triggersandsparks.com projects

Marilyn Hicks Website

After developing her identity, we created a website for Marilyn.

Vincent’s Restaurant Menu

Vincent’s Restaurant required a menu that was elegant yet still modern. I selected an unorthodox script font for the headers and set the pages a little left of center, giving the menu a bit of visual tension.

Jaye Wells’ Blog

Jaye Wells’ debut novel was due out soon, and she was still using a generic Blogger template as her primary site. In anticipation of the release, we moved her old posts over to a customized Wordpress installation, then created a customized theme based on the cover design of her book.

Fernwood Publishing Website Redesign

Fernwood publishes non-fiction books on a wide array of topics, promoting critical thinking on cultural, social, political, and academic subject matter.

Holiday Card

Every year, I mean to put out a Christmas/New Year/generic holiday card, and every year, I get super stressed and run out of time. This year was no exception, but I was so determined that I stayed up all night designing the card, then spent the next few days licking stamps and addressing envelopes.

Brent Weeks Website

Brent Weeks is one of Orbit’s newest authors, and he was in dire need of a new website design! As usual, we wanted the design to match the look of his novels, and the whole thing needed to be done in two weeks, to coincide with the release date for the first book in the series.

Sébastien’s Bistro Website Design

Sébastien’s Bistro had recently opened in a location that had changed owners a number of times in the past few years. They wanted a website that would differentiate them from the previous incarnations of the location, emphasizing the quality of the food without scaring off customers by seeming too “high-brow”.

Maplewood on the Lakes Community Website

Maplewood on the Lakes is a subdivision in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia. They were looking for a community website to encourage communication between their residents.

Lilith Saintcrow Websites

Fantasy author Lilith Saintcrow was looking to refresh her website design in order to coincide with the release of her new series of books. Additionally, the website needed to be moved to a new server and upgraded from an ancient version of Wordpress to the most current.

Walker Inn Identity

When my mother bought herself an absolutely lovely (and haunted!) inn in Pictou, I was naturally her first-choice designer. As usual, we started from the ground-up, with a logo.

Portrait of a Lady

I went a little insane last Christmas, and decided that I needed to hand-make everyone rather involved presents. (This may or may not have been in part induced by my deep-seated fear of shopping anytime in December.) For my beloved little sister, I decided that an abstract portrait of sorts was the way to go.

One on One Coaching Revamp

Marcia approached me with a website that she didn’t want to change radically, but that wasn’t quite living up to its potential.

CTA Organizational Charts

The Canadian Transport Agency needed a set of well-designed organizational charts to deliver to their stakeholders. They had a lot of information that needed to be squeezed into quite a small space, and very particular accessibility guidelines.

Kannis Dog Food Bag

Kannis were producing a dog food for the Indian market, and were looking for a packaging design that was both modern and classical. This being quite a new arena for me, I did a good deal of research into dog food packaging and discovered that a lot of effort goes into designing those bags to appeal to pet owners.

Atlantic Sojourn Revamp

The Atlantic Sojourn B&B loved their website, but wanted it to be more search-engine friendly. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is such and involved and ever-changing knowledge that many companies deal with it exclusively. What I could offer to Susan and Sebelle was a retooling of the site structure and code in order to help boost its rankings.

Web Site Maintenance and Design Logo Revamp

Ryan described his website as suffering from the “carpenter’s house syndrome”. Of course, a logo provides the foundation for any design, so we started with that.

Marilyn Hicks Identity Design

Marilyn is a self-described “independent tax specialist”—not the most visually stimulating of titles. We began her identity project with a logo.

Rum Runner Inn Website

After finishing with a website, brochure, and business card for Smuggler’s Cove Inn, we tackled Eva’s other inn.

Walker Inn Website Revamp

This website was a long time in production. The design was re-overhauled at least twice in its genesis, and I'll be the first to admit that I was probably a little too focused on getting everything just right than I ought to be in order to stay in business! But it was for my mum’s inn, and hey, that’s my inheritance, right?

ArtChoices Website

ArtChoices is a small gallery based on Lunenburg. Sue approached me, looking for a website, but a little hesitant to delve into the unfamiliar online world.

Black Ships Websites

Orbit came to me looking for a LiveJournal template for one of their authors, who had just released her debut noval, Black Ships.

Streakfree Website Revamp

After tweaking their logo, we started revamping Streakfree’s old website.

