Case Study

Defining Moments

Defining Moments was a 3-year national digital media arts and citizenship project aimed at engaging youth across Canada to explore, express, and showcase their perspectives on Canadian identity.

Project Overview

As a project created by TakingITGlobal (TIG) supported by Canadian Heritage, my role as art director was to work closely with the project manager and TIG’s in-house team of developers and designers to ensure deliverables were completed successfully and on time.

The Brief

As art director, I was responsible for developing the project identity, overseeing the creation of all promotional materials, managing the development of the project’s web presence. In close collaboration with the project manager, we created a 3-year plan that detailed all the design and web team’s deliverables.

Developing a Brand

The strategy for developing the “Defining Moments: Our Canadian Identity” brand was to create an identity that communicated approachability, belonging, and playfulness. Guided by using the maple leaf, illustrated graphics, vibrant colors, and unique typography helped the brand stand out and engage with a younger audience.

Alizarin Crimson

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Minsk

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ECstasy

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DUNE

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Brand Implementation

I was responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of all the promotional materials and collateral.

Bussines Cards

Business cards of 3.5 “x 2.25” were designed for all the staff and workshop facilitators involved in the project.

Letter Head

A custom letterhead was created for all official documentation, and a digital template was designed for online communications.

PowerPoints

PowerPoint slides were designed with the relevant project information about the project and how to run the art workshops. The templates were shared with staff and facilitators across the country.

Promotional Materials

A massive component of the initial phase of the project was conducting art workshops across the country, so there was a big push for creating promotional materials for those events.

Posters

A set of promotional posters were designed to help with outreach and promotion across Canada. The posters were double-sided and had English information on one side and French on the other.

One of the posters needed to be customizable in each location; this was solved with the concept of an empty easel where facilitators could write in the information about their respective event.

Postcards

Promotional double-sided postcards were created to help with engagement. One side featured the information in English, the other side in French.

T-Shirts

Custom T-shirts that featured the Defining Moments leaf in the front and the full logo on the back were created for volunteers and facilitators to wear. The idea was for staff to be easily recognizable at exhibits and workshops.

DVD

One of the deliverables of the project was a documentary DVD. My team designed the DVD cover and opted to use a cardboard sleeve that allowed for a custom stamp with the logo to help reduce costs

Online Presence

A key component for the project was creating a portal that served as the information hub for anyone who would want to get involved. The bilingual website was planned to reflect the changes during each phase of the project.

Planning

I was responsible for creating the user experience, which included creating user flows, wireframes and working closely with the project manager and a team of designers and developers to launch the website.

Website Implementation

The website had information about historical moments of Canadian history, instructions on how to get involved, submission rules, an upload form for digital submissions, information about the exhibits’ locations, and a digital gallery exhibiting the 26 winning art submissions.

Visit Site

Traveling Exhibits

The final component of the project was The Defining Moments Traveling Exhibits which showcased the winning artwork. A total of 28 exhibits happen across Canada, with a reach of over 35000 members of the public. The design team played a crucial role in helping create these exhibits, from designing the Viewer’s choice ballots, scanning artwork, proofing prints, helping plan the installations, and assisting the project manager in any way possible.

Audience Engagement

As a way to engage people attending the exhibits, there was the “art trees” installation, a way for people to participate by filling out one of the Defining Moments Leafs and sharing their defining moment.

Winterlude 2013

The culminating exhibit took place during Winterlude in February 2013. The winners from each province and territory were flown to Ottawa, to be part of the event and receive their awards.

Meeting the Artists

A short promotional video about the Traveling Exhibits was also produced as part of the project.