RGD Designathon transforms non-profit branding through collaborative mentorship
The RGD Designathon brings emerging designers and design leaders together for 48-hour design sprints that make a real difference for non-profit organizations across Canada.
These condensed design collaborations challenge participants to move from brief to finished solution over a single weekend—helping designers build their portfolios while supporting communities in need of professional design services. Design teams have worked with organizations including healthcare advocacy groups and environmental foundations, creating complete brand identities, social media systems and packaging redesigns. Below are the results of some of these teams’ transformative projects.
Hack4Change, Civic Tech Moncton — brand identity & social media graphics
Civic Tech Moncton’s first hackathon, “Hack4Change,” was a way for the community to come together to work on solutions for civic technology. A full brand identity was required that would capture the essence of Atlantic Canada while also relating to the parent organization.
The team created a comprehensive brand system, including a flexible visual identity and social media assets, that Civic Tech Moncton could use immediately. The brand system provided the organization with a strong public face and the means to promote their hackathon on their own, which helped to bring people to a new civic project.
“Beyond the deliverables, the project reminded me how critical design is for civic engagement. Hackathons rely on community buy-in and a polished, professional identity helps signal legitimacy and rally participants. The extreme time constraints ended up being a huge asset. In a normal project, it's easy to get bogged down in second-guessing or endless revision cycles. This format forced us to trust our gut instincts and make firm decisions quickly. By Sunday afternoon, we had handed off a complete system, proving that strict deadlines often force you to do sharper, more focused work.”
Kyle Schruder RGD
BC Parks Foundation — Merch collection
The BC Parks Foundation is an organization that aims to protect and preserve the provincial parks in British Columbia through conservation efforts and educational programs. Their mission is based on biodiversity and connecting people with nature, and they were looking for a merchandise line that would be more than just logo wear—something that would celebrate the wild beauty of BC and encourage people to connect with nature.
The team has designed a merch collection that celebrates BC’s landscapes through illustration, typography and experiential concepts, such as a canvas map of the province and enamel pins. The collection turns merchandise into storytelling objects that encourage people to share their experiences of BC’s parks while contributing to conservation.
“Merch is more than a product—it's a way for people to showcase and support what matters to them. For the BC Parks Foundation, this collection becomes a tool to spark conversations, share love for the outdoors and champion the protection of BC's iconic landscapes and the plants and animals that live there. Every piece is an invitation to connect, explore, celebrate and give back.
In a sprint-style process like this, collaboration was everything. It was inspiring to watch each designer take the brief, interpret it in their own way and then come together to build a cohesive, thoughtful concept—complete with beautiful illustrations and playful typography. Presenting back to BCPF reinforced just how impactful merch can be when design, mission and emotion align.”
Nicole Tennison, Brand Manager & Graphic Design Lead at Fairware Promotional Products
Cassie & Friends — Packaging redesign for injection support kits
Cassie & Friends is an organization that supports children with juvenile arthritis and their families. Many children and their families face the reality of having to give their children injections on a regular basis, which is a very stressful experience for the child and the parent. The organization required a safe injection kit design that would help alleviate the stress associated with the process.
Leading and mentoring a talented group of young designers at HCMA in the RGD Designathon, the team restyled their injection support kit and created an empathetic and child-friendly design solution. The final design solution features friendly packaging, educational materials and a comforting mascot, which helps to transform a stressful experience into a more manageable one.
“This was a privilege to work on. Watching emerging designers navigate the intersection of healthcare, empathy and family dynamics was remarkable. The team conducted thoughtful interviews with the client, really listening to the lived experiences of children and parents dealing with regular injections. That emotional intelligence translated directly into design decisions—from the friendly mascot that helps ease anxiety to the packaging that prioritizes both safety and accessibility. It was a fun, immersive and collaborative experience with a transformational outcome for everyone involved.”
Byron Dowler, Principal & Creative Director at Coastlines Creative Group Inc.
Cuso International — Digital presentation
CUSO International is a development agency that partners with local groups in various parts of the world to fight poverty and inequality. The organization has a program called CUSO Champions that involves alumni volunteers who have already completed their placements, but this program did not have a unified visual identity.
