Overview
Implementing a branded experience at Vancouver Island’s historic university.
Project Background
Located in one of Canada’s most beautiful National Historic Sites, Royal Roads University has a history of excellence and provides its many local and international students an opportunity to learn and grow on a beautiful campus.
Cygnus was hired to conduct a full audit of existing campus signage, including core campus, gardens, and trails, and to provide a signage strategy that includes audit findings, key wayfinding decision points, and design/manufacturing recommendations for signage types.
Outcomes
Cygnus created a comprehensive design documentation that can be used to integrate the signage and wayfinding strategy across campus. From the initial project scope, Cygnus has been engaged to continue working with Royal Roads University through a number of additional projects. We were thrilled to create a comprehensive Construction Documentation package as well as implement Priority 1 signage across the campus, including at the recently renovated Dogwood Auditorium.
All of the works contained in this section are the property of Cygnus Design Group and have been used for portfolio/website sample purposes only.
Overview
Design a consolidated, dynamic sign standards that can be widely available to BC Parks stakeholders, parks operators, and suppliers at over 1,000 parks.
Project Background
BC Parks manages over 1,000 parks and protected areas across the province, providing a place for adventure, education and wellness in the great outdoors.
Signage supports accessible, safe, and inclusive enjoyment of these shared spaces. In front-country campgrounds, signage provides valuable directions and visitor information that helps campers utilize amenities. In the back-country, signs provide critical information on conditions that could be life saving.
The scale and geographic diversity of BC Parks creates increased reliance on a signage standard to reflect the BC Parks brand with integrity, uphold the quality and consistency of signage assets, and facilitate the maintenance of signage across a complex organization.
Outcomes
The new signage standards provides a refresh to current designs, standardizing layouts and panel sizes while retaining cohesion to ensure that existing signs do not feel out-of-place. Equal attention was given to the design of new sign templates, policies that reflect BC Park’s commitment to human-centred design, and guidelines that support fabrication and installation by external vendors.
The result is a comprehensive reference manual and design template to manage signage across BC Parks.
All of the works contained in this section are the property of Cygnus Design Group and have been used for portfolio/website sample purposes only.
Visits to ICBC facilities are one of the common ways a customer interacts with and experiences the ICBC brand. Following a substantial investment in a new brand identity, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) partnered with Cygnus to administer the brand to over 100 facility locations throughout the province. Our response was a comprehensive interior, exterior, and environmental graphics program that respects the brand in every application addressed.
Following the planning phase, Cygnus performed a comprehensive audit of all interior and exterior signage types. This information informed the development of signage standards, detailed instructions that ensure consistency amidst varying site conditions, unpredictable environments, owned and leased facilities, and accessibility concerns. ICBC’s corporate brand standards guided the signage standards. This involved careful colour testing and material selection.
Implementing the newly approved signage standards included major site rebranding, capital developments/redevelopments, and day-to-day ongoing signage requests. Throughout the process, we worked closely with ICBC’s facility planners and marketing personnel, providing consultative, design, and management services for several ICBC properties across Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Kelowna, Richmond, and Burnaby.
All of the works contained in this section are the property of Cygnus Design Group and have been used for portfolio/website sample purposes only.
Overview
Through the use of vibrant and colourful environmental graphics, a delightful and collaborative Leading Workplace Strategies workplace was brought to the West Shore of Victoria for the first time.
Project Background
The Government of BC’s capital city offices have traditionally been located exclusively in and around the downtown core of Victoria. With the incredible growth that the West Shore is experiencing, it was decided that a new, flagship ShareSpace location would be designed and built in the municipality of Langford.
From the project’s outset, we worked closely with the interior design team to ensure that the juxtaposition of natural materials, and more subtle tones of their furnishings would play nicely with the colourful gradients and boldness of the environmental graphics.
Outcomes
The environmental graphic design program complements the interior design elements to create an easily navigable environment. Placemaking through easily identifiable colours was an original client request, and was implemented by wrapping walls and ceilings in digitally printed, textured vinyl.
Several large feature walls were also designed and incorporated into the space. An interactive wall in the office lounge provides mobile workers a sense of ownership in the space, and other 3D elements in the entry foyer and main corridor enrich the visual characteristics of the space.
All of the works contained in this section are the property of Cygnus Design Group and have been used for portfolio/website sample purposes only.
Overview
Integrating a branded identity for a vibrant biotech firm in downtown Vancouver BC.
Project Background
AbCellera is a biotech company that searches, decodes, and analyzes natural immune systems to support pharmaceutical developments. With a rapidly growing market and expanding global headquarters in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver, Cygnus was tasked with designing a comprehensive signage standards package that captures AbCellera’s brand identity and ensures consistent implementation of signage across their technology campus as well as other international offices and locations
Outcomes
Cygnus designed a comprehensive signage standards package encompassing environmental graphics, pictograms, and exterior and interior signage. With these standards established, we have undertaken the responsibility of implementing them across various sites, including AbCellera’s global headquarters at 110 West 4th (developed in partnership with Beedie), the adjacent 150 West 4th (developed in partnership with Dayhu), and their upcoming Good Manufacturing Practice Facility, among others.
Special attention was devoted to ensuring compliance with safety and laboratory regulations, while also creating an elevated office environment that attracts and retains top-tier talent.
The award-winning Meade Design Group team provides tailored web design, graphic design, and interior design solutions. During my time there, I had the pleasure of working for Ivan Meade, a multi-disciplinary designer.
Presented here is a small sample of the many projects we worked on together for clients both locally and across North America.
