Big Brother Canada is a reality television show that follows a group of contestants, known as Houseguests, who live together 24/7 in an enclosed home that is under constant surveillance. For it's sixth season, BBCAN was redesigned and developed from the ground up to address growing problems with an aging framework. Along the way, we introduced new features to aid in increasing user engagement and designed a solid template that can be efficiently re-used year over year.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER
As Art Director and Designer on the project, I worked closely with UX and Development to meet a very aggressive timeline. As a BBCAN fan, I had an understanding of what the premise of the show is and was actively involved throughout the project to help shape the vision and experience we wanted to bring to users online. As a creative, we needed to keep our ideas simple and efficient to meet the hard deadline while meeting business requirements and making sure our solutions to the template creatively solved for site flexibility for year-over-year use.
THE CHALLENGE
Due to the show being renewed last minute, we only had a short period to get a fully functional site up in time for the show premiere. We hustled and made adjustments to our workflow to enable UX, Design and Development to research, ideate, prototype and build on the fly. (For example, I worked closely with Development and together we 'designed on the go' in browser with live code)
From a visual perspective, we had limited assets to work with since the set production was being built the same time the site was. It was important for us to make sure the website and branding was cohesive with On-Air, Social, Marketing and Sales executions.
THE RESULT
We launched a responsive website on time and increased page views and time spent on the site. Video starts saw a significant increase in comparison to last year and the site saw solid numbers with sponsorships and revenue generated. The design of the site is also consistent with the Season 6 theme and we were successful in having a seamless BBCAN brand experience from On-Air to Online experience. We also saw great success in user engagement through various tools; users voted on the site in huge numbers to influence several outcomes on the show throughout the season.
MOODBOARD (Season 6 Theme: Heaven & Hell)
HGTV.ca is the your go-to place to find the most compelling and entertaining stories about the connections people have with places they call home. We produced a brand spanking new website that is responsive with UX, SEO, technical and accessibility enhancements to help increase audience reach and improve user engagement.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER
As Art Director for the website redesign, I was responsible for the overall online creative direction and site experience for our users. I also contributed to ideation, research, strategy and became lead contact for everything creative and user experience related. I worked closely with different internal departments such as UX, Development, Sales, Analytics, On-Air Production and as well as various Key Stakeholders to make sure business requirements are met and within scope while maintaining Design and UX integrity.
THE CHALLENGE
First, the Information Architecture needed to be re-thought and re-organized. Through UX research, we found that users experienced difficulty finding specific content and that the path to achieve this goal was often buried several pages deep. Because of this information hierarchy issue, we found the overall experience of the site was not the greatest and this directly affected the site design which looked crowded and overwhelming.
Secondly, the site looked really tired and outdated. HGTV.ca is an authority on home and Canadian living style and the HGTV.ca content team wanted a site that looked the part.
THE RESULT
A functional and responsive website. We simplified the Navigation to focus on the things that mattered to our users; Finding HGTV.ca shows and their favourite hosts, watching videos and finding design decorating inspiration. Content is also bucketed in a way to bring focus and ease of navigating the site. We also paid attention to monetization opportunities through seamless implementation of ads and as well as dynamically injecting ads in a set pattern on several widgets. The team also did significant work to optimize the site performance (Image lazy load, using smaller images on mobile and font optimization) which contributed to a smooth user experience.
The design is fresh, simple, understated and uses brand colours strategically to lead the eye through the site. It is confident without being ostentatious and honours the HGTV.ca content.
MOOD BOARD
Food Network is driven by great stories, iconic characters and BIG emotions with food at it's core. Users have a good understanding of the brand and it's offerings, but the brand needed a new site that addressed user concerns of difficulty finding information on the site. We focused on simplifying the user experience and cooked up a delicious responsive site.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTION + DESIGN
As Art Director and Designer, I was responsible for Art Direction and Designs for several Food Network Canada Projects and became a FNC brand design advocate that guided designs and experiences for the brand to ensure a consistent brand experience online. I was involved in various initiatives from a website redesign, to brand ideation and branding (Great Canadian Cookbook) and provided day-to-day design support to the team.
THE CHALLENGE
FNC has a lot of content! From videos to recipes, we wanted to showcase all of this delicious content in a simple and accessible way for our users to find and consume.
THE RESULT
We produced a responsive website that we've constantly iterated on since launch. Phase 1 of the launch was the Recipes page. The 'smaller' scale launch allowed us to observe how users interacted with this section of the site. Because of this we were able to apply learnings to Phase 2 launch of the full site. We enabled widget click tracking throughout the site which provides us with valuable information on how users are navigating the site and as well as content they are accessing (Or not accessing).