The group developed a comprehensive visual identity for CUSO Champions, which is the alumni champions program for CUSO International. Right from the logo to the overall visual identity and even the template for the certificate, the design was meant to be flexible, warm and easily activatable, thus enabling CUSO to recognize the contributions of their alumni while also fostering a sense of belonging among their global community.
“The challenge was to create something that felt both professional and personal. CUSO Champions needed to honour the meaningful work alumni have also done while inviting continued engagement. We focused on warmth and accessibility in the visual language—using approachable typography, a flexible colour system and creating templates that the internal team could easily adapt for various recognition moments. The certificate design became a highlight, something recipients would be proud to display.”
Lenore Ramirez RGD
Lighthouse for Grieving Children — Social media
Lighthouse for Grieving Children and Families is a support service for children, youth and families dealing with grief and loss. In their efforts to reach more families who need their services, they realized the importance of professionalizing their Instagram account to enable them to reach their donors, volunteers and the families they serve, while still conveying the sensitivity of their cause.
The team gave Lighthouse’s visual identity a refresh by rethinking their web fonts to give them a bold and modern feel. Designed for easy use by the team, the new system promotes better communication, outreach and consistency on social media.
“The new designs were well-received, and we are proud to have contributed toward helping Lighthouse professionalize their outreach and build deeper connections with the donors, volunteers and families they support. Working on social media for such an emotionally sensitive organization taught us the importance of balancing visual impact with empathy. Every post needed to feel professional and trustworthy while remaining warm and approachable for families in grief.”
Tejashri Kapure RGD
Alternative Residences, Alternatives Inc. — Logo and Identity Design
Alternative Residences, Alternatives Inc. (ARA) is a community-based residential service provider that supports people with developmental disabilities to live independently within their communities. With the continued growth of the organization, ARA required a brand identity that would effectively convey the mission, values and position of the organization as a support system.
The team created an identity system that is built on strategic research and consists of three creative directions. These directions form a solid base for ARA to develop and expand its brand. This will enable the organization to have a visual platform that will support its programs and impact.
“The rapid ideation phase was intense but incredibly productive. We pushed ourselves to generate three distinctly different directions, each grounded in research about ARA's mission and audience. The team worked in parallel on initial concepts, then came together to critique and refine. By presenting three strong options to the client, we gave them real choice while demonstrating the range of strategic thinking possible even within tight time constraints. This project reinforced that volume and quality aren't mutually exclusive when you have strong research as your foundation.”
Matthew Johnson, Creative Director, Design & Digital at 123w (One Twenty Three West)
Persian Association of New Brunswick — Brand Identity
Persian Association of New Brunswick is an organization that serves the Persian-Canadian community by maintaining cultural heritage, facilitating integration and establishing links with the New Brunswick community. With a steadily increasing number of members in the province, PANB required a consistent visual identity that could convey a sense of credibility and warmth, while being simple enough for volunteers to execute.
At the RGD Designathon in Creative Union Moncton, a group of up-and-coming designers created a comprehensive identity system that strikes a balance between the richness of the culture and ease of use. The identity system is designed as a useful kit on Canva, which will help PANB stand out and gain recognition in order to build momentum for community events such as Nowruz and others.
“As Diego noted, 'Design CAN change the world.' This project exemplified that belief. Working with the Persian Association meant honouring a community's cultural identity while helping them communicate their mission to a broader audience. The students approached this with remarkable sensitivity, conducting research into Persian visual traditions while ensuring the design would resonate in a New Brunswick context.”
Faron Dawe RGD
What makes the RGD Designathon unique is its blend of real-world challenges, tight deadlines and meaningful impact. Unlike typical client or school projects, it combines real clients, fast-paced collaboration and mentorship, encouraging intuitive, focused decision-making.
For emerging designers, it’s a crash course in professional practice and creative problem-solving. For mentors, it’s a chance to give back and rediscover the energy that drew them to design. And for non-profits, it’s access to professional design that helps them amplify their mission and better serve their communities. It’s proof, as one mentor put it, that “Design CAN change the world.”