Knowtropolis Logo

Knowtropolis is one of the most ambitious, and accordingly one of the most exciting projects I’ve taken on recently. The site itself, still in development, is intended to be something of a community-driven YellowPages for the Web 2.0 generation, so it needs both a strong design and more complex backend programming than most small-business sites entail.

Naturally, we started with a logo. The Knowtropolis gang had a lot of very concrete, but also rather vague, ideas about what they wanted: a modern Art Deco look, “like what a booth at the Chicago World’s Fair would look like if it were designed today.” I liked the idea of playing with a city skyline, as I’ve always been rather fond of them, so we developed the logo in that direction.

Seaweed Events Website

Lunenburg is not exactly, let&rsqo;s say, a really happening nightspot. Pretty much everything shuts down at 5pm. Don&rsqo;t get me wrong, I love it for that, but sometimes it&rsqo;s a frustrating place in which to be twenty-something. So when Darryl was looking for a website for his “Let&rsqo;s Bring Live Music to Lunenburg” venture, I was happy to help.

StreakFree Logo Redesign

As part of a wider rebranding project, we started with a refinement of their logo.

Comfort & Joy Logo

Comfort & Joy are an independent home decor store in Lunenburg. They were on the hunt for a logo that was warm and inviting, but still gave the impression of being a little upscale.

Digital Edge Website

Digital Edge was looking to redesign their website to give it a more modern look.

Newspaper Ad Redux

Sure, the first advertisement hadn’t helped the post office space find a tenant, but Lunenburg’s main drag looks like a ghost town these days, anyway. Scott, not one to lose hope easily, contacted me about doing another ad for the space.

Horizon Santé Développement Website

A volunteer project produced in conjunction with InterConnection, an association that pairs designers with non-profits in developing countries, the HSD project quickly became a personal favourite.

Quilts by the Sea Website

Quilts by the Sea had just changed hands, so it was an excellent time to revamp their old website.

Lunenburg Framing & Studio Website

Lunenburg Framing & Studio were looking for a simple website to advertise their services.

Atlantic Gateway Alliance Website

After I'd worked on the Nova Scotia Lobster Council branding with Helene, she wanted to do something similar for the Atlantic Gateway Alliance.

Nova Scotia Lobster Council Website

After I'd developed their logo, the newly-created Nova Scotia Lobster Council wanted a simple, clean website.

Triggers & Sparks Promotional Print Work

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating—I am above and beyond, the most overbearing, most nitpicky, most infuriating client I will ever have to deal with. Which means that, when doing self-promotional work, it usually takes me about five times as long as usual to get anything done.

Smuggler’s Cove Inn Brochure & Business Card

After finishing their website redesign, Smuggler’s Cove Inn decided they could do with a redesign of their business cards and brochures.

Bill Smith Campaign Logo

Bill Smith's campaign team were looking for a logo that was clean, simple, and modern.

Smuggler’s Cove Inn Website

Smuggler’s Cove Inn already had a website already, but it was showing its age. Time for a redesign!

Harrison MacKay Website

Lynne came to me with her design already firmly decided—she just needed it translated for the web.

Triple R Tack Logo

Triple R Tack sells a good deal of glitzy tack to little girls. Accordingly, Joan was looking for a logo that was a little bit western, a little bit “bling”. She also wanted to incorporate three intertwined Rs.

Nova Scotia Lobster Council Logo

The newly-created Nova Scotia Lobster Council were looking for a logo that was clean, professional, and represented the lobster in a way that wasn’t cartoony.

Remembering Manon Website

Judy wanted a memorial website for Manon Charette—something simple, clean, and useable. She also wanted to incorporate a fairly large slideshow into the site.

NS Liberal Leadership Branding

The Nova Scotia Liberal Party wanted clean, strong branding for their leadership race, so they asked me to help them develop a logo and website.

Newspaper Ad

Scott called me because he'd seen my Come Prepared poster. Lunenburg's postal office was moving, and for the first time, he needed to find a new tenant for his commercial space, located in the historic town center.

Album Cover

Designing an album cover is probably every designer's dream. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

The Fantasy Rock Show

This was an assignment I assigned myself, and I probably spent about as much time assembling the (totally impossible at any time or place) band list as I did designing the poster. It's essentially my fantasy rock show, and I somehow managed to forget to put Hendrix on the list.

Resume Design

If it were up to me, everyone would have a custom-designed resume. After all, you're marketing yourself when you apply for jobs. It only makes sense that you should apply marketing principles to your resume. And hey, for the most part, recruiters agree with me on this one.

