Little While Coffee

I leapt into this new coffee shop concept project as their fractional Creative Director to do some of my most defining work at the intersection of space and identity. I worked closely with their founder and their interior designer to ensure that every material, finish, and spatial decision felt intentional and unmistakably Little While. While the walls were getting sorted, I oversaw the visual brand identity including logo, merch, and packaging across every format (pastry boxes, coffee bags, cups, oh my) ensuring that what lived on the walls and what lived on the cup told exactly the same story.

My role expanded into every layer of the brand's launch and ongoing life. I led the brand voice development, partnered with PR on launch strategy and press releases, built their social media pillars, and implemented a surprise and delight & loyalty program to ensure that the community was rock solid once the doors opened. Weekly strategy calls and an in-person site walkthrough in San Diego kept the vision sharp from first sketch to opening day.

    • Led brand strategy, positioning, and architecture from the ground up

    • Developed brand messaging and voice

    • Developed tagline

    • Led audience research and definition

    • Conducted competitive landscape analysis

    • Built launch and go-to-market strategy

    • Partnered with PR on press strategy and support

    • Built out social media strategy and content strategy

    • Designed and implemented a surprise and delight loyalty program

    • Directed full visual identity including logo, secondary marks, typography system, and illustration and icon direction

    • Directed packaging design across every format (pastry boxes, coffee bags, cups, oh my)

    • Directed merch design

    • Oversaw website design

    • Developed social media templates and assets

    • Copywriting

    • Provided creative direction on every material, finish, and spatial decision

    • Directed interior and exterior signage

    • Oversaw wayfinding design

    • Art directed photoshoots

    • Directed retail experience design

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey (graphic design), Solstice Interiors (Interior Design), and incredible founders Steven + Gan for their trust and partnership.

→ Follow Little While in the wild

Stella Jeans Ice Cream

What started as a refresh turned into a five-plus year creative partnership. Deliciously different flavours and a penchant for creativity in everything they do sets Stella Jean's apart as California's favourite small batch ice cream joint. I jumped at the opportunity to sprinkle my own creative toppings on their brand by leading a fun and funky visual identity refresh with my dream creative team.

We reworked their handwritten letterforms and built out the logo suite to include a full roster of secondary wordmarks and badges. I oversaw the creative direction of all their packaging, directed their environmental and signage design across interior and exterior locations, and helped shape their social strategy.

Over the years I've been delighted to serve as their go-to creative partner, providing ongoing design and strategy support as the brand deliciously evolves.

    • Served as their go-to creative partner for five-plus years and counting

    • Led brand strategy and messaging development

    • Shaped social media and content strategy

    • Led campaign strategy

    • Provided ongoing copywriting and brand consulting across every era of growth

    • Reworked the handwritten letterforms and directed the full visual identity rebuild including logo suite, secondary wordmarks, typography system, illustration and icon direction

    • Directed all packaging design

    • Directed merch design

    • Oversaw website design

    • Directed interior and exterior signage

    • Oversaw wayfinding design

    • Directed environmental graphic design

    • Art directed photoshoots

    • Directed retail experience design

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, Tori English  (graphic design), Israel Palacio (photography), Lauren Asta (muralist), and oh-so-sweet founders Steven and Gan.

→ Follow Stella Jean's in the wild

Ember Wellness

I've been working with Ember Wellness across many eras of their brand development and growth. They came to me with an already thriving skincare business and a clear sense of who they were. What they needed was a name and a new visual identity to position them for the next chapter. And grow they did.

Over the years, the work has touched everything. I led the full rebrand, from naming through to brand messaging, packaging, and website design. I led marketing campaigns, art directed photoshoots, and helped design dozens of pop-ups and trade show environments, with a notable shoutout of an NYC guerrilla marketing campaign. Through all of it, I've been honoured to be a creative thought-partner for them as Ember continues flourishing.

With ethical sourcing and traceable ingredients at the heart of the business, I made sure every creative decision reflected what they actually stood for. Simple, minimal, intentional, cohesive, 5 years and counting.

