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.

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Design thinking Geneviève

A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer

Geneviève is a graphic designer at Initiate. One of my absolute favourite parts of working in a creative field is how diverse my day can be. It’s a bit like that wise saying: you can’t step into the same river twice. That being said, I tend to thrive on routine–paradoxically, it’s predictability in the structure […]

2024-06-17
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Leadership Michael

Leading Through Transition and Loss of Talent

Navigating my team’s personal and professional choices has been a significant part of my leadership journey. Realizing that it’s tougher to see a skilled employee become disengaged than to lose them has shifted my focus. I’ve learned to prioritize their growth and aspirations over my preferences, which has been crucial for my development as a […]

2024-06-10
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Design thinking Owen

Design software tips: work smarter, not harder

Working at Initiate requires staying on top of multiple high-priority tasks at once. How am I able to do this? Through improving my workflow, and with some simple tricks, all of us can create high-quality designs more efficiently. 1. Illustrator: “paste” on all artboards While graphic design is often a creatively driven passion project, it […]

2024-06-03
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Design thinking Francesca

Designer Spotlight: Fran’s Creative Process

This month, we sat down with Fran, Initiate’s User Experience Designer, to chat about her creative design 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? One pivotal experience that profoundly shaped my journey into design happened […]

2024-05-31
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Culture Christi

Vintage design treasures, by our designers

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 […]

2024-05-27
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Leadership Jennifer

Remote work: it shouldn’t be about where, but how

Four years later my LinkedIn feed is littered with employee rants that theirs is the next company phasing them “back to work” or with stories from fully remote employees feeling isolated, some worrying they are being passed up for promotion because they aren’t being “seen” by the right people at the office. Of all the […]

2024-05-20
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Culture Jennifer

Things to consider when applying for a job at Initiate

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 […]

2024-05-13
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Culture Geneviève

Transferable Skills: From Policy Analyst to Graphic Designer

Geneviève is a graphic designer at Initiate. Before venturing into the creative industry, she spent 15 years working in policy analysis. 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 […]

2024-05-06
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Design thinking Kevin

Designer spotlight: Kevin’s creative process

This month, we sat down with Kevin, Initiate’s Digital Art Director, to chat about his creative design 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 all started with reading comic strips in the Sunday newspaper, […]

2024-04-30
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Design thinking Jamie

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 […]

2024-04-22
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Culture Industry insights Christi

From student to mentor: the other side of the fence

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 […]

2024-04-16
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Leadership Michael

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 […]

2024-04-09
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