Excited to announce that Linden Laserna, Ryan Megaffin and I were selected to work with The Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) on the branding for the 2024 In-House Design Awards! We are currently working away at deliverables including illustrations, editorial design, physical award design, environmental signage, and motion graphics. The official graphics and hero image were unveiled at the 2023 Design Thinkers conference in Toronto in November 2023. Keep your eyes peeled over the coming months as more items are launched.
Learn more about our team and the brand via the links below:
+ The RGD unveils Branding by Arcadis for our 2024 In-House Design Awards
+ The RGD announces our Design Partner for our 2024 In-House Design Awards
The City of Vancouver and City of Surrey collaborated a joint submission for the Government of Canada’s "Smart Cities Challenge". After consulting with the community, it was established that transportation, access, and connection were important areas of focus. Over the span of several months the cities put together a bid that focused on mobility and community safety by proposing Canada's first collision-free corridors. The cities were selected as one for five finalists to compete for a $50 million dollar prize in this digital technology competition.
The final bid included a proposal and a finalist video. Both included custom infographics, icons, and illustrations.
COMPONENTS
+ proposal layout and art direction
+ illustrations depicting Vancouver and Surrey corridors and technologies
+ custom icon set
+ infographics
+ presentation template
+ graphics/illustration inputs for campaign video
FEATURED
+ Daily Hive
+ City of Vancouver Website
+ City of Surrey Website
+ #SmarterTogether website
+ Impact Canada Website
IBI Group, Entrepreneurship@UBCO, Lawson Lundell, KPMG, and the Okanagan Sustainability Leadership Council collaborated on the Smart OKGN Leadership Event in October 2019. This event included a series of TEDTalk-like presentation that focused on planning and designing smart cities in the Okanagan Valley. The goal of the program was to create partnerships, collaborations and a Smart Okanagan “Sandbox” Accelerator to help incubate new projects that improve the quality of life of residents of the Okanagan Valley.
The design package included event branding, an animated presentation and speaker presentation templates, event posters, digital invitations, name tags, menu design, and an animation that was to be projected on the building’s staircase.
COMPONENTS
+ identity
+ animated presentation
+ event poster
+ digital invitation
+ name tags
+ menu design
+ animated stair projection
Hooked on Phono is an independently-owned record shop in the heart of Burnaby Heights. They are known for their selection of new & used LPs, CDs, and stereo equipment. What began as a branding project* in 2017, has developed into a series of illustration and design projects that have been applied to clothing, stickers and records. The character illustrations and custom lettering are all united to the original brand through a simple colour scheme, quirky style and hand-drawn flourishes.
COMPONENTS
+ logo
+ custom illustrations
+ hand-rendered lettering
+ merch
*logo created in collaboration with RokoType
IBI Group’s HR and brand teams collaborated on a new hire kit that transformed and improved employees’ onboarding experience. The kit’s objectives were to welcome new hires, showcase the brand from their first touchpoint and reflect IBI’s values. Approached with a fun, engaging and sustainable perspective, the kit included a welcome card and pencil sleeve that grows wildflowers, a plantable pencil that becomes basil, packaging that transforms into a laptop stand, a tote bag and a social media toolkit. Using IBI’s illustration library and keeping the theme of sustainability in mind, the team explored printing techniques that limited ink usage and layouts with no bleed to let the natural materials shine. The final direction was inspired by guerilla gardening, where splashes of life and colour emerge from organic forms. This concept was eye-catching while strategically using pops of colour. A blue-green palette inspired by IBI’s brand colours created a lush backdrop to highlight the characters. The result was a bright and joyful package to welcome staff. The goal for this project was to send out kits to new employees joining IBI across Canada, around 600 staff the first year alone. After launch, global offices released kits in additional locations.
