Recognition in Bronze

The Canadian Association on Substance Abuse, a national organization, required the design of an award to honour important contributions to the field once a year. What's more, the award would be given at Government House (home of the Governor General of Canada) in an elaborate ceremony. Something appropriate was necessary. And that didn't mean flipping through catalogues of bowling trophies.

Teaming up with a foundry in Plantagenet, a dozen bronze statues were produced from the original wax - produced with the valuable guidance and encouragement of Bruce Garner and his wife Tamaya.

The result? A 10" bronze, depicting three androgynous figures climbing out of the bonds of substance abuse, each helping another as they push and pull their way to success...

Scary Thought

Happy Halloween everyone, with a demonstration of how even Mr. Potato Head can turn evil...

Mixed media on canvas, 24" X 24"

Messaging in the Buff

A quick look is all you hope for when your target audience is driving past. What message is going to reverberate? Perhaps a short, memorable, somewhat wacky one...

Thanks to David Smith for design!

Standing Out: Whispering or Shouting? Or Both?

Self-promotion is admittedly difficult. Interpretations from the recipient - often chancy. A thoughtful, "cut through the clutter" concept, incorporating a hint of a professional perspective helps provide the first step in building a working relationship.

From the archives - a double-sided mailer with a dynamically opposing playfulness (outdated contact info deleted) worked to provide an interesting "hello".

An Eye for Innovation

A bold and bright presence portrays the dynamics of a new initiative: one that helps bring the products of research to the marketplace. A rough poster layout and identity that depicts "vision".

Thanks again to Nadia for her helpful expertise.

The Value of Dreams

How would you explain (to everyday people) the value of very complicated scientific research? A series of posters explains the mysterious link between what goes on in the labs and the dreams of the researcher and their teams.

Dramatizations of the dreams of these researchers revealed very understandable, very valid reasons for their efforts.

Thanks to my friend Nadia for her remarkable design skills on this project...

The Balance of Power

A celebratory poster for the anniversary of the university's nuclear reactor (it's a wee one) brought the opportunity to include a powerful, almost surreal image of the core, ghosted by the anniversary graphic and complemented with a headline that gives purpose to the piece.

White Space, Few Words

There is beauty and poetry when a concept comes together as simply as you can make it. Being able to minimize content and maximize white space draws the eye into the message and serves up an offering that hopefully will cut through the clutter, increase retention and add value for the marketing dollar.

Email Monster

Understanding how to use new technology is one thing. Understanding how to control it when it takes over our lives is sometimes something else. These mousepads were part of a campaign to bring people somewhat back from the "other side" and give them tips on how to relate with politeness, effectiveness and in even in a more old-fashioned way...

Humour in Communications

What's worse than replacing several hundred old photocopiers with new multifunctional devices? Finding them all. When faced with this task, the committee decided that an electronic message to enlist the help of the entire community was called for. And a reward for helping out was in order.

The Personality of Graphics

Creative graphics are designed for any number of reasons, but mostly to portray the meaning of an initiative, a culture or a corporation in a visual manner. Whether it's a logo or a symbol or a defining graphic for an event, it is essential that this piece of creative belong to the owner. Target markets should not only be able to define the purpose of the graphic, but pick up an attitude. It is the resonance in this link between the eye and the brain of the viewer that begins to build the value of the involvement.

Change Management

Sometimes the best way of explaining benefits and calming the fears surrounding the implementation of a new way of doing things, is to attach friendly, positive messaging to its 'persona'...

These are rough layouts for a HR initiative to transform its business process to an online hiring and employee records "e-record" system from a paper-based system.

In this case there were a number of "before/after" scenarios that could be used to showcase real benefits.

Dramatizing the positive aspects of technology using cartoons is a technique from the past, when the first hi-tech companies fought for a way to calm people's fear of this, then, new phenomena.