    • Served as ongoing creative thought-partner across eight years of brand development and growth

    • Led brand strategy and positioning, including naming

    • Developed all brand messaging and voice including brand taglines

    • Built launch and go-to-market strategy

    • Partnered with PR on press strategy and support

    • Led social media and content strategy

    • Led campaign strategy, including guerilla marketing campaigns

    • Led the full rebrand from naming through to finished identity

    • Designed and directed entire packaging line

    • Oversaw website design and development through several iterations

    • Concepted and directed dozens of pop-up activations from Nordstrom to back alley invite-only galleries

    • Art directed trade show and event design

    • Art directed all brand photoshoots

    • Directed retail experience design

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, Tori English Radhika Maheshwari (graphic design), Christie Vuong (photography) and of course, founder Amanda for the endless trust.

→ Follow Ember in the wild

Yoga off East

When Yoga Off East signed a new lease on life (literally), I was there for all of it. I supported the team through a full era of growth, helping them scale and shine across the opening of two new studio locations, each one bigger and more beautiful than the last. Working closely with interior designers and photographers, I made sure every corner of every space felt cohesively, beautifully branded while staying deeply considerate of the community that had shown up for them from the beginning.

The work touched everything. I designed all interior and exterior signage and wayfinding, their website, and their yoga teacher training materials, then turned around and trained their marketing manager on the brand style and voice so the whole thing could live and breathe without me in the room. From the moment someone spots the building to the moment they roll up their mat and head home, the experience is intentional, end to end.

    • Served as ongoing creative lead across multiple studio openings

    • Led brand strategy and positioning

    • Developed brand messaging including taglines and social strategy

    • Trained their marketing manager on brand style and voice so the whole thing could live and breathe without me in the room

    • Directed full visual identity including logo, secondary marks, typography system, and colour palette

    • Directed merch and retail design

    • Oversaw website design

    • Directed interior and exterior signage

    • Oversaw wayfinding and environmental design

    • Art directed photoshoots

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, A Thousand Buddha's (mural design), Anna Routh Barzin (photography) and founder Kathryn - you are one of a kind. 

Summerhill Market

Summerhill Market is a family-owned boutique grocery store with a newly refreshed brand identity and a whole lot of assets to bring to life. They brought us on as their in-house graphic design team, and we got to work making sure every touchpoint in their private label CPG line looked as considered and beautiful as the store itself.

The scope was satisfyingly wide. We handled CPG package design, environmental signage and wayfinding, merch design, and website and social media strategy, covering everything from the shelf to the street to the screen.

    • Served as in-house creative lead following their brand identity refresh

    • Led brand and campaign strategy

    • Shaped social media strategy

    • Oversaw packaging design across their full private label CPG line

    • Directed merch and retail design

    • Developed social media strategy and assets

    • Directed interior and exterior signage

    • Directed environmental graphic design

    • Concepted mural direction including a very fun painted spoon mural in their Toronto Head Office

    • Directed retail experience design

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, (graphic design), Blok Design (logo design) and founder Brad for the trust in bringing your vision to life. 

→ Follow Summerhill Market in the wild

Pop Pie Co.

After working with the team on their ice cream brand Stella Jean’s, Pop Pie Co. graciously enlisted us to help them refresh their firstborn. Our goal was to maintain the spirit of their well-loved logo while building out a larger roster of cohesive marks to use across their many assets.

We brought the brand to life through a palette of cheerful colours. We drew (literal) inspiration from Lauren Astra’s murals inside many of their locations to create pie-centric illustrations. The result is a perfectly playful aesthetic, well suited to the creative whimsy of the owners who never hesitate to experiment with both flavour and fun.

    • Led brand strategy and positioning for the refresh

    • Shaped social media and campaign strategy including tagline and messaging development

    • Served as ongoing creative thought-partner

    • Directed full visual identity refresh including logo, secondary marks, typography system, and pie-centric illustration direction drawn from Lauren Astra's murals inside their locations

    • Directed packaging design

    • Directed merch and retail design

    • Oversaw website design

    • Directed extremely fun and bright interior and exterior signage and wayfinding

    • Directed environmental graphic design

    • Art directed brand photoshoots

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, Tori English  (graphic design), Israel Palacio (photography), Lauren Asta (muralist), and founders Steven and Gan.

