“I believe everyone is born into the world to do something unique and distinctive.”
BENJAMIN E. MAYS
As part of the Gen X workforce, I bring a unique perspective that is half analog and half digital. After spending the last two decades working in design and marketing, I have witnessed first hand the seismic shift in how we communicate. This invaluable experience has allowed me to develop a useful hybrid of offline and online communication skills and an ability to serve as a bridge for multi-generational clients and colleagues alike.
I decided to start Born Brand Studio because I love collaborating and learning from people who truly “love” what they do and are passionate about making a difference in the world.
I am a creator and a communicator.
My role within an organization is to create and bring concepts to life through the use of language, visuals and a clearly defined strategy. As a marketing professional, it is my job to bridge the gap between client and audience by communicating their story as clearly as possible.
Experience
Medium
Accomplishments
Industry Experience
Design, Marketing, Communications
22 yrs
Education
Visual Arts & Western Literature
UWO
Awards
International Creative & Marketing
7
Professional Positions
Director of Marketing
Human_Code
Hamilton, Ontario
Creative Director
Human_Code (formerly Imagination Plus)
Hamilton, Ontario
Client Manager
Human_Code (formerly Imagination Plus)
Hamilton, Ontario
Lead Graphic Designer
Indigo (formerly Chapters)
Toronto, Ontario
Strengths
Strategy
Driving brainstorm sessions and filtering ideas into a solid strategy.
Branding
Developing and managing brands; creating and executing brand identities and guidelines.
Marketing
Across multiple platforms in traditional, digital or integrated campaigns.
Graphic Design
UX, UI, Print, Packaging, Web and Mobile.
Copy Writing
Short and long form in multiple brand voices & across platforms.
Presentation
Exceptional, highly persuasive internal and client facing presentation skills
Client Relationships
Comfortable building, strengthening and maintaining client relationships.
Leadership
Successful at mentoring and leading by example, encouraging others to grow and develop their skills
Experience
Expertise
Brand Strategy
Research & Analysis
Audience Personas
Identity Design
Brand / Style Guides
Brand Asset Management
PR / Communications
Copy Writing
Marketing
Advertising
Photography
Social Media
Multi-platform Campaigns
Project Management
Client Management Team Leadership
Agile Methodology
Skills
Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
Acrobat
PowerPoint
MS Office Suite
G Suite
MS Office Suite
Atlassian JIRA / Confluence
Agile Project Management
Kanban
Pre Press Production
WCAG/AODA
Frontify
Trello
Squarespace CMS
OpenBrand
CoSchedule
Survey Monkey
MailChimp
Industry
Arts & Culture
Civic & Public
Design
Education
Entertainment
Food & Drink
Healthcare
Hospitality & Leisure
Manufacturing & Industrial
Not for Profit
Professional Services
Publishing
Real Estate
Retail
Technology
Transportation
Previous Clients
Beatties Basics
College of Psychologists ON
City of Burlington
CoB Sound of Music Festival
Canadian Tire / Woods
Dairy Farmers of Canada
Findlay Law
Hamilton Burlington SPCA
Hamilton Intl. Airport
Hamilton Chamber
Hamilton Cons. Authority
LIUNA 837 Union
McMaster University
Mohawk College
Pentax Medical Canada / US
Rockton World's Fair
Scarfone Hawkins LLP
Telling Tales Festival
Wesley Urban Ministries
Wild Waterworks
Selected Projects
Work that was completed during my tenure as Director of Marketing and Creative Director at Human_Code.
Beatties
We helped Beatties reinterpret and communicate its brand in a way that reinforced the company’s most important asset—its people—and its most important offering—service—to a new generation of clients.
Bins.ca
We helped Alpine Environmental Disposal and Junk Removal downsize its name, turning a URL into a new brand personality, tagline and crap-tastic campaign to catch the attention of new customers.
MBNCanada
We helped the Ontario Municipal CAO's Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI), reflect their new national focus for the organization. The name, as well as the new brand, was unveiled at the organization’s annual forum in 2016.
Xocial
Xocial (pronounced soh-shuhl) is an online platform for measuring positive social impact that has since become a participant at international events and a partner with organizations such as Life is Good. I’ve been working with Xocial since day one, and am continuing to grow the company’s brand.
Directworx
Hot on the heels of an award-winning renaming and rebranding project with us, Directworx came to Human_Code to put our special spin on a multi-platform, multi-media marketing campaign for a specific product. The target audience was corporate: cable companies and utilities but spoke to the audiences in mind.
Hamilton International Airport
The John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport wanted to increase awareness of its winter holiday destinations. For this award-winning campaign, we put the emotional connection front and centre.
Scarfone Hawkins
Highly respected local law firm, Scarfone Hawkins, needed a new website. They loved their tagline, ‘The Art of Law,’ and we helped them interpret this across the site, from imagery to copy, showcasing the firm's strength - it's people.
Hamilton Chamber of Commerce
As “the voice of business in Hamilton,” the Chamber of Commerce needed a new brand that was forward thinking. The Chamber’s leadership, staff and website have changed over time, but the branding elements and logos are all still in use.
Featured work from my personal portfolio
Testimonial
" Her abilities are expansive, and near the top of the list is an award-winning eye for design. She has a unique ability to see the entire picture. Diving deep into a company’s culture and services she ties identity to purpose to bring out the best they have to offer and ties it up in a tidy, clear, optimized strategy from mission to messaging to communications to offerings. But none of that works if you aren’t a great communicator. "
Maya Angelou, American Poet
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”