Brand Development
• Creative Direction
• Branding
• Marketing and advertising
• Graphic Standards, Copyright & Trademark
As Creative Director at Boardroom Eco Apparel from 2006 to 2015, I collaborated with senior leadership to strategize brand development and marketing launches for several brands - from working on the core Boardroom Custom Clothing brand, to the offshoots like Boardroom Golf (BRG), BC Boardroom Contemporary, Gleice, Echo Rain, and the Eco® brand identity.
The brand logo and visual identity is the key communicator and touchstone for an effective brand strategy. I directed all parts of Boardroom’s brand developments and visual identities - from concept ideation, to logo design, and design and project management for marketing collateral.
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The Boardroom brand was the company’s core brand for the promotional goods market. The brand is a play on the corporate “boardroom,” while also referencing surfboards, skateboards, ski, and snowboards. In 2011, we joined the Boardroom and Eco® logos, to align all of Boardroom’s promotional products with sustainable products and practices.
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The Eco® brand was launched as a stand alone capsule for Boardroom in 2007. Developing the Eco® brand identity and marketing strategy, launch and development is meaningful for me, and introduced me to sustainability for textiles and for consumer goods in general.
The Eco® mark grew to support all brands under the Boardroom umbrella, signifying sustainable fabrics, fair trade labour, and supporting initiatives like Closed-Loop Apparel Recycling, and bluesign® safety. In 2011, the Eco® brand was rolled into the Boardroom corporate brand identity overall as Boardroom Eco® Apparel.
At the time of the economic recession of 2008 and the subsequent drop in sales of promotional goods, the Eco® brand differentiated Boardroom as a sustainable supplier and opened a niche market, generating interest and growth sufficient to allow the company to grow and prosper.
The Eco® brand and associated marketing was an important aspect of Boardroom’s partnership with HBC, VANOC and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games official sponsors, and corporate end-user customers like Coke, Microsoft and Tesla.
Because the Eco® brand resonated with end-user customers and investors, we launched two retail brands under the Eco® brand.
I designed the logo and catalogs, infographics, hangtags, custom notion and trims for the Eco® brand capsule, and all subsequent Eco® brands like Eco CDN, Rio Rain, Eco Rain and HBC Ecowear.
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A bespoke brand identity created specifically for HBC (official clothier) for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games official sponsors. It had to include usage of the HBC corporate logo and meet all VANOC logo guidelines for lock-up and sponsor marks. We added the EcoWear branding, consistent with sustainability attributes like sustainable fabrics and fair-trade manufacturing.
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Gleice was the company’s quintessential yoga brand, with a winter “après ski” vibe that attracted ski brands, Intrawest resorts, and countless customers through B2B marketing through distributors like Technosport, Gaults and Edwards Garment. It was also a retail brand from 2006 to 2008 with a store in the trendy West Fourth shopping district of Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood.
Gleice is actually “Gleice Sport Resort,” but means “multi-glisse” in the European sense, like snowblades, ski-biking, snow windsurfing and sailing, and any “sliding” sport.
I loved working on this brand identity, mostly because I penned the brand and the name five days after starting out at Boardroom as a junior graphic designer.
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BRG Golf is Boardroom Golf, a specialty collection of garments made for the promotional products industry. I developed the logo, notions and trims, hangtag and website and catalog for BRG Golf. The BRG Golf brand was distributed by Gaults in Canada and Heritage in the US.
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BC Boardroom Contemporary is a specialty collection of garments made for the promotional products industry for the young, urban customer. The collection used only black, white and navy fabric colors, and the branding was subtle and understated. BC Boardroom Contemporary garments were very popular for restaurant and bar staff and events. I developed the logo, notions and trims, hangtag and website and catalog for BC Boardroom Contemporary. The brand was distributed by Gaults in Canada.
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The Echo Rain brand was a collection of wardrobe basics and accent pieces made using sustainable fabrics and fair trade manufacturing, offered to boutique retailers across the US and Canada through wholesale. I developed a unique brand package, including trims and notions, textile design, website, look books and line sheets, product knowledge, print and digital advertising, and posters for the stores.
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The Rio Rain brand was a collection of wardrobe basics and accent pieces made using sustainable fabrics and fair trade manufacturing, offered at our retail mall stores in Vancouver, Richmond and Kelowna from 2009 to 2013.
I made the artwork for the store builds, including a custom millwork entrance feature, a wallpaper accent wall featuring original artwork by me, and wallpapered repurposed wood panels throughout the store. I made all of the store print collateral like special offer signage, gift certificates, and the shopping bags. I developed a unique brand package, including trims and notions, textile design, website, look books, product knowledge, and print and digital advertising. I’m especially proud of the look-book, store design pieces, the hangtag and the shopping bags.
