Helping First Nations develop a strong economy

with the Government of Ontario

What we did

  • Print Design
  • Campaign Design
  • Digital Media
  • Illustration
  • Print Design
  • Campaign Design
  • Digital Media
  • Illustration

What they needed

Those who are working to build a strong economy for First Nations often have limited time for their own professional development. As a starting point, the Ontario government had gathered helpful training and resources into a development guide. But the guide was struggling to gain traction with its intended audience, as it used generic clip art and unwieldy layouts that were hard to navigate.

An internal spread of the economic guide. The spread features an extensive list of Economic development organizations. The left side of the page features a feather shaped bar reading "additional resources", and the bottom of the pages features geometric triangle shapes that look similar to mountains.
The cover of the First Nations Community Economic Development Guide for Ontario. The cover features a light grey background with geometric feathers in a diagonal pattern, with one main, large feather on the right hand side. The title is in a deep purple box, and the bottom of the cover features the Government of Ontario logo.
An icon of a deep purple and yellow scarf. The scarf has yellow tassels on the left side, and features a yellow diamond pattern within the deep purple main body of the scarf.
An icon in a yellow diamond. The icon features a piece of paper with lines to symbolize writing, and a deep purple seal in the bottom centre. Surrounding the icon are several diamond shapes.
An icon in a golden yellow circle. The icon features a geometric diamond shape with a circle in each corner. Coming off of the circle are yellow lines that look similar to stairs in the top left, bottom left, top right, and bottom right of the circle. On each side of the circle, there are four diamonds.
An icon featuring a hammer and a feather intersected in an X shape. The hammer head is deep purple, with a grey handle, and the feather is outlined in deep purple, with off-white, baby blue, grey, and golden yellow sections within it. Surrounding the two items are several diamond shapes in yellow and deep purple.
An icon of two geometric feathers. The feathers are outlined in yellow, and have sections of baby blue, deep purple, grey, and pale yellow within them.

How we helped

We redesigned the 50-page development booklet and related website to make the content engaging and accessible, with custom colours and illustrations inspired by First Nations culture and geometry. Our focus was on clarifying the visual hierarchy, so that readers can flip to important information and browse helpful stories and resources.

An interior spread of an Economic Guide book. The spread features an introduction, and the right page reads "Case Studies". The case studies page has a yellow background with geometric feathers in a diagonal pattern, with one main feather present on the right side.
An interior spread of a Government of Ontario Economic Guide book. The spread features an introduction, and the right page reads "Chapter 1: Planning for economic development". The title sections are separated from the white page with a light grey triangular shape, and the bottom of the page features a spread of diamond shapes leading towards a geometric yellow bird.

Making a difference

The redesigned guide has become a go-to resource for busy professionals on the go. It’s been well received by government officials and First Nations communities alike, with many requests from officers as to where they can get their copy.

A circular icon. The icon is an illustrative image of a lake with land in the distance. In the orange sky there is a white sun, the land in the distance is magenta, and the lake in the foreground features some grey protruding rocks, and a blue and teal colouration for the water itself.

In the spirit of reconciliation

Over the last 10 years, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation had made many inroads. And they wanted to share more about their work in a dynamic, colourful report. The curved, water-inspired graphics helped the information flow and guided readers through more than a decade of stories.

An interior spread of the MIRR First 10 years book. The section title reads "Supporting strong indigenous women". The spread features wavy lines in magenta, orange, and yellow-orange.
The cover of the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconcilliation's First 10 Years book. The MIRR logo is in the top left corner in a white circle. The logo reads MIRR 10 years, and features a colourful series of lines in a radial arrangement encircling the word years. The background of the cover is a wavy rainbow, starting with teal on the left, transitioning to orange, and then to a purple-red. In a semi circle at the bottom of the page it reads "In the spirit of reconciliation: The Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation's First 10 years". The government of Ontario logo is in the bottom right corner.
An interior spread of the MIRR First 10 years book. The left pages title reads "Continuing the journey", and the right page reads "A decade of reflection". The text is surrounded by wavy sections in blue, dark grey, and magenta, and features two images. One is of an Indigenous person in full regalia, mid dance, and the other is of an Indigenous child with a pink dress and white and blue beadwork securing their ponytails.
A blue branch pointing to the left. The branch has one top centre leaf, with 6 leaves coming off of the blue-green branch symetrically on either side.

Spotting the signs

Anyone can recognize the signs of human trafficking. To help educate Indigenous youth on what to watch for, we partnered with the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services on a campaign called Know Human Trafficking. We sat down with focus groups, researchers, and survivors to create a series of print and digital materials—all designed to encourage kids to report potential trafficking. 

