After a number of years in the industry, Mechwave, a Calgary-based mechanical engineering firm felt that it was time for a re-brand to initiate their growth strategy. This started with the examination of their brand needs and current touch points and ended with a complete rebrand and repositioning.

The biggest challenge with this project was understanding and then communicating to two different target audiences that they offer two distinct services: Sub-consulting and primary consulting.

The red and blue colours represent the different components of their business while the icon itself relates to a collection of elements relating to their work, their employees and their processes coming together to form the building blocks, or foundation of a solid working relationship.

This identity was completed while at Industrial Brand. My role was lead designer on the project.

Launch website: mechwave.com

Over the last month or so I have had the pleasure of working with Eagranie Yuh to redesign the brand for her company “The Well Tempered Chocolatier”.

She wanted something that would adequately reflect her personality but also have a sense of what she does. The result was a classic script font juxtaposed against a large, chocolate-bar inspired san-serif with an added element of play with a subtle bite and crumbs.

Eagranie was so pleased with the results that she invited the team to one of her chocolate tastings where we were able to experience a blind tasting first hand!
This was a unique experience for me being able to try different dark chocolate (which I am not a huge fan of to begin with) and learn about not only the process and the fermentation, but the level of detail that each chocolate maker goes to when perfecting their signature flavor.

If you would like more information about Eagranie and her amazing chocolate classes visit her website http://thewelltemperedchocolatier.com, or follow her on twitter: @eagranieyuh

This identity was completed while at Industrial Brand. My role was lead designer on the project.

Although many of you might be a little disheartened in the upcoming tasting choice, I for one feel that introducing myself to as many different foods, flavors, and textures allows me to appreciate the art of cooking, the passions for food and the appreciation of where our sustenance comes from.

An opportunity recently came up for me and a some fellow Foodists to try some seal meat, and after watching Anthony Bourdain experience his first seal we were all very interested in the textures and tastes that made these people so excited about their meal. I should state that this meat was not controversial baby seal, but sourced through a local importer via government-sanctioned herd culling in Northern Quebec where seal populations have spiked and are depleting fish stocks.

BBQ Champion Ron Shewchuk was our chef for the experience and served us some raw seal steaks, slicing against the grain to allow us to dive into the raw flesh. It was surprising how red the richness of the colour was, and how soft and smooth the meat was to the touch. It smelled as if rich with iron with a hint of the ocean. Apparently seal meat is very rich in protein, calcium, iron, magnesium and vitamin B-12. The meat is leaner since seals carry all of their fat directly beneath their skin, and it is free of hormones typically used in farming to increase mass or growth.

Tasting the meat, the texture on the tongue was just the same. Silky smooth and seemed quite gamey (almost like an organ meat) yet had a subtle flavoring familiar of the ocean. We pondered the taste and were surprised at how little the fishy flavor was present in the meat. The irony aftertaste proved to be a bit overpowering with Mark Busse commenting that it was “like a bloody nose” but commented that he “felt manly somehow about eating it, like an Inuit hunter.”

For the second round Ron added a pinch of sea salt to the meat. This punched out the fishy flavor and made it all the more evident that this was seal meat. Next, he added some truffle oil along with the salt which cut through the fish flavor and added to the soft texture on the palate and allowed the richness of the seal flavoring to come forth.

Ron then slightly seared the seal meat, giving it just a bit of heat on each side while leaving the inside raw. This began to give the meat a very familiar flavor, reminiscent of caribou or venison. A gamey irony flavor that completely disengaged the senses from associating this animal meat with the sea that it came from.

This was an incredible experience and one that I will not soon forget. Eating the meat in its purest raw form almost made me feel closer to that of a hunter, or the people that rely on seal meat for daily sustenance, fuel and warmth for their bodies in very cold climates.

In the future I don’t know if I would rush out and purchase seal like I would beef, but it would be interesting to try some of the authentic recipes and various ways of preparing seal.

What are your thoughts around this controversial meat? Would you try seal if you had the opportunity?

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Time and time again when we present websites and online projects to clients we are met with blank stares and questions when we begin talking about the more technical aspects of what we do. From these questions we have developed a few examples of our practice that helps our clients understand why we do what we do.

Why design for 1024×768?

The truth is, this is not a hard and fast rule, but rather a general standard that has emerged based on the quality of resolution of the majority of viewers’ monitors and equipment. While ever-changing, we want to be sure that by designing at this scale we are appealing to the greatest audience and allowing the design to be viewed on multiple platforms by the most viewers without alienating anyone. Designing for this resolution also allows important content to be viewed above the fold and begins to generate a natural form of visual hierarchy. Thinking about how content is displayed is crucial for allowing a user to understand what a website is saying, to navigate intuitively, and how to get to them the information they are looking for efficiently. As mentioned, audience assessment is criticaI in design, and there are other ways to approach this same issue. Notably, responsive web design shifts the one-size-fits-all approach allowing sites to scale infinitely and to automatically reconfigure based on the device it is viewed on. In all cases, we must always prioritize information and balance its placement based on user requirements.

What is a design grid?

Whenever we start a web design project we develop a design grid to set rules and generally try and stick to them. This keeps spacing throughout a site design consistent across multiple pages. Since websites consist of multiple pages and sometimes multiple templates of pages, it is important to set up an underlying structure so that the design stays consistent from page to page and users are not confused or challenged when navigating the site.

Not all successful websites have flashy graphics or intense imagery. Some of the best designs of content rich websites follow a grid structure that organizes, compartmentalizes and allows users to access information as easily as possible. We work with design grids because setting rules is important for achieving consistency on the web, and for a brand.

