• by OMMA Editors , May 1, 2014

The Massey Lectures (named for former Governor General of Canada Vincent Massey) are an annual series of lectures given by prominent thinkers on subjects political, spiritual and philosophical. Since its inception in 1961, speakers have included Martin Luther King, Jr. (Conscience for Change, 1967), Noam Chomsky (Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies, 1988), Margaret Atwood (Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, 2008) and most recently author Lawrence Hill (Blood: The Stuff of Life). In being tasked with bringing the Massey Lectures into our modern digital era, Critical Mass used the tablet format to create an elegant long-form read, perfect for consuming, digesting, pondering, and generally spending time with the ideas on offer. The team paid special attention to the content strategy, coordinating with subject-matter experts and the authors themselves to uncover the key arguments, questions, and themes that tied the Massey universe together. After reading an essay, there are further articles, videos, conversations to push the subject boundaries further. All this paired with a design aesthetic that balances cleanliness, simplicity, and efficacy.