All of the works contained in this section are the property of Meade Design Group and have been used for portfolio/website sample purposes only.
This is the logo for my personal freelance business that I started in May of 2014.
Friends of mine started calling me owl a few years ago, so when the time came to create an identity I felt it was a great fit. I like that the logo captured my inquisitive and thoughtful nature.
In 2024 I undertook a redesign that evolved the logo and type lockup into one cohesive, friendly unit, with a now hidden owl who peeks out to those curious enough to find him.
Tellwell is a full-service, assisted self-publishing company. Tellwell’s CEO and I had worked together at a different publishing company several years ago, so when he decided to start his own endeavour, he approached me to work with him. I started as a contract book designer, but soon after I came onboard as the Tellwell’s Lead Designer.
I managed the team of in-house and contract designers, and worked to create a cohesive identity across all parts of Tellwell’s brand, both digital and print. This included but wasn’t limited to their website, communication to clients and internal documents. I revamped some other pieces to incorporate more colour and excitement, and I also taught myself motion graphics for client-facing tutorials and webinars.
Octavo is a Latin word and technical term describing the format of a book. It is also used as a general description of books that are about 8 to 10 inches tall.
Tellwell knew early-on, that to differentiate themselves from the competition, they would need to develop software in-house to guide their authors through the publication process. To that end, I worked closely with their developers and the development team’s product owner to design and name Octavo.
The goal of the project was to create a web-based portal that gave their oftentimes technologically inexperienced authors the ability to navigate a lengthy, complicated process easily and efficiently. The design used larger icons, simple menus, and relatively low information density so that clients would not be overwhelmed.
Media One is a full-service video production and design agency with a passion for storytelling. I worked with the great team at Media One for a short period in 2015, spending time designing websites for local businesses. I also worked on a food and cocktail recipe book for their Content Director’s venture, The Gentleman’s Kitchen.
All of the works contained in this section are the property of Media One Inc. and have been used for portfolio/website sample purposes only.
I have had the pleasure of designing books for hundreds of authors. These authors have written books in every genre, and each one of them had different goals for what their project would become.
Book design is an interesting niche, and it’s been exciting becoming an expert in cover, interior and ebook design. This is a small sampling of some of the projects that have been my favourite to complete.
When Cordova Bay Golf Course was planning their 25th anniversary celebration, they knew that their members, guests, and staff would love to remember the event with some branded merchandise. The finalized logo ensured that course mascot and rooster, Gordie, who lived on the course’s 14th hole, was given his well-deserved place of honour.
I worked closely with the team at Cordova Bay to ensure the design could be used across a number of different items, including but not limited to: flags, golf club covers, hats, shirts, towels, tee markers, leather goods, and scorecards.
No to be left out, Bill Mattick’s Restaurant at Cordova Bay also brewed their own celebratory pilsner to be sold during anniversary events. The finalized label had tongue-in-cheek comedy, and other elements that long-time members and staff would all understand.
Neil is a real estate professional with a decade of experience in the Greater Victoria area. For his personal brand, Neil wanted a new logo that spoke to his experience, but didn’t fall victim to the classic real estate logo clichés.
To that end, Neil and I worked together to create a unique crest that incorporated an N for Neil, and two sets of stripes which related to elements of real estate: hardwood flooring and window dressings. A simple pattern repeat was also created with Neil’s icon to serve as a beautiful back side of his letterhead.
I also worked closely with a local print shop to create beautifully printed business cards, thank you cards and letterhead. A blind spot varnish used subtly across the entire package elevated Neil’s brand even further.
When you have an artist as talented as Sherry Mitchell, (yes, she’s my mom!) I felt it was absolutely vital to use a piece of her original artwork to brand her studio. Sherry’s subject matter is primarily photorealistic watercolours of flora from the west coast of British Columbia, so I asked her to paint a pink dogwood.
I took her original painting, scanned and vectorized it to ensure that it would be versatile enough for many different sizes, and associated it with a modified serif typeface. Beautiful in both print and on the web, this logo will be used by Sherry to identify her one-of-a-kind botanical watercolours.
As a follow-up to Serendipity Studio’s logo, sherrymitchell.ca was the result of a desire to create a beautiful website where Sherry could present her work. We both agreed that, like a high-end art gallery, the site needed to allow the work itself to jump out at the viewer. With no distractions and a heavy use of white-space, the result is dramatic.
In April 2015, the Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) presented a vision to Victoria City Council, which focused on the two-kilometer stretch of Douglas Street from Hillside Street to Belleville Street. This 20-year plan was led by the DVBA, in collaboration with the City of Victoria and BC Transit.
In collaboration with Atomique Productions, I was asked to redesign the original stART on Douglas logo, create a background pattern, and provide sample social media profile images.
The final product was a play button with a puzzle piece cut-out (the larger, over-arching design element) that could also be rotated to be an A for Art, or a V for Victoria. I also used the icon to create a pattern that when used correctly, had the appearance of tire tracks…a perfect pattern for a Douglas Street installation!
Tony and Laura were looking for a simple invitation that gave all of the most important details of their special day, but directed guests to their website for all of the extra information that they would need.
They provided a colour palette, and told me they share a love of triangles…the rest was easy.
Buying and Selling Businesses Expo was an ambitious project that unfortunately never came to fruition. The idea was to have a venue where small and large business owners could come together, with guest speakers, to discuss the current economic climate, learn about succession planning, as well as educate themselves on a number of other business-related topics.
Complete corporate branding was created, with the goal that bsbexpo.com would be modified and franchised out to other markets around North America.
