2021 Trailblazer Award Winners

Coralie Mayer-Traynor Student RGD, Capilano University, Vancouver, BC (2022)

Coralie is a Vancouver-based designer, illustrator, and collector of useless facts working through her fourth year of a Visual Communications degree at Capilano University. As an ex-competitive figure skater, she’s learned a bit about resiliency. It turns out that falling on your bum enough times has the power to make you try harder next time (if only out of spite) and accomplish what you set out to do. While she struggles with chronic mental illness and a sexuality many don’t understand or accept, Coralie channels her energy into designing for social good and making beautiful pieces for people to appreciate.

"Coralie’s range of work displayed outstanding maturity from concept to execution. Meanwhile the projects demonstrated deep consideration of design’s role in addressing social issues such as diversity, well-being and inclusivity." – Gilbert Li RGD, Judge and Principal at the Office of Gilbert Li.

BLOC

BLOC, a digital wallet powered by Blockchain, is a transitional services for unbanked individuals/undocumented immigrants to budget, save, make and accept payments from any location. The mission on this app is to provide financial tools and economic stability to all with fast and free-of-charge banking. The app is designed keeping in mind the diversity of its users — the language, user-friendly and accessible interface and trust building features were key considerations for the branding.

Credits:

Coralie Mayer, Annika McFarlane and Rocio Palomar Robisco

Onboarding illustrations were created by Annika McFarlane

BRUIT Music Festival

Research suggests Francophone youth are struggling for avenues to be introduced to new French music. The assets designed for a fictional music fest, BRUIT, provide solution to this issue by using AR technology. Upon scanning the QR code on the poster, the prospective audience can interact with the faces on the poster to discover the performing francophone artists, genres, sample music and book tickets.

Radio Radical Reform

Radio Radical Reform is a fictional seminar with pre-smart phone generation as the target audience to bring radio as a medium of entertainment to the future. The information booklet design references to audio devices in the 60s and 70s like old digital clocks and car radios incorporating a digital mono-spaced typeface to give it a retro-modern feel.

Maternal Fetal Medicine

Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic, an affiliate of BC Womens’ Hospital, provides specialized care to women experiencing complicated pregnancy. The MFM was in need of a logo to separate them from the BC Womens’ Hospital to avoid confusion among patients. Inspired from process of fetal cell division, the logo was designed using soft, organic shapes of large and small size to symbolize the bond between mother and child. The colour palette is similar to that of BC Womens’ Hospital. The logo was applied to MFM’s marketing assets, websites and even tote bag for a conference

Educator Support: Judy Snaydon and Christina Lee Kim Koon

Jasmine Silang Student RGD, George Brown College, Toronto, ON (2021)

As a second-generation Filipina-Canadian woman in design, Jasmine didn't have many role models that looked like her. Her path to pursing design was filled with uncertainty, challenges and devoid of support from family. By speaking her truth she proved that the creative path is a viable career option. Today, she is a design graduate pursing a Bachelors in Brand Design from George Brown College and is loving every minute of it. She hopes that others in a similar situation can take inspiration from her story.

"Along with her strong design aesthetic, Jasmine’s passion and self-driven initiatives stood out to me. She is a trailblazer elevating BIPOC voices that often go underrepresented in our industry." – Mustaali Raj Provisional RGD, Judge, Independent Art Director and Graphic Designer

Apollo 11 – Beer Packaging Design

Inspired from the first lunar landing, the packaging for Apollo 11 beer takes textures from the surface of the moon and the traditional yet minimal label uses a vintage typeface with a metallic sheen to add to the astronomical look. The packaging was designed to entice the millennial to try a new product.

Via – Exploring the Viability in Creativity

Aimed at educating BIPOC/First Generation Canadian parents holding traditional views about a career in creative field, Via, a resource package features a book on graphic design, a poster debunking misconceptions about the design industry and exhibiting work of BIPOC designers, a salary snapshot, details of design schools and additional recourses. The package provides support to high-school students interested in arts and design but struggling to convince their parents of their career choice.

Educator Support: Jerri Johnson, Paul Haslip, Doug Darrah (Professors) and Dr. Ana Rita Morais (Chair of the School of Design).

Vicky Tong Provisional RGD, George Brown College, Toronto, ON (2021)

Vicky is a 2021 graduate of George Brown College’s Graphic Design Program and is working as a Graphic Designer with Gravity Inc. With her Vietnamese background and love for social good design, she enjoys working on collaborative and multidisciplinary design projects that bring people together. She is passionate about exploring various aspects of design while solving communication problems. She excited to see what she will put out into the world as a designer.