What is experiential design?

Thinking about the experience a user will have when visiting and navigating your website and designing to maximize that experience is critical to its success. We constantly try and improve on the ways users interact with an online resource or website by researching and anticipating the information they will want when coming to the site and how easily they can navigate to get that information. We research into best practices for UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) to allow for an intuitive and fluid experience. The simplicity of finding information and navigating the website are key to maximizing its effectiveness.

Why content is important.

Content is what Google looks at when searching a website. When the content of a website is strategically thought about it can launch a website to the top of a google search based on the ‘keywords’ that people use to search. This is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Allowing your content to be optimized to your target audience is crucial in allowing them the best chance to find you. It is important to have a look at the content that is being displayed in the navigation, the headlines and in the content of a website since it can determine whether the site will rank well on search engine results pages on google and other search engines.

Why we design with rules.

Once a rule is mastered, it is time to strive to break it. By having an understanding of what’s possible we can effectively challenge these ideas and create new design boundaries, and push bravely past them with confidence.

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A few weeks ago I had the privilege of taking a few photos of restaurant owner and Italian food aficionado Bill McCaig for a foodist post that was written about the success of the authentic Napoleon Pizzeria and announcing his latest venture with a Pastaria & Deli located right next door.

If you havent tried Nicli Antica’s menu I suggest you book a date. It it probably the best pizza in Vancouver and you will appreciate the craft and attention to detail that goes into not only the food, but the decore and service. Looking forward to seeing how the new location turns out!

Click to read Bill’s interview on the foodist.ca blog

I recently got to work with local musician James Danderfer to come up with an identity for his new record label Reigning Parade. He wanted an identity that not only reflected his ties to Vancouver but also reference the New Orleans influences that are clear in his music.

I was the lead designer on the project and took the brand from concept to completion with the help of the team at Industrial Brand.

Read his thoughts on the process and the final design here.

Branding, Collateral and Website Project

Altor Networks is a leading innovator and provider of security for virtual data centers and clouds. The company developed the world’s first firewall specifically catered to virtual networks.

We were given the challenge of rebranding the company so that their presentation was more in line with their progressive and industry leading offerings. The rebrand included the logo as well as the entire suite of Altor’s marketing materials.

We started by creating an empowering logo design that conveyed technological excellence and innovation. The Altor wordmark was designed to communicate the concept that Altor security is not just about stopping things from coming in, but having control of what can gain access and what cannot.

A complete website redesign followed with increased interactivity and visual vitality. Orange and grey hues were used to make the pages pop and flash images were integrated on the home page for a splash of color and humanistic appeal.

The Altor rebranding not only sets the company apart from their competitors aesthetically, but the clear, intuitive presentation of information also reinforces their position as industry leaders and pioneers of virtual security services.

The success of this project was evaluated by the new presence that Altor had in the marketplace. Their goal was to be see as a bigger player in the industry and this proved successful when Juniper Systems successfully brokered a deal to buy out Altor and have the two companies merge.

Branding Product Label and Website Design

Connoisseurs of olive oil always taste it in blue glasses, so that the hue of the oil does not color their perception of its flavor.

Unfortunately, not all areas of the olive oil business are quite so democratic. And because you can’t taste olive oil through a computer screen—if you could, Dry Creek wouldn’t need a slick website to sell themselves—color was used to the design advantage.

In creating Dry Creek Olive Company’s website, a carefully selected color scheme that reflected the hot summers and low rolling hills that make up Healdsburg, California’s Dry Creek Valley—the backdrop and home base of Dry Creek Olive Company was chosen. The deep olive greens and taupe accents served as an authentic, calming foundation for the story of Dry Creek.

Dry Creek Olive Company needed some new bottle labels for their exceptional olive oils.
Having already designed the Dry Creek Olive Company logo, implementing their brand onto a label design was an exciting task. Though the designs initially started out with a traditional beige background, throwing in a few brightly colored sketches helped the cause for a more eye catching design. As hoped, Dry Creek gushed over the exciting series of label designs for their bottles.
In turn elegant yet eye-catching labels for Dry Creek’s Blood Orange Olive Oil variety, Three Orchard Blend, Healdsburg Blend, Pomegranate Vinegar, Olio Nuevo, and the soon-to-be-released Meyer Lemon Oil.

Results: The labels fit the bottle and the brand like a glove, and our successful work turned into even more projects with Dry Creek.
My Role: I worked collaboratively with a team to come up with the best solution for the label designs but took the lead in design and programming with the website.

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mod7 is a digital agency that provides strategic, award-winning, creative ideas and solutions via interaction design and motion graphics. They develop interactive properties that communicate emotively through design and storytelling for entertainment properties, medium- and large-sized businesses, and forward-thinking brands.

During my time at mod7 I had the opportunity to develop the new Identity for the company. It needed to convey their creativity and playfulness while maintaining a professional edge. With some guidance I was able to come up with a solution that represents the digital creativity that mod7 offers.

Results: The identity for mod7 is still used to this day.
My Role: Lead creative and designer.

As a self–titled compilation, this album’s design needed to ring true for both for Brian Dolzani the person and Brian Dolzani the artist. To achieve this balance, hopeful yet nostalgic visuals were chosen, that combined to represent Brian’s songwriting style while at the same time illustrating the grit and determination that had allowed Brian succeed as an artist.

In addition to the CD, postcards and posters were also designed and used as leave behinds at Brian’s shows and promotional appearances. These materials pointed people back to Brian’s website as well as his Facebook page and Twitter feed.

My Role: Lead Designer and Art Director with some direct Client contact.