AWARD WINNER
+ RGD In-House Design Awards - Award of Merit
COMPONENTS
+ plantable postcard
+ plantable pencil and sleeve
+ plantable journal cover
+ convertible box > laptop stand
+ tote bag
+ social media toolkit
FEATURED
+ Think Forward Rightsleeve Guide to Sustainable Goods
+ IBI Group Social Media
urban illustration library by Linden Laserna
photography and videography by Ryan Megaffin
IBI Group and Multiplex collaborated on “Deconstructing the Digital Twin,” a virtual symposium held in IBI Group’s virtual Smart City Sandbox. This half-day event included a series of TED talk-style presentations from industry leaders, a Q&A period and networking opportunities. The objectives of the event were to provide a better understanding of the DNA of digital twins and their potential and collaborate on standards for the future with stakeholders. The design package included event graphics, invitations, save-the-dates, digital environmental graphics, animations, UI elements, wayfinding and a keynote presentation. A warm mauve from the Smart City Sandbox brand palette, bold mirrored typography and geometric forms inspired by DNA created the backbone of the event brand. A bold and elegant solution was provided that felt at home within the Smart City Sandbox family of events, while remaining unique and custom-made to the Digital Twin Symposium. From window graphics in the virtual environment to animated social media posts, the design language was consistent across all platforms, resulting in a cohesive and modern event branding package. With over 300 guests, the Digital Twin Symposium is the largest turn-out for a virtual sandbox event to date. Overall, the event was a major success.
"This mammoth-sized project brings added value to every corner. The clean and consistent typography paired with an invisible design grid makes this very attractive. Strategic design components are thought-out. Beautiful colour palettes as a whole, while paired with the focused colour shades (for different products), create an experience that really draws you in to the content. Combining the dark background with the bright colour really helps the colour pop off the page or screen. The instructions for the virtual environment are considered for the end user experience. I can’t take my eyes off of this. This really is top-notch work!”
– Tara Kerner, Director of GCPE Graphic Communications, Victoria, BC
AWARD WINNER
+ RGD In-House Design Awards - Award of Distinction
COMPONENTS
+ overall event graphic design
+ invitations and save the dates
+ digital environmental graphics
+ UI elements and wayfinding
+ keynote presentation
video by Ryan Megaffin
defining the cities of tomorrow
“Melanie is a delight to work with, she hit the ground running from her first day at the office. Her role as an IBI Designer attests to her ability to (1) Develop strong graphics within tight timelines, (2) Communicate with a diverse team and a varied audience, and to (3) Ensure ‘museum-quality’ standards are upheld throughout her work.
Melanie has proven herself as a thoughtful designer, who is known to intelligently evaluate project requirements to execute compelling visual campaigns – which has ultimately exceeded the expectations of internal and external clients.”
“...I think that Melanie is a real star! I find that she is talented, creative, hard-working, proactive, and is always two steps ahead focusing not just on what she was asked to do but what is needed for a good product. At the same time she strikes that perfect balance between refining things while appreciating the available timelines or urgency, and being calm at the same time. She is a real pleasure to work with, and helps keep the stress out of producing proposals.”
COMPONENTS
+ templates
+ guideline books
+ proposals
+ boards
+ presentations
+ report booklets
+ infographics
+ illustrations
+ maps
+ icons
+ cd artwork
+ production work
In June of 2022, IBI Group officially launched Woven, a broadband product platform that connects communities through the use of technology. Woven provides communities access to social support and education, increases digital inclusion and quality of life, and weaves community needs into the digital economy. The platform implements achievable broadband operations solutions that establish digital equity and opportunities for economic growth.
Working with a team of designers and consulting with subject-matter experts led to the final led to a cohesive and meaningful brand package that reflected the environments and clients that would interact with it. The Woven logo mark incorporates a spark created by repeating Ws, symbolizing the output of fiber optic: a spark of data, knowledge, light and information. Inspired by our target audience of municipalities and rural and Indigenous communities, we conducted research to identify colours that symbolized the community values of our users. It was determined that a secondary palette inspired by nature satisfied the Woven product messaging, reflected its audience and complemented IBI Group’s brand colours.
COMPONENTS
+ branding system
+ art direction
+ brand guide
+ custom icon set
+ infographics
+ templates
+ illustrations
+ graphic assets and storyboarding support for videos
+ website assets
logo created in collaboration with Regan Kaasten and Rob Cioffi
video by Ryan Megaffin
selection of infographic design and data visualization.
In May of 2022, Maryze, a bilingual singer-songwriter based in Montreal, released their debut full-length album, 8. The album is 8 years in the making and explores a variety of genres from emo-rock to Celtic-folk. As this is her first full-length album and very personal, an approach that reflected her background and beautiful photography was taken. After meeting with Maryze, seeing her influences and the meaning behind the album, it was established that a dark and lush approach would be taken. Over the span of a month the album artwork, CD graphics and merch were created.
