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2021 In-House Design Awards Judges

Genevieve Beharry

Design Director at 48North – Toronto, ON

Genevieve has over 15 years of experience as a multi-disciplinary designer and creative lead. Her background working on notable brands such as Rexall, Canadian Tire, Virgin Mobile and IKEA have lead her to her current role as Design Director of the award-winning cannabis company 48North. Her passion lies in creating authentic experiences for brands and their consumers, through a strategic and design-minded eye. Her achievements include awards wins at One Show, adccs, Applied Arts and Communication Arts.

Cari Bird

Creative Lead at Emily Carr University of Art + Design – Vancouver, BC

Cari is a creative thinker, strategist and designer. Her work at Emily Carr encompasses brand and creative strategy, art direction, graphic design and project management. Cari’s work at Emily Carr has garnered awards including an RGD InHouse Design Award for the Emily Carr Viewbook in 2017. Before joining Emily Carr, Cari worked in a range of large and boutique design firms and ad agencies in Vancouver and abroad. Her clients included Colgate Palmolive, HSBC Bank, America’s Cup, Anne Geddes and Mountain Equipment Co-op

Diana Campbell RGD

Manager of Digital Experience Operations at Alberta Blue Cross – Spruce Grove, AB

Diana is an experienced usability engineer, human-centred designer, accessibility champion and digital strategist who has dedicated her career to helping bridge the gap between real people and business goals. Starting her career as a print-based Graphic Designer, she worked in a variety of fields, from newspaper printing to small business. Recognizing the changing landscape, Diana focused her drive on continuing education and a passion for life-long learning and transitioned into the digital space. As the new manager of Digital Experience operations at Alberta Blue Cross, she has been recognized for her extraordinary commitment to innovation and purpose-driven strategy, bringing in new business growth and increasing the retention rate on a multitude of digital platforms.

Chuck Chan

Executive Creative Director, Integrated Marketing Communications at UofT – Toronto, ON

Chuck has been working in graphic design, user interface design, product development, branding, marketing communications and fundraising in higher education for 25 years. He started his U of T career at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, eventually serving as the Acting Director of Communications. While there, Chuck designed the U of T Varsity Blues and athletic brands. He then joined Brand Development and Trademark Programs, helping to implement U of T’s first anti-sweatshop and ethical sourcing program before assuming the position of Creative Director with Advancement Communications and Marketing. During this time, Chuck was the creative lead in the largest fundraising campaign in Canadian history. With 100K+ donors across nearly 100 countries and spanning 7 years, Boundless: The Campaign for the University of Toronto raised over $2.6 billion. Chuck is currently the Executive Creative Director of integrated Marketing Communications for U of T’s Communications and Advancement portfolios. Prior to U of T, Chuck worked at IBM Canada and the Weather Network

Mari Chijiiwa

Creative Director at Kits Eyewear – Vancouver, BC

With a B.Science and B.Design, Mari’s world has always been curious, analytical and creative. Over the past 10 years, she has led in-house creative for notable brands, including Lululemon, INDOCHINO, Vega, JOEY Restaurant Group, 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Teck Resources Limited. She also has experience as a Design Professor (Graphic Design) at Vancouver Community College, leading a classroom of 30+ creatives. Most recently, Mari has taken on the role of Creative Director at KITS Eyewear, where she is leading the brand, product and sustainability strategies. What inspires Mari’s brand strategy and storytelling approach is the adventure, depth and spontaneity of travel. Having been immersed in journeys across Abu Dhabi, Chile, Alaska, Japan, New York, Hawaii, Los Angeles and Paris, she’s authentically gained insight into how communities and cultures cross-pollinate into creating thriving and engaging brands.

Yen Chu RGD

Creative Director, Design at Rogers Sports & Media – Toronto, ON

Fueled by a love for culture, community and travel, Yen is a graphic designer and creative director with two decades of practice in design and direction at some of Canada’s premier branding, advertising and design firms. Recognized for her ability to distill communications challenges to their essence, realize solutions which are smart and surprising, create impactful design in print or pixel, and a passion to lead design teams to do the same, Yen understands the link between ideas, execution, and business. She also shares her experience by helping guide emerging creatives from various design universities into the great Canadian design landscape. Recognized by: Advertising and Design Club of Canada (ADCC), Applied Arts Magazine, AR 100, Canadian Marketing Association, Cannes Lion, Communication Arts, Coupe Magazine, Design@Work (RGD), One Show, Unisource NuARs.