An iPhone mockup of an Instagram post. The app is in dark mode, and the post is from the account "Know Human Trafficking" The post features 3 indigenous people facing away from us with their hands around each others waists. The leftmost person has medium brown hair wrapped with blue string in a ponytail, they're wearing a purple dress adorned with indigenous beadwork on a black background. The middle person has long, nearly black hair, and they're wearing a blue sweater with a white scarf, and dark blue pants. The rightmost person has light brown hair, and is wearing a white shirt with a red scarf, and a reddish-brown skirt. Separating the people from the text is an indigenous, geometric pattern. The text reads "Let's have a conversation about sex trafficking" with the hashtag "KnowHumanTrafficking" below in a light blue font.
An iPhone mockup of a Facebook post. The post is by the account "Know Human Trafficking" and features a birch tree semicircle surrounded by an array of feathers ranging from blue, to purple, to red. The lower section of the post reads "Protect Indigenous Youth" with the hashtag "KnowHumanTrafficking" below.
An iPhone mockup of an Instagram post. The app is in dark mode, and the post is from an account titled "Know Human Trafficking" The post features 3 indigenous people facing away from the viewer, with their hands around each others' waists. The leftmost person has deep brown hair in two braids, and is wearing a black, white, and grey jacket. The middle person has medium brown hair in one long braid, and is wearing a red dress with indigenous bead work along their back. The third person has short, medium brown hair, and is wearing a blue and green sweater, and blue denim pants. The section separating the people and the text is adorned with flowers, berries, and leaves. Under the separator there is a black section with text that reads "Let's have a conversation about sex trafficking" with the hashtag "KnowHumanTrafficking" underneath in pink.
An icon of a rainbow flower. The centre of the flower is white with a thin blue outline, and each of the petals moves through the colours of the rainbow.

Strength in numbers

Data is effective only if people can glean insights from it. To help the Ontario government convey a deluge of facts and figures about Indigenous communities in the area, we designed a simple, visual research report. Its crystal-clear layout, intentional infographics, and meaningful colours helped highlight both positive and negative changes in demographic data about First Nation, Inuit, and Métis groups over time.

The table of contents spread within the Strength in Numbers booklet. On the left spread there is a large flower with rainbow petals, and inside each flower is an aspect of what the book focuses on such as Education, Justice, and Housing. The left spread features the table of contents and a legend depicting initiatives and categories within the book.
The cover of the Strength in Numbers book from the Government of Ontario. The cover features a young indigeouns person in full regailia. There is a deep purple, semi transparent triangle on the cover, and inside this triangle is the title "Strength in Numbers. Measuring outcomes for Indigenous peoples in Ontario 2018". The bottom of the cover has a white bar across it with a logo inside that reads "PMDU. Performace measures & data unit. Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconcilliation.
A mockup of an Government of Ontario book titled Strength in Numbers. The spread theme is blue and features a Health and Wellness section. The spread features Population level statistics, graphs, and icons all matching the blue theme of the pages.
A mockup of an Government of Ontario book titled Strength in Numbers. The spread features an employment page, with red and purple graphs. The right page features a "program level" title with icons representing statistics.
An icon in a light blue hexagon. The icon features two people, one of which is a child. The first person has their dark brown hair tied into a bun and is wearing a green jacket with grey pants. They are holding a fishing rod with two silver fish attached. The child has their hair down, and is wearing a purple jacket with white flowers along the opening. Under their jacket is a green shirt. They are smiling widely and holding the other persons hand. Behind the two people you can see a hole where they have been ice fishing.
An icon in a deep purple hexagon. The icon features a First Nations person in full regailia. Their hair is braided and tied with an orange string, and there are two blue clips at the end of their hair. They're wearing a green headband with a white feather coming from the top of their head. Their regalia is light blue and green, with blue and red details coming from the bottom of their outspread arms like wings. They're wearing blue pants, and blue moccasins. They're smiling widely.
An icon in a deep, reddish-purple hexagon. The icon features a First Nations person with deep bown hair in long braids coming down their shoulders. They're smiling and wearing a graduation cap that is deep purple with a green outline and green tassel. They're wearing a deep purple graduation gown with a collar that has a blue flower in the centre with two swirls coming off of either side, pointed up.
An icon in a green hexagon. The icon features a First Nations person with brown hair that has a white streak in it. They're smiling and wearing a purple, long sleeved top with a green collar. The collar has blue beadwork surrounded by purple fabric. They're wearing blue and green beadwork earrings and holding a large white feather with a deep brown top.

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