The Forest // Design + Engagement

Providing expertise to industry and government leaders, the Pembina Institute advocates for a strong science-based approach to policy regulation, environmental protection and energy development. Having worked with the Institute for over 15 years, I have designed countless infographics, reports, donor campaigns, templates and websites. I have lead two brand refreshes and complete overhauls of the main website which included design, content strategy, site architecture, copywriting, project management, staff training and website administration.

Nelson’s community foundation distributes grants to a variety of charitable organizations to positively impact our community. 

My priority for the new website was to restructure the content to make it easier for users to navigate and quickly find what they need, whether that is available grants or donation opportunities. With nearly 80 types of funds and several granting offerings, visitors are now able to better find what is available, donate much easier, and better appreciate how Osprey helps meet many community needs.

From first sketch to final mark, I collaborate with clients to create distinct logos and brands that reflect their values, voice, and vision. Each design is custom crafted and is usually part of a complete brand package that includes colour palettes, icons, style guides, and tone of voice.

This is a selection of logos completed for a variety of clients.

• Kinseed Ecologies
• Nature-based Climate Solutions Summit (Nature Canada)
• Bees Knees in the Trees
• Dear Toad School Book Fairs
• OhMy ice cream 
• YaHerb
• Kootenay Co-op
• Happy Gut water kefir
• Goldfinch Energy
• Polaris Strategy + Insight
• Investors for Paris Compliance
• Columbia Basin Water Hub (Living Lakes Canada)
• Spruce Groove Records
• Yonge Huslr
• Pippin Point: Kootenay Cider & Juice
• Pique & Ponder

The energy transition requires more than just technological advancement. The Energy Futures Lab is an Alberta-based coalition of diverse innovators and leading organizations working together to accelerate the transition to the energy system the future requires of us. After I completed a brand refresh that included refining the logo, creating brand guidelines and developing a set of icons and graphics, I restructured, redesigned, and wrote new content for the Energy Futures Lab website to better communicate the unique qualities of the organization that works in a polarized political landscape. I have also designed several other pieces of collateral, including reports and slide decks.

The Nest Lab is an award-winning social innovation lab advancing collaborative community action on climate change in Nelson, British Columbia.

I was responsible for the creation and design of all marketing assets, including branding, digital content strategy, the website, writing, slide decks, primers and reports. I also planned and scripted the various videos produced for the lab and was the lab’s Project Lead and Co-facilitator. 

The single page website began as the main recruitment tool to engage a diverse group of community members to explore the climate challenge and possible solutions. Once the lab started, I transitioned the focus to showcase the local, participant-led initiatives that were worked on.

As one of the oldest national nature conservation charities in the country, Nature Canada helps protect countless species, parks and wildlife areas. I have designed magazine and billboard ads, created partnership materials, illustrated graphics and icons, and developed the logo, branding and marketing collateral for their Nature-Based Climate Solutions Summit.

BRC-Canada makes it easier for corporations to enter the renewable energy market and source directly from developers.

The website has a public facing side and an extensive members-only area with interactive resources, videos and reports. I developed the structure and design of the site, as well as several custom icons, social graphics, event materials and reports.

DSF is a national, bilingual non-profit organization that uses evidence-based research, education and policy analysis to protect the natural environment and help create a sustainable Canada. I have designed graphics and icons for several fundraising campaigns, reports, and social media promotions. I have been inspired by David Suzuki for several decades and see him as an iconic, outspoken advocate for the environment.

Golden’s community foundation distributes grants to positively impact the community. 

This website was completely restructured and redesigned to ensure users have an easier time navigating the site to access grants or make a donation. The project included refreshing the logo and building the site with on Squarespace.

This award-winning documentary film by Amy Bohigian follows a colourful group of candidates along the campaign trail in a town in crisis over how to move forward amidst the wave of global populism encroaching on their counter-culture haven.

The website, posters, and t-shirts were designed to promote the film and highlight how we, in Nelson, live in a bubble.

Water Kefir is a live, sparkling probiotic beverage with multiple health benefits. Happy Gut sells do-it-yourself and done-for-you fermentation products from the Kootenays.I have had the pleasure of working with Happy Gut right from their start-up phase, through several rounds of scaling and maturing. I designed and developed the logo and branding, various product packaging, and the first two incarnations of their website. Watching Leeza pitch Happy Gut on Dragon’s Den in a theater was definitely a highlight.

Canada’s leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening ties between Canada and Asia with focus areas that include education, sustainability, trade and investment, and regional security. I redesigned the website with an emphasis on the user experience and explicitly designed it for longevity by “downplaying” design elements that ensure the content is front and center, regardless of what kind of device is being used.

Building the potential of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in APEC developing economies. This multilingual site is available in six languages, has interactive step-by-step toolkit modules (that can also collect user feedback) and handles extremely high loads of traffic and content.

When creating custom icons I ensure they communicate an idea, action or object effectively, with a common style that is inline with the brand of the project. This selection of icons were made for a variety of clients:
• Carson Integrated
• Pembina Institute
• Mountain Waters Spa
• Goldfinch Energy
• Business Renewal Centre Canada
• Motive is the Message
• Nature Canada
• Pembina Institute

Sometimes a logo just needs a little love… or a full redesign. Whether I’m modernizing a dated mark, clarifying a concept, or rescuing a design that’s lost its way, I help clients strengthen their identity while preserving what matters most.