Barbara Dunn RGD

Creative Services Coordinator at the Corporation of the Town of Lincoln, ON

Barbara is a creative thinker and visual communicator with 20 years of in-house design experience. She values the process of crafting ideas and stories into design solutions that are engaging and inspiring. With the Town of Lincoln, she develops design communications to promote services and programs for the community. As the Senior Manager of design and Advertising for Penguin Random House Canada, she collaborated on projects for some of the world’s award-winning and best-selling authors. She is proud to have co-authored a published book on caring for aging parents. Her hand-drawn, edible art designs were featured in wedding magazines when she owned a cake business with her twin sister. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Design degree from York University/Sheridan College and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Mass Communications from York University. Barbara brings her energy and dedication, a love of design and a pursuit of creativity to all her work.

Maggie Fost

Head of Creative Shop at Facebook and Instagram Canada – Toronto, ON

Maggie leads Facebook’s Creative Shop in Canada, collaborating with brands, agencies, non-profits and studios to transform the way ideas are built for a mobile world. She brings 20 years of experience as an award-winning Creative Director and Designer for digital and analog spaces, creating work for global brands like Sonos, Samsung and iRobot, as well as cultural institutions and non-profits including the Nasher Museum of Art and Slow Food International. She was the founding Creative Director of indie record label Merge Records for 10 years, overseeing the design of album covers and packaging, festivals, advertising and digital. She holds an MFA in Design from California College of the Arts and a BA from Bowdoin College She has taught design at North Carolina State University and in the Graduate Design program at York University.

Kyle Hardtman

Creative Lead at Cadillac Fairview – Toronto, ON

Kyle is a creative Typophile with a flair for solving design problems with truly innovative solutions. At Cadillac Fairview, he collaborates with global retail brands, artists, studios and creative shops to create enhanced visual experiences. He brings 13 years of agency and in-house expertise, working with clients such as Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Lyft, Apple, Harry Rosen and Red Bull. These experiences have led to published books, design awards, major international retail brand partnerships and exposure to some of the most creative leaders and teams in retail, architecture and real estate.

Trinette Klein RGD

Senior Graphic Designer at Regional Municipality of York – Newmarket, ON

Trinette is a graphic designer, artist and communications specialist with over 15 years of experience in non-profit and public sectors. She believes that being conscious of the infinite ways design shapes our world is the first step towards making positive, intentional change within our communities and around the globe. As a visual learner and communicator, she is passionate about collaborating with her clients to build authentic brands and convey strong, clear messages to the right audience. Her projects in Community and Health Services focus on producing and executing communication strategies for York Region residents around issues of diversity and inclusion, homelessness, welcoming newcomers to Canada and the region-wide Public Health and Social Services response to COVID-19. She holds an advanced diploma in Graphic Design from Seneca College.

Sheela Ramtuhol

Senior Graphic Designer at Cloudli Communications – Montreal, QC

Sheela is an award-winning multi-disciplinary designer specializing in branding, logo, app and web design. In 2020, she delivered a complete company rebrand for Cloudli Communications and redesigned the UI/UX for the Cloudli Communications app, which helps empower remote work by small businesses. Her achievements include winning an RGD In-House Design Award in 2019 and helping launch books by two NY Times best-selling authors, one of which became a successful Netflix documentary series, and the other is in discussion with the History Channel. As a designer with a critical eye, Sheela seeks to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. Her work can be seen at Sheela.design.

Umar Shahzad

VP of Design at Launchgood – Markham, ON

Umar Shahzad RGD is a creative professional based in Markham, Ontario. Over his 15 years in the industry, he has worked with many small business, organizations, and startups. He is VP of Design at LaunchGood, a crowdfunding platform that has helped over 20,000 campaigns raise almost $200 million. He works collaboratively with a global team to build an inspired future. Umar has previously served on RGD’s Board of Directors, and as a Director on the Certification Board.

Laurence Smink

Director of Communications & Marketing at Bearhill Brewing Co. – Calgary, AB

Laurence is a multi-disciplinary designer and brand, marketing and creative leader currently based in Calgary, AB. He’s spent over 20 years creating unique brand experiences at agencies, in-house and freelance. He approaches creativity through a strategic lens – never content to colour inside the lines, his work has included communications design, brand identity design, advertising, event production, video and animation, writing and editorial. Clients have included Harrah’s Entertainment, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sony Rewards, BlackRock, Big Rock Brewery and Ubisoft.