"It was really great to see a designer tackling important information-based projects. Vicky is very talented in her communication of difficult subject matters. Keep pushing your ideas and design forward!" – Michelle Hopgoogd RGD, Judge, Creative Designer and Information Specialist at Hoopgood Creative.

Community Impact – Vicky is passionate about using her design to support social causes that she cares about. Vicky thinks design is not just about solving problems; good design should be able to establish meaningful connections, bring people closer together and make this world a better place.

RECO – Record+Recover Healthcare App

RECO (Record+Recover) app was designed to enhance healthcare experience of patients visiting Toronto General Hospital. After an in-person diagnosis, the patients can view their profiles in the app to track their progress, keep their physicians up-to-date, receive rewards for progress and learns about ways to keep their health in check. The app also facilitates communication between healthcare providers/24/7 care teams and the paitents. The “gamifying” factor intents to reduces the anxiety attached to healthcare and encourages regular check ups.

Canadian Blood Service Annual Report

Everlasting Connections, a 2020/2021 Annual Report designed for Canadian Blood services depicts the unspoken bond between doctors and patients, donors and recipients, health service organizations and their partners by using a relatable colour palette, simple layouts and illustration that embrace positivity and inclusivity. The statistical data is presented in a clean and organized way for the readers to understand.

What do our kidneys do?

This motion graphic video, intended to be a part of a healthcare information series, was developed to pique interest of the youth in maintaining good health. Young adults today lead a busy, stressful life and are easily distracted, through the use of vibrant colours, delightful illustration the video raises awareness about kidney function, health and digestion.

Credits:

Voiceover: Andrew Walmsley

Background music, Illustration & Animation: Vicky Tong

Educator Support: Ian Gregory

Kathrin Teh Student RGD, Capilano University, Vancouver, BC (2023)

Kathrin is a third year student at IDEA School of Design, Capilano University. She has been passionate about design for as long as she can remember and is very excited to join the design industry after graduation. Besides design, she enjoys rock climbing, reading and gaming.

"I’m fond of Kathrin’s ability of coming up with strong design concepts. I appreciated the attention to detail and the care she puts into her work. Her work pushes boundaries and takes conceptual ideas a step further into real world applications making it more powerful and impactful — well done!" - Xandr Sutjiadi RGD, Judge, Founder and Creative Director, ArtOverMatter Inc.

Peculiar Pies Annual Report

Peculiar Pies, a passion project by two women of colour, creates high-quality experimental pizzas using exotic ingredients and diverse flavours from around the world. Keeping the wide range of audience in mind, a limited colour palette was chosen for a vintage, artisanal feel with red representing the pizza sauce and cream, the batter. Traveller and Baskerville typefaces combined with the photography reinforce the described aesthetic.

The Girls Kickboxing Club

The Girls Kickboxing Club provides women a safe space to exercise, enjoy a sport allowing a flexible schedule while nurturing a sense of community. The branding reinstates this vision by using feminine yet though aesthetics through design and copywriting. The advertising campaign redefines and reclaims the meaning of words usually used as an insult for women to empower them instead.

My Name My History

The “hello my name is” campaign is designed to encourage Indigenous people to reclaim and use their traditional names providing a platform for them to share their hardships and stories. The campaign also aims to educate regarding the erasure of Indigenous names at the onset of colonialism. The imagery used catches attention by providing a whimsical, intriguing and inspiring tone. The copy and the marker used on the posters tie in with guerilla stickers and the colour palette binds the campaign assets together.

Type à la Mode

This book is designed to appeal to those who are interested in design, especially fashion and typography. Representing the high-end fashion industry, the book features images with a chic mix of typography and colour maintaining a fun and playful energy.

Gossamer Gin

Gossamer, a luxury gin brand, sources ingredients from across the globe and each of their gins focus on a different region in the world. Using refined typography and design, the packaging intents to highlight a different culture’s flavour profile to their target audience of well-to-do adults.

Educator Support: Tom Duguid, Heather Jalbout, Vida Jurcic and Dominique Walker

Honourable Mentions

Riane Ayoung Provisional RGD

Conestoga College, Kitchener, ON (2021)

A Trinidadian born Canadian artist, Riane, is a graphic designer, photographer, fashion enthusiast with an aim to advocate of inclusivity in the design industry. She recently joined Applyboard as a graphic designer and is the Promotion and Engagement Director at The Oddity Co. With a fervent vision of becoming a fashion graphic designer, Riane hopes to inspire fellow BIPOC artists to express themselves and work to bring change in the industry.

Harlen Bertrand Student RGD

Capilano University, Vancouver, BC (2023)

Harlen is passionate about drawing characters and people. He enjoys tellings stories through his work and and exploring new, fascinating worlds.