CLIENT

DAWN Canada

SERVICES

Branding
Website

DAWN Canada stands for the Disabled Women’s Network of Canada. DAWN Canada is an intersectional feminist human rights organization that works to address systems of oppression.

We created a new brand identity for DAWN Canada in 2020. In 2024, we embarked on a redesign of their website to reflect their new branding and implement a content management system that would allow their team to upload, organize and showcase their work effectively and accessibly.

A warm smiling middle-aged woman in a sunny breakfast nook holding a purple mug with a white DAWN Canada Logo
An elderly urban woman in a wheelchair, with shoulder length white hair and pink glasses exits an upscale elevator while holding a large tote bag with part of the DAWN Canada logo showing.

How we helped

After thoroughly reviewing their existing site and content, we proposed a rationalized information architecture that put their valuable resources front and centre. Projects, publications, and news now use consistent page layouts and metadata fields that make it much easier for the client to upload and organize resources.

DAWN Canada’s branding evokes the sun rising over a new day, and we incorporated this imagery throughout the site’s design. Backgrounds of purple-red-gold gradients and sun rays give the website a distinctly warm and welcoming character.

The printed DAWN brand guide booklet laid out on a sunset-inspired gradient background that is yellow to purple.
Middle-aged smiling Black woman having a tea, wearing a white t-shirt featuring the DAWN logo on the chest.
A dark purple t-shirt hanging on a metal clothes hanger in front of a wood-lined wall. The t-shirt has a white DAWN Canada logo on the front.
Hand with long pink nails holding a cell phone with a white pop socket on the back that features the DAWN Canada logo.

Making a difference

We also carefully considered how the content and design would impact DAWN Canada’s primary audience of women with disabilities, a vast community whose needs are all different. The new site is optimized not only for folks with visual disabilities, but also for often-overlooked audiences with motor, vestibular, neurological, and intellectual disabilities. Some of the many accessibility features include legible type, adequate contrast, employing motion subtly and only where useful, and simplifying language whenever possible.

A business professional wearing a dark purple lanyard with a name badge attached that reads "Jeanne Daoust, National Executive Director" and features the DAWN Canada logo.
DAWN Canada material laid out on a sunset gradient background. The items featured include a cell phone with the DAWN Canada Facebook page, a Parliamentary Brief booklet, a branded letterhead, and the front and back of a DAWN business card.

Creating connections

The redesigned website supports DAWN Canada’s mission to break down barriers and end the poverty, isolation, discrimination and violence experienced by women and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Our logo won an Award of Excellence for Best Logo Redesign at the 12th Worldwide Logo Design Annual (2022). We’re pleased to see how this branding resonates with a broader audience.

A smiling woman holding a white tablet displaying the DAWN Canada homepage.
DAWN Canada website homepage with both the desktop and tablet proportions.
A young curly-haired woman in a wheelchair with neck support and hand controls looks at a laptop with the DAWN Canada website.

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