I went to school to be a graphic designer, but I learned that we are much more than that. I want to explore why I’m uncomfortable with this term, its genericism and the boxes it puts designers in. Disclaimer: I’m not trying to offend anybody’s profession, personal opinion or love of the term graphic designer. […]
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As my father’s daughter, I’m not shy, quiet, or demure but confident, exuberant, and outgoing. Instead of being described as such, like my dad often was, I was mostly labeled “aggressive.” I can’t remember with absolute certainty ever being told by our father that he wanted sons instead of daughters. But I am confident that […]
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Some of us seek out vintage items, and some of us have been drawn to an item only to later learn of its robust history. Either way, here at Initiate we’ve realized that most of us own or collect vintage items, or love a good craft market! We want to share our favourite finds with […]
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Hint: it involves some initiative Having recently reviewed countless résumés with spelling mistakes along with portfolios, the ability to focus or pay attention to detail is becoming one of the most attractive skill sets to me as an employer. I’m sharing from the perspective of what Michael and I are looking for from people joining […]
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Creativity is a circuitous path Like many designers, my path to creating hasn’t been a straight line. I came to Ottawa to study journalism, political science and public administration in 1994, and spent 15 years working for think tanks, associations, and government departments as a policy analyst. It was interesting, but oftentimes dry work. Along […]
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As a 2021 graduate of this program, I have only been in the industry full-time for about 2.5 years. The imposter syndrome came in hot — thoughts like “I don’t have enough experience,” “I’m not going to give good advice,” and “I don’t know what I’m going to say” raced through my mind. Not to […]
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Before Initiate, I had very little real-life experience designing for print from scratch. At a previous print production job, I was using templated sizes for documents, and nothing was larger than 12×18 inches. The company itself was the client since we were designing our own products, and I was sending my files to the senior […]
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Diving straight into the deep end After a trip into Academia to study film in university followed by 15 years in the hospitality industry, it was time for a change. I completed my Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design at Algonquin College this past year. I did my final semester’s work placement with Initiate and was […]
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Every single evening when I get home, my family asks this question, and every single evening I enthusiastically answer: “It was great!”, “It was so good!” and I mean it I came to this realization a few months into working at Initiate, and a year later there has been maybe one day that was just […]
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Why juggling everything works, for me I’ve always enjoyed keeping myself busy. I’ve worked as a full-time designer and part-time freelancer for the past 18 years while simultaneously teaching for the last 12 years; some semesters, teaching as many as 4 nights a week. Staying busy helps me stay focused and be more creative—I’m always […]
