Amusing stories & views by us
To blog, or not to blog, that is the question. Through these musings, we hope to give you a better sense of who we are, what we believe in, and share our (design) perspective. Below, explore our creative opinion pieces and discover design tips and tricks to use in your daily life.
2024-04-22 Design thinking
Why a beginner’s mindset is key in design
Back to Beginner Over the past few years, the team at Initiate has actively embraced and encouraged what is commonly known as the beginner’s mindset. We’ve come to recognize the value of promoting open-ended learning, and have integrated it into our approach to our own operations and developing client work. This mindset is not only […]
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2024-04-16 Culture Industry insights
From student to mentor: the other side of the fence
A few weeks ago I was asked by a professor of Algonquin’s Graphic Design program to visit the college and do portfolio reviews with some of their 2nd and 3rd year students. 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 […]
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2024-04-09 Leadership
Mi diseño es su diseño
Reflecting on Initiate’s journey, I can confidently affirm that our success is a testament to collective effort. This realization, simple yet profound, has taken me 15 years to fully grasp. Initiate is more than just an extension of my personal endeavors; it’s a collaborative enterprise. Picture this, Ottawa, 2008…Rewinding to 2008, I departed from a […]
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2024-04-02 Leadership
Birds do it; bees do it, and even creatives can do it
In November, I attended DesignThinkers 2023, a design conference put on by the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) in Toronto. I was thrilled to discover that Chris Do, an Emmy award-winning designer from the US, was the Keynote Speaker and would talk about selling. I had stumbled upon Chris’s work a year earlier, particularly […]
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2024-03-29 Design thinking
Designer Spotlight: Morgan’s Creative Process
This month, we sat down with graphic designer Morgan to chat about her creative process. Can you share a pivotal moment or experience in your life that ignited your passion for design? How has that influenced your creative journey since then? It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what may have flipped the switch towards design in […]
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2024-03-26 Design thinking
What I’ve learned in my first 6 months working at Initiate Marketing.
One of my favourite things about working at Initiate early in my design career, has been being surrounded by design experts that have so much knowledge to share. Here are 6 things I’ve learned over the last 6 months that have improved my design skills and workflow. 1. “Export for Screens” in Illustrator allows for […]
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2024-03-19
Propel video series
Tourism and hospitality had been decimated by the pandemic, and Tourism HR Canada’s Propel Student Work Placement Program was poised to help the industry start down the road toward recovery. They came to us in late 2021 to create some videos to promote the program. There was one part of the project that presented us […]
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2024-03-12 B2B high tech Culture
My move into trade show design
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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2024-03-05 Culture Design thinking
HOW did I end up here? Or, my first-ever industry conference
I was the first placement student from Algonquin College that Initiate hired. After just a month and a half with the company, I got to attend the prestigious HOW Design Live Conference in Nashville with the entire team. This is my experience. Diving straight into the deep end After a trip into Academia to study […]
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2024-02-19 Leadership
Before quiet quitting, there was just…quitting
In June 2020, I quit my job and left an industry I had known for over twenty years. The idea had been percolating for months, but I took the world coming to a stop as a sign from the universe that some changes needed to happen. So quit I did. With quiet quitting getting so […]
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