HISTORY® features the thrilling lives of maverick characters who are real, gutsy and wise. With History GO, you can watch all your favourite HISTORY shows on the go.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER
I was responsible for the app design and was tasked with making sure we showcase the HISTORY brand lineup prominently. HISTORY has several big production shows with beautiful Keyart Assets so we put that to good use and employed big imagery where we could and where it made sense. Being one of the first apps released by Shaw Media, I worked closely with UX to come up with an experience and layout that allows for easy navigation of the app.
Disney Junior is a channel for preschoolers offering classic and contemporary Disney stories with learning and developmental programming designed for kids ages 2 to 7. We focused on developing an experience kids can stay engaged with and can easily comprehend.
MY ROLE: DESIGNER
Being an app design for kids, we wanted to keep the design bold, fun and colourful with a simplified and organized UI that commanded attention and is easy to understand. As a designer on the project, I focused on utilizing recognizable Disney Characters, framed in the iconic Mickey Mouse silhouette, as the main navigation of the site. This visual navigation proved effective with our demographic (through user testing, kids knew how to use the app right away) while also highlighting the breadth of content this app has to offer.
As part of a multidisciplinary team at Shaw Media, I had a great opportunity to work on a few brands on creating experiences, platforms and content. Below are a few examples of projects I consulted on and designed for.
ROLE: ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER
A site redesign for an iconic brand that is all about the user's experience and providing an unobstructed and uncomplicated way of reading the news online.
MY ROLE: DESIGNER + UX
Being a news site, the project had many pages and a lot of content. Together with UX, we came up with several templates that accommodated varying amounts and lengths of content. The UI is simple and condensed. We were inspired by the Toronto Star newspaper layout and wanted to translate that into the online space. As a designer, I worked closely with the Art Director on the UI and information architecture.
ROLE: DESIGNER
A fresh new look for a favourite retailer that spans all media: online, radio, CRM, email, DM, print, in-store and out of home. Based on the insight that the sporting life is the good life, we created a new look and feel that plays up the lifestyle of the Sporting Life customer and features their products and services. It's versatile. It's playful. It's memorable.
MY ROLE: DESIGNER
As a designer, I worked on different mediums to apply the new refreshed brand style. I created posters, editorial ads, promotional pamphlets, microsites, etc. Through this, I was able to assist in further developing the brand's look and feel.
The Money Movement is a series produced by ING DIRECT Canada that aims to teach both kids and adults about money and saving. Make money simple for kids and adults. With an animated series that stars the animals from Canadian coins, we learn how easy it is to start down the right financial path.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER
My main role as Art Director was to bring these characters to life. Together with the Creative Directors, we worked closely with an Illustrator and Animator to develop these characters. As a designer, I helped shape and give creative input into the visual look of the series. I contributed to the story line and did story boards and schematics to aid communicating the teams vision for these 'Savers'.
Create a wine destination from the ground up. New brand, new website, new way to learn, shop, and bond over wine. A wine destination for all. At Winefox, you are welcomed by a charming, witty and worldly fox who is anything but pretentious. His love for wine is undying and his distain for wine snobbery is outspoken. He is the great equalizer in the Winefox world as he invites all wine lovers, of all levels to learn, travel, build a cellar and share their experiences.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER
As Art Director on the project, we ideated and developed the branding from the ground up. I was involved right at the beginning with name ideation and branding, to doing initial moodboards, to illustrating Tommy Winefox and designing the website.
ING DIRECT Canada had a concern: Since it was an online bank with no physical bank branches like the big banks, it was missing that physical connection people have come to value especially when dealing with their money.
The solution was simple. Showcase the actual people that work in ING DIRECT call centers. Highlight who these people are and bring out what makes them real. In the process, highlighting the brands Service Promise and the people who promise to uphold it.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER
As Art Director, I was involved in ideation, pitch proposal, casting and participated in the Photoshoot to provide creative input. As a designer, I designed the illustrations and the layout.
Dashboard is an agency of strategists, big thinkers, meticulous creators and digital explorers. To mark its 10th year anniversary, a new brand was launched.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER + ILLUSTRATOR
From ideation to execution, as Art Director and Designer, I was involved in all aspects of this rebranding from start to finish.
ROLE: ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER
Being an online bank, ING DIRECT needed support with several digital intiatives. Plethora of design projects from online media to re-designing their online banking experience to producing an animated series about money; they were always on the lookout for efficient and personable ways of communicating with their clients and the public.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER
As an Art Director and Designer, I was involved in various online campaigns and initiatives for ING Direct Canada. Key achievements include creating numerous successful online media campaigns, helping shape and design the ING Direct Cafe, designing several online financial tools for users, and redesigning the online banking UI.