→ Follow Pop Pie Co. in the wild

Demetres / Scooped

This project was two-fold. The notorious dessert lover’s paradise approached Millie with a mission to completely design their 22-SKU CPG line for their expansion into stores across Canada. We meticulously sketched each ingredient of all 22 flavours and enlisted the help of local artist Stephanie Molnar to hand paint the artwork. The result is a mouthwatering showcase of flavours that stand apart from their competitors on the shelf.

Secondarily, our team was tasked with setting up a sister brand to Demetres called Scooped which would live as standalone scoop shops. The brand had to feel cohesive to their sibling brand while standing out on a [very colourful] shelf of their own.

(It’s also worth noting that the crown jewel of my career to date was designing the pattern that would eventually become the custom waffle cone for their ice cream cones. Nothing sweeter).

    • Led brand strategy Demetres, including helping bring sister brand Scooped to life

    • Created brand architecture between Scooped & Demetres

    • Served as ongoing creative thought-partner

    • Directed full visual identity for Scooped including logo, secondary marks, typography system, and icon and pattern design

    • Art directed the illustration of every single ingredient across all 22 flavours, with artwork hand painted by local artist Stephanie Molnar

    • Directed packaging design across the full 22-SKU CPG line

    • Directed interior and exterior signage and wayfinding

    • Concepted career-highlighting project: designed the custom waffle cone pattern

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, Tori English Radhika Maheshwari (graphic design), Stephanie Molnar (illustration) and of course, Kayvan and Karen for your love and endless enthusiasm and freezer full of ice cream pints.

→ Follow Demetres in the wild

Toronto Veg Fest / VegTO

After more than 70 years as a Toronto institution, the Toronto Vegetarian Association was ready for a full rebrand, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to support this do-good brand.

I led the brand refresh to feel purposeful, cool, and genuinely encouraging. The palette is bright and bold, with maturity in the greens and an ebullient energy in the neon yellow and pink. Paired with type inspired by protest posters and an illustration style that is equal parts empowering and playful, the finished identity is vibrant, youthful, and bursting with joy.

I stewarded the new aesthetic and voice across everything: a full festival rebrand, a web rebuild, and merch worthy of the movement, bringing this storied organisation fully and joyfully into the present.

    • Led the full rebrand strategy for a 70-plus year Toronto institution

    • Developed brand positioning around inclusivity and advocacy

    • Developed tagline and shaped social media strategy

    • Served as ongoing creative thought-partner

    • Directed full visual identity including logo, secondary marks, a protest-poster-inspired typography system, illustration direction, and icon and pattern design

    • Directed merch design worthy of the movement

    • Oversaw website design

    • Developed social media templates and assets

    • Copywriting

    • Directed wayfinding and environmental design including festival and event branding

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, Tori English (graphic design), Jenna Burns (website development) and executive director Kimberly for allowing us to lead your special project.

Freebird Market

I led the brand strategy and creative direction for Freebird Market, your new favourite free-spirited grocery store just outside of Toronto.

The vision was creating a brand that felt less like a grocery store and more like your favourite dinner party: warm, characterful, and a little … undone … in the very best way. I led my team through the identity with that feeling, including designing a mural inspired by a scrap paper grocery list. I also oversaw the creative direction of their entire private label line, ensuring the shelves felt just as considered as the space around them.

    • Led brand strategy and creative direction from the ground up

    • Developed brand messaging, voice, and tagline

    • Served as ongoing creative thought-partner

    • Directed full visual identity including logo, secondary marks, typography system, illustration and icon direction

    • Directed packaging design across their full private label line

    • Directed interior and exterior signage and wayfinding

    • Concepted the amusingly eccentric scrap-paper mural

    • Directed retail experience design

Special thanks to my collaborators Madison Newey, Jean Merrick, Tori English, (graphic design), and founders Jen and David, who I would want to have a dinner party with any night of the week. 

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