This is a selection of logos completed for a variety of clients.

• Energy Futures Lab
• Pembina Institute
• Nelson Waldorf School
• Nest Lab
• Osprey Community Foundation’s 25 Years
• Golden & District Community Foundation
• AllSet Evac-Pack
• Carson Integrated
• Nexus Climate + Energy Strategy
• Selkirk Snowcat Skiing
• SpaceRace Digital
• FirePro2 software

Humans of Nelson is a local take on the popular Humans of New York. Ryan Oakley shed light on characters and stories of Nelson with this 232-page hardcover book. Printed and bound in Canada on recycled FSC certified paper with vegetable based inks.  

Fred Rosenberg has been photographing the people of Nelson for 40 years. Anecdotal Evidence is more than a collection of 116 black & white images spanning several decades; it’s a door into a world that is at once as small as a moment and as large as a community. Published by Ceriph Press.

Originally published in 1981, A Curious Cage is the personal diary of Peggy Abkhazi of Victoria, BC, who was held in a civilian internment camp in Shanghai by the Japanese during WWII. I designed a new cover for its 3rd edition using artwork from the University of Victoria. Published by Sono Nis Press.

Eight years in the making, Paul Saso’s book, Kootenay Inspired, delves into the lives of twelve remarkable individuals, sharing their wisdom for living a purposeful, authentic and inspired life. Printed and bound in Canada on recycled FSC certified paper with vegetable based inks.

The Weave is an in-depth guide for sustainability practitioners designing strategic engagements and includes suggestions, examples, and guiding principles to support increased engagement and buy-in. Beyond designing The Weave, I co-authored it with Tracy Meisterheim and Alison Cretney as an outcome of our award-winning masters thesis. 

When the Nelson Public Library launched an exciting new expansion project, the reality of needing funding created an opportunity to collaborate with the Kootenay Co-op. Seasonings: a year of local flavour in words and recipes is a literary cookbook that celebrates growing food, eating well and embracing the four seasons. It raised over $45,000 and was short-listed in the Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

The success of the Seasonings fundraiser led to the making of a second cookbook, where Nelson chefs were asked for their best-loved recipes and books. The result was Pairings: inspired food, inspiring words, a delicious fusion of the culinary and the creative.

Both were printed and bound in Canada on recycled FSC certified paper with vegetable based inks.

Diane Walters helps transform learning environments with supportive classroom strategies and heart-centred teaching tools inspired by Waldorf education.

I redesigned her site to convey a professional look that is clear, warm and human centred.

Waldorf education is designed to reignite children’s imagination, self-esteem, and agency, while inspiring students to use their skills to create change.

After embarking on a brand refresh that reshaped the Waldorf logo, extended the colour palette, and provided a graphic standards guide, I redesigned the website to better highlight the “forest school” aspect of this unique education and reorganize the website’s structure and navigation to make it easier for users to navigate.

Spectacular peaks surround Selkirk’s tenure on Meadow Mountain, framing what is often cited as the best cat serviced terrain in the world. Epic skiing and amazing snow! After embarking on a brand refresh, I redesigned the website with an emphasis on simplicity with a clean aesthetic to allow the amazing images to really pop.  

Jimmy Guy is a full-stack WordPress developer that I have been partnering with for years to create beautiful WordPress websites.

Transitioning to renewable energy protects people’s health and well-being, creates sustainable employment, and avoids the worst effects of climate change like droughts, landslides, floods and wildfires. The West Kootenay 100% Renewable Energy Plan is the result of a collaborative effort to identify pathways for participating communities to make progress toward these renewable energy goals. I designed the website, final report and one-pagers for each of the nine local government partners.

Back in the day, before MEC “become captured by the very retail structures that [they] fought against”, the Co-op was an adventurer’s candy store. And the catalogue was a primary source of information for co-op members, mailed to approximately 530,000 members nationwide in both official languages. I was very excited to work extensively on the MEC catalogue while on contract with MEC. I was responsible for creating all the non-product pages, including the very successful Big Wild teaser and the sustainability page, as well as  laying out product pages. 

I also designed various store signage and a multi-year, multi-platform holiday promotion based on the idea of “Wrapping up Adventure” that utilized a climbing rope and gift tag. The banners produced for every store’s entrance way used legitimate climbing knots, which was fun!

Beyond client work, I am often designing my own promotional materials, creating gifts, volunteering, or doing some sort of project that is fun.

Given the opportunity to learn and use a laser cutter, I made a mini forest and some wooden Forest logos. 

Interviewing creatives for a new podcast was inspiring, so I designed a set of “you inspire me” cards to give each guest so they could help share my notion that the motive is the message.

It is no secret… I love riding bicycles. I designed a series of t-shirts celebrating the noblest invention and its virtuous trajectory titled all bikes go to heaven. 

Imagine the shock when an ultrasound was taken showing that the addition to our family was already riding a bike! The image was used to announce our big news to family and friends.  

Handwritten letters are still sent in my family, so an official wax seal needed to be designed. I created a two headed cat, imagining our two black cats merging into one evil force for good.