COMPONENTS
+ album artwork
+ CD design
+ logo
+ tshirt
+ tote bag
+ sticker
+ 8 animation
album photography by Tay Priede
In April of 2016, Spectregates, a local indie band, released their debut album. In support of their dark electro-pop tracklist, they wanted to have a visual language that reflected the overarching themes and mood of their album. After meeting with the band, it was established that in addition to album artwork, poster, pins, social media graphics along with projections for their live shows were needed to reflect their lyrics and melodies. Over the span of a month the visuals were created and released at a live show celebrating their debut.
“Melanie is an absolute pleasure to work with. She partnered up with my band for our album release, took on the entire multi-media project, and delivered a product beyond any of our expectations. Her work consisted of branding and packaging for the CDs, album art, web design, poster design, and videos and photos compiled into visuals corresponding to our music for the live performance. Not only does she bring her own inventive ideas to the table, but she’s incredibly perceptive to what her client is looking for – and works hard to achieve the desired result. She’s committed to whatever she takes on, and provides a variety of templates to choose from. Her thoughtful eye for detail truly astounded us and our audience. Melanie produces beautiful work under tight deadlines, and always keeps a positive attitude. Nothing but praise for this highly creative, versatile artist.”
– Maryse Bernard Singer-Songwriter at Spectregates
“From the album artwork, to its title and tracks, there is definitely a brooding, dark, and almost bewitching thematic element woven throughout. Correspondence leads you through what is a very pleasingly put-together effort in terms of both aesthetic and thematic material.”
– Emily Whitmell Y57 Media Jr. Music Producer
COMPONENTS
+ identity
+ wordmark
+ social media
+ album artwork
+ posters
+ projections
community supported agriculture
Four Beat Farm stewards ten acres of leased land that lies within the traditional territory of the Lil’wat Nation and is just north of the village of Pemberton. A fertile valley known for growing great potatoes and breath-taking mountain views, Pemberton Meadows is a half-hour drive from Whistler and within 100 miles of Vancouver, BC.
Four Beat Farm is all about growing food that is filled with life. By choosing to follow organic practices, recognizing the importance of human and draft animal power in modern agriculture, and sharing the risks and rewards of farming through its Community Supported Agriculture program, this small farm system is committed to engaging in the present for a healthy future.
– Naomi Martz Primary Four Beat Farm-er
COMPONENTS
+ logo
+ stamp
+ photography
tote photo by: Lisa Severn
be modestly powerful
Tulu Anta is a line of high quality Peruvian liquors called ‘pisco’. The design of the packaging was inspired by the traditional language, art, history and culture of the Incas. The concept, “be modestly powerful” was inspired by the potency of the clear liquor and by the origin of the word pisco, which means bird in Quechua, the language of the Incas. Small unassuming birds were chosen to thematically represent each variety of pisco. The inside of the outer container reflected the birds’ natural habitat and included hand painted words describing the location.
The illustrations were hybrids of the Nazca lines as well as the Tumi, the sacrificial knife of the Incas. The Tumi features a man carved on it that sprouted wings and became a god. Bold colours were chosen to reflect the landscapes and textiles of Peru. The terra-cotta style bottles were a take on botijas, the clay containers used during the production of pisco. The name Tulu Anta, which means copper bones in Quechua, was chosen to represent the strength of birds as well as the copper containers used during distillation of Peruvian pisco.
COMPONENTS
+ bottle labels
+ carrying case
+ identity
AWARDS & FEATURES
+ 2014, Quadaward winner, Packaging top 50, published in annual design award book and presented in online-design exhibition
+2014, Award of the Day, Favourite Design, featured on favourite-design.com and printed in 2014 "Favourite Designers of the Year" annual book
+2013, Packaging Spotlight, Trend Monitor, featured on food and beverage packaging website.
*concept project
design pieces inspired by historical artifacts and documents
The Weekly is a weekly blog series that showcases vintage inspired design pieces and the hand-done work that goes into aging them. Common-place labels, tickets, posters etc. from eras ranging the 1900s to the 1970s and locations ranging from Uganda to Germany were thoroughly researched and used as the inspiration for the weekly design pieces.
