Kaisa hopes to use her experiences volunteering with the Estonian community and working at The Varsity to pursue a similarly creative field.
Watch Kaisa’s episode today, available above and on our Youtube channel!
