The highly successful Thanksgiving studio tour in the Almonte and Clayton area keeps expanding in scope. In 2018 Sumack Loft helped the tour organizers move to a new brochure format to make a wealth of information manageable and easy to navigate for attendees. The overall look and feel of the branding has also been updated with a cleaner, more sophisticated approach. Logo and tagline also developed by Sumack Loft.

Co-op week is the opportunity for Canadian co-operative and credit union members to celebrate their achievements. A lively, engaging design with honeybees and a heart being created by the honeycomb represent human cooperation and goodwill. With six different colour ways following the brand colours at Co-op Canada, members can pick and choose their favourite, or print them all out!

Crooked Mile Brewing Company Craft Beer Labels: Crow’s Castle. Art direction, design, and illustration for a microbrewery in Almonte, Ontario. Crooked Mile commissioned me to create illustrations for each of their flagship beers based on vistas the owners fell in love with during a walking tour in the UK. Crow’s Castle is a Welsh Best Bitter featuring the “Dinas Bran”, or Crow’s Castle, sitting atop a tall hill in Wales, with the requisite murder of crows wheeling and soaring all around.

The new owners of the Carp Garden Centre, a popular local centre offering unusual and hard-to-find plant varieties as well as the more standard fare, came to us for a new logo and website. Now thoroughly delighted, these fine folks kept the faith through one of the more circuitous developments I’ve had to date when their brief morphed mid-process! Website also designed at Sumack Loft: https://carpgardencentre.ca.

Ideal Control Systems Inc. (ICS) is a technology company specializing in hospitality and retail solutions, serving customers in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. We created a clear and professional online presence for ICS, including such core content as products for sale, available solutions, and industry news and trends. To see the full site please go to https://ottawapointofsale.com

This little logo came about due to a nice serendipity. It was designed as an option for another client a couple of years ago, and, while they chose another design, it has always remained a favourite of mine. I posted it recently to a local women’s business group, explaining that it was “up for adoption”, and a local consulting firm, who happened to have a rabbit-themed business name, jumped on it.

The Pakenham Public School in Mississippi Mills is proud to be at the top of the Fraser Institute for all schools in the Upper Canada Board area. It offers an intimate setting where they have few issues due to the close knit nature of the community, the staff, and the children themselves. This design is based on the unique heritage 5-span bridge for which the town of Pakenham is famous, depicting the charismatic arches wth the rushing river beneath. The new logo improves on the original design, making the brand more contemporary with better visual harmony, and including a version to celebrate their 50th year!

Long established as one of the top designers in the field of Irish dance, this dress maker recently came to us to help revitalize a brand that had been critically overtaken by some of the big names in the industry. We created a powerful new visual identity of a phoenix rising from the flames, its shape a subtle reflection of a dancer standing in the ready position. Along with an effective new website, an exciting contest, and a series of stunning advertisements Phoenix Designs immediately captured the attention of the Irish Dancing world.

Concept created in 2014 for the Handmade Harvest Craft Show, this logo was selected by a panel of judges in 2017 from over 40,000 entries to be featured in LogoLounge Volume 10, an annual “best of the best” book of logo design. The logo features a bear clutching a harvested bundle of items in its arms that upon second glance resembles a human hand. I always loved this design although the client chose another favourite. The craft show has since undergone a name change, and a new identity subsequently developed, however I still think the designs I created at the time stand out as some of my best work.

This Ottawa custom log home building company needed an updated logo and website in order to compete and excel in today’s marketplace. They do this by emphasizing sustainability in a big way while building homes that are as energy efficient as possible. The logo is designed to represent both the traditional nature of the build as well as their creative and modern process. The new logo shows a seamless integration into the environment, a sense of living lightly, with a small carbon footprint. Website also designed at Sumack Loft: http://www.kealeytackaberryloghomes.com

Dandelion Foods: One of my most loyal and cherished clients, Dandelion Foods, came to the realization in 2016 that their existing website, designed by Sumack Loft several years ago, was no longer doing the things that they needed it to do. My partners and I quickly put together a proposal for a new WordPress-based site with a brand update as requested by our client. Their site is now fresh and fun with a farmstead feeling including its barnboard background and array of delicious produce, while making it easy for our friends at the store to share store specials, instore events, etc. Logo also designed at Sumack Loft. To see the full site please go to http://www.dandelionfoods.ca.

Eko Solar Engine: Art direction and design of illustration/infographic showing the component parts of the passive house building solution offered at EkoBuilt. A passive house is powered by the sun and requires no furnace, allowing its residents to live off grid if required, thus the illustration has been designed in such a way as to convey a wealth of information in a quick and simple way.

The Town of Mississippi Mills requested a logo design based on their existing identity but which would reflect Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations. The client asked that there be a maple leaf reference of some kind, and that the temporary brand be fun and dynamic and promote diversity. The new logo contains the original Town logo’s M, which doubles as a bridge and waterfall, with a new containing graphic of a maple leaf that brings to mind a fireworks display, as well as suggesting diversity in its use of form and colour.

Naked Composer – Glorius II / The Open Field: Art direction, concept, and production of illustrative campaign for musical endeavour. Illustration developed to back up idea of Naked Composer depicts man lying in grass surrounded by various elements that seem to be manifestations of the music inside his head. Each element is to be released as cover art with a song once a month until all 12 songs have been published, at which point, any patron who has purchased the complete set receives an electronic copy of the full illustration which they can print out.

Our local midwifery group, for whom we created branding and a new website in 2015, were finding that there still appeared to be a lack of understanding about midwifery among medical professionals and potential clients. This inviting and informative brochure was produced for distribution in medical offices and for outreach in the community.

Kealey & Tackaberry Log Homes: This Ottawa-based custom log home builder specializes in sustainability while building homes that are as energy efficient as possible. Their new branding and website, designed at Sumack Loft, represents both the traditional nature of the build as well as their creative and modern process. It emphasizes a seamless integration into the environment, a sense of living lightly, with a small carbon footprint. To see the full site please go to: https://kealeytackaberryloghomes.com.

Little Miss Whoopie: An illustration for a fellow creative in the U.S. who needed a girl superhero to represent a client making pastries called Whoopie Pies. The superhero ended up being changed quite a lot for the final, but here she is as she looked when she left my studio!

Nebbs Transport has been providing transportation solutions to manufacturers and suppliers throughout North America for almost 30 years. In 2016 the team recognized that their existing brand was badly in need of modernizing to keep the company competitive and credible in a busy marketplace. The new logo conveys a forward-thinking and modern company featuring a stylized illustration of a map with a visual effect that recalls
 the era of the crinkled map in the glove compartment, yet also powerfully suggests the notion of distribution to different areas of the continent.

Annual report designed for the national association representing over 9,000 co-operatives in Canada. An engaging and compelling design was developed based on the geometric shapes contained within the logo, and featuring sumptuous large images overlaid with large typography.

Comprehensive branding for Tapastree, a fundraising initiative for Mills Community, including logo, numerous print pieces, and Facebook graphics. The annual event is a wonderful weave of local food, drink, music, theatre, art and community.