We know the social impact space.
Our designers have spent significant chunks of their careers working with NGO’s, Crown Corporations, advocacy groups, associations, museums, universities, BIAs and other social institutions.
They understand the pressure of your work, know the ins-and-outs of navigating your executive team, and they’ll push your campaigns to the next level.
“They’re our go-to for UX and UI design.”
Jasmine VesqueManager, Creative & Digital @ Nutrition International
“The Art Department does killer work, fast.”
Rob CollinsSenior Manager, E-commerce & Digital Marketing @ Royal Canadian Mint (2012 - 2018)
“INCREDIBLY creative team... with fantastic storytellers.”
Jarrett LaughlinCEO and Founder @ Sprig Learning
“They really make working with them so easy.”
Brian WilsonPresident @ Ottawa International Buskerfest
Approach
We make the design process uncomplicated.
Whether we’re working on your organization’s website overhaul, or even a tiny social media post, we’re in constant contact with you through our production management platform to keep we keep meetings to a minimum.
For larger, more complex strategy projects, we kick-off with a collaborative workshop we call Adept, where we’ll design solutions with your stakeholders and decision makers —on the spot— helping your team to think like your audience, feel ownership over design decisions, and unite on a vision for growth and social impact.
Expertise
We deliver stunning designs with purpose.
Cost Effective
We'll take your budget further and make your HR team smile.
Think of us as your fractional contingent design team, but better. With us, you get all the benefits of ongoing attention, without the headache of project-based contracts or managing a team.
Crafted in Canada
Just like our work, we’re crafted in Canada.
We call the traditional and unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation home, with fluently bilingual leadership and a team spanning Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto. From our suppliers to our partners and technology, we prioritize working with Canadian organizations—or, at the very least, those that share our values: using responsible business practices and design to build a more diverse, equitable, sustainable, and united Canada.
Our Manifesto
Collaborate with your clients early—you’ll make everyone’s lives easier and produce better work. Question, listen, think, design, repeat. Leave your ego at the door. There's a space for it next to the boot mat. Your designs aren’t yours; they belong to the users. Turn your camera on, even if your cat is climbing all over you. Your clients love your real smile (and probably cats). Anyone can have an opinion—make sure you have data to back yours up. Invest in good gear. It will save you time, and it looks cool. Failing that, find a pencil. Whatever you’re working on, there’s a good chance it’s been done before. Find it, break it down, and do it better. Work smart, not late. Never do multiple comps—the strategy dictates the design. Don't confuse social media with a social life. IRL is better. Working down to the wire is exciting, but it will kill you in the long run. Take care of your eyes, hands, ears, and back—you can’t create without them. Always answer the phone. Parking is never what you hope. Just show up early. Be honest, authentic, and true to yourself. We’ll love you for it. Teach someone and share what you know. Get out and meet people who see things differently. Be bold. Take risks.
Be inspired.
FAQs
Questions?
We've got you.
Hiring a designer can be a heck of a process. You have to know what to look for, take months to find the right person, and then you can expect to pay $50k/year or more for a Junior Designer, and over $100k for a Senior Designer or Art Director.
Then, once you’ve hired, you have to cross your fingers they can deliver good work quickly, and that you don’t run out of things for them to do.
With us, you get access to Senior Designers and Art Directors who deliver great work. And if you use our Design Subscription or Retainer models, you’ll get access to us whenever you need.
The designers on our team have 10-25 years of experience in everything from web, to print to motion. You never have to worry about whether or not your designer knows how to produce what you need because we’ve done it all.
Our core design team currently consists of four Senior Designers, two Art Directors, one Creative Director, and one Project Manager, each with 10-25 years of experience in branding, print design, web design, motion and more.
When we need additional support, we call on trusted senior designers and developers—and ONLY trusted senior designers and developers—to help us out.
Our subscriptions go month-to-month, but you can pause it on any day in the month without wasting any remaining days, and then come back to it when you have more work.
So, let’s say you sign up, but then discover that you only need a designer for two weeks. You can pause your subscription and then fire it up once you need design help again. Your remaining two weeks will be there waiting.
Not only does this keep things flexible for your own needs, but it helps our clients with sole-source purchase caps pick up fantastic contingent design labour easily.
We’ll provide you with access to our request management platform, AD Studio, where you can submit and prioritize your requests, upload and manage your briefs and assets, or upload Loom videos explaining what you’re after.
What’s more, you can view the status of your requests, review proofs, share feedback, check on the status of bugs, and communicate directly with your designer(s) via our platform. And we’ll provide you with as many user accounts as you need for your team.
If you change your mind about the service before we’ve done our initial discovery call, then we’ll gladly provide a refund. After that, we won’t provide a refund, but you can pause your subscription until you need us.