In order to pay homage to the original items, tactile elements such as string, stamps, wax seals, and old photographs were used in the production of the pieces. Typewriters and nibs dipped in India ink were used extensively. Pieces were aged by hand using coffee, tea, erasers, sandpaper, etc.
Step by step images were also posted along with the finished pieces to highlight the different tools and techniques that were used to accomplish the final product.
This project was featured on the---weekly blog along with on social media such as Pinterest and Linked-in.
COMPONENTS
+ blog
+ social media
+ photography
+ design
+ production
+ layout
strength and comfort from the home front
Unsung Uniforms is a high-end sustainable laundry line. This project used recycled unbleached paper, simple products and reusable packaging. The inspiration for this product line came from the women who worked tirelessly in order to keep countries stable during the First World War. The concept statement “strength & comfort from the home front”, reflected the spirit of the largely unknown women who worked in locations such as fields, factories and farms. Unique medals of honour made from coloured ribbon and buttons were created to recognize the work done by these brave women.
The thematic treatment was a take on old military uniforms, medals of honour, badges and ration cards. The typography used a mix of a serif typeface along with a hand rendered script to once again reinforce the concept of strength and comfort. The packaging consisted of 4 pockets, meant to emulate military uniforms, and 4 glass jars. Each product highlighted a job fulfilled by these women. For example a jar of stain remover was represented by the job of an emergency driver. The outer container was meant to resemble the messenger bags that were used during the war.
COMPONENTS
+ packaging
+ messenger bag
+ identity
AWARDS
+ 2014, Quadaward winner, Packaging top 50, published in annual design award book and presented in online-design exhibition
*concept project
visions behind an obscure veil
The Walletbook Series is a trilogy based on the 1958 unaired horror anthology, The Veil. This collector’s series was created in honour of the 125th birthday of the show’s host, Boris Karloff. Each book contains scripts and photos of a teleplay as well as an ticket to a dramatic reading in Karloff’s birthplace, Honor Oak, London. The concept statement “illusions behind an obscure veil”, is a take on the line “what lies behind the veil”, which was spoken by Karloff at the beginning of each episode. This design concept was further developed by hiding tickets and title information behind a mesmerizing pattern. Upon flipping the card around, clues about each book’s contents were revealed.
The thematic treatment was inspired by transportation as all three teleplays were centered on visions seen while a character was in a vehicle. Invites were typeset in the style of a vintage driver’s license, boat ticket and pilot’s license. Each book cover also featured the dashboard of a car, boat and plane.
COMPONENTS
+ book jackets
+ tickets
+ die cut pockets
+ embossing
+ glossy finishes
AWARDS
+ 2014, Quadaward winner, Book Design top 50, published in annual design award book and presented in online-design exhibition
*concept project
survival guide to a post-apocalyptic Vancouver
Stay Away from the City is a survival guide to the future based on the theories of independent scientist, James Lovelock. This book was adapted from a series of senior thesis research papers that covered topics ranging from global warming to foraging. The setting of the book is set in the outskirts of Vancouver in the year 2100. After shifts in climate, weather catastrophes and wars over resources life on Earth has changed. The book is written as a series of letters that have been sent to a recipient in present day Vancouver.
The title of the book, Stay Away from the City, refers to the fact that in the book technology is left behind along with the crumbling city and a more sustainable mode of living is chosen. This design concept was further developed by using a typewriter, hand written notes, hand rendered drawings, pressed plants and scraps of paper to create the book.
The thematic treatment was inspired by a beaten up letter that has finally made its way to a recipient. The cover was covered in stamps, tape and creases in order to reflect the long journey the letters have made.
COMPONENTS
+ book
+ botanical illustrations
+ home-made berry inks
+ typewriter text
+ pressed plants
+ wax seal
+ research
*concept project
selection of logo designs and wordmarks from 2013 to 2022
+ logo 2 created in collaboration with RokoType
+ logo 4 created in collaboration with Regan Kaasten and Rob Cioffi
+ logos 9 & 10 proposed logos created in collaboration with RokoType
+ logos 11–20 concept work
