Someone has been making movie posters for the most notorious TTC route
Although many TTC bus routes stand out for their notoriously slow or chaotic service — especially when you factor in rush hour traffic, construction, and hazardous weather conditions — one particular route was recently commemorated in a thriller-style movie poster.
Former Toronto resident John Godfrey is the co-founder and creative director of key art agency Chargefield, which specializes in design for movie posters, album art, and motion graphics.
Approximately a year ago, Godfrey created a movie poster based on the infamous 29 Dufferin route — which was cleverly dubbed the “29 Sufferin” instead. In an updated version released this week, the designer refined the poster, telling blogTO that he continuously tweaked elements and hid Easter eggs until he was happy with the final result.
“My work as a visual artist reflects my work as a designer. I tap into entertainment, pop culture, and advertising to subvert, question and repurpose the conflicting messages these man-made visual icons disseminate across generations,” he explained.
Despite moving to Hamilton a decade ago, Godfrey says he still holds on to many memorable moments onboard the 29 Dufferin bus during the time when he was a regular TTC commuter.
“There are so many, rated G to R, but I prefer the lighthearted ones. Once, I was at the end of a packed bus and kept getting jabbed by a curtain rod every time the bus braked. The guy holding it was a few feet away, and the rod had extended itself horizontally to me,” he told blogTO.
“Once he and most of the bus cleared off, he was immediately replaced by a guy who came on through the back doors with armfuls of sneakers that he started trying on one by one, with shoes all over the back row of seats. It’s never a dull moment!”
Godfrey says the poster is a digital collage using public domain images, which he created using Photoshop to adjust the contrast and texture and block out colours, with the whole process taking him about a month.
“The poster highlights the mundanity of a bus ride, and how everything is heightened to dramatic new levels by being boxed in like that. Looking back, the ‘Sufferin’ bus is a shared experience riding with friends and family, bumping into people you know in the neighbourhood, and all lamenting together about the wild thing that happened on their commute,” he explained.
“It’s like a bonding experience. And this poster is for the TTC drivers, who had to put up with us, too! We’re all ‘Sufferin’ together!”
This isn’t the only time the 29 Dufferin bus route has been “commemorated” this year. In a recent mock awards ceremony at City Hall, volunteers dressed as marathon runners received medals for Toronto’s slowest bus routes where RapidTO improvements were promised.
The rankings include the 29 Dufferin in 1st place, which was found to have a speed of 10.6 km/h during the afternoon peak travel time in the peak direction.
“You make a ton of memories on a bus if you’re a commuter, which makes it impossible to not think back about certain routes fondly. Each one corresponds with a point in time of your life, and your location at that point,” Godfrey told blogTO.
“When everyone has a shared nickname for your route, it brings people together to chime in with their story and makes the route larger than life (there’s tight competition for rough routes, but none of them rhyme with suffering).”
The designer says the reaction to the movie poster has been positive, with all types of commuters being able to relate to the woes of taking public transit in Toronto. “I think everyone can relate to it, the inconveniences we all experience, and how much we like to talk about them,” Godfrey said.
“No other TTC route posters are planned, but there’s a certain Scarborough subway station I may have some plans for….”
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