I'm currently offering a limited-time-only resume special, so come get one while they’re cheap! You get a professionally-designed, totally unique resume in PDF format, perfect for printing out or including as an email attachment.

To get started with the resume special I’ll need the full text of your resume (1 page worth, properly spell-checked and edited and such). I’ll also need a quick client brief filled out (download here) to get some ideas about what you’re looking for. Since I don't request a signed contract with the resume special, I do require pre-payment—$70+ tax ends up coming to $79.80. For payment, I accept Interac Email Money Transfer, Paypal Instant Transfer, or a cheque sent in the mail, whichever works best for you! Oh, and that's CAD.

And ... that's pretty much it. Once I’ve the payment & text of your resume, plus any specifications from you, I’ll do up a mock design, and we’ll do a few revisions from there, and then you’ll be sitting pretty with a uniquely-designed resume!

Questions? Feel free to drop me a line.

Playing with Type

I've a pretty healthy interest in all things typographical. When I worked for HB Studios, I became the go-to girl for anyone's font questions.

Mutant Yucky Colours

A magazine layout illustrating an article which raged against modern American usage of lurid colours (primarily teal, hot pink, and tan) and their corresponding cultural associations. I think it might have been written in the 80's, when such colours were haute couture.

Informative Brochure

Kisserup was looking for a brochure to pass around at their business seminars. They wanted it similar in style & feel to the website and business card I'd previously designed for them, so I made use of a similar font hierarchy and graphic elements, making what would be the front cover a vibrant red.

Wedding Invitations

The invites for the Steeleworthy wedding were designed on a tight budget, affording colour only in the choice of cardstock.

Stamp Design

A set of stamps Canada Post did not issue. I was assigned to commemorate a cultural group in Canada.

Collage & Illustration

Back in the days when I had free time, I used to enjoy playing with collage and illustration. I'm hoping to get back into doing art for the sake of doing art again.

Poster Designs

Below, various posters designed while I was in school.

Skills Canada Poster

Skills Canada wanted a poster to attract student attention to their competition, which was supposed to encourage high school students to develop trade-school skills.

Book Covers

Being a bit of a bibliophile (I'm currently out of bookcase space), I've always had a great deal of interest in book cover design.

Print Work

I've done a lot of piecework for the Halifax Cranberry Company -- converting their old Flash website to a more user-friendly HTML version, making slight alterations to business cards and mailing labels, and constantly wrangling with the print shop to be sure the colours come out right.

Relax Identity

This was another day assignment, created for a fictitious yoga group that (theoretically) wanted a clean, contemporary look.

The Platypus

This platypus was designed as a logo for a college radio station called "The Platypus". They were looking for something to attract student attention.

Youth Group Logo

Logo mockups developed for HRM's Youth Strategy group—who were still unnamed at that point. I spent an afternoon with the group, getting a feel for their tastes and energies. These are a few of the mockups that originated from that session.

GHBLN Identity

The GHBLN worked to help employers hire handicapped people. They wanted a logo that expressed community-building across the HRM region and solicited mockups from our class.

Apples & Pears Identity

Logo done as a day assignment when I was in school. (They gave us the assignment at 9am, we went off and brought back a colour print at 4pm.) The brief called for an identity package for an upscale catering service, and specified that it ought to contain some kind of hand-rendered element.

The BusStop Logo Design

Howard has very specific ideas about what he wants for his "multiconfigurable performance space", named The BusStop (undoubtably after the Metro Transit stop outside). He kept repeating the mantra "hand-made, well-made" at me when I brought him mockups, and I was convinced I'd never be able to capture what he was looking for.

NSYL Logo Design

The Nova Scotia Young Liberals called me when they decided their old look was too old. They wanted fresher, more modern, more vibrant—younger. We kicked it off with a logo.

The Switch Logo

The first month I worked with them, the Switch—a band out of Halifax—wasn't sure what its name was to be. Numerous suggestions were tabled, some less seriously than others ("the Vagina Milkshakes" never made it past the drafting stage). When they finally settled on their original name, I started playing with their branding, beginning with a logo.

Kisserup Business Card Design

After I'd finished with their website, Kisserup decided they wanted an updated business card to include their newly-opened Halifax office. I don't think I've ever had to squeeze quite so much into such a small space—except for that ruckus with the clowns and the Volkswagen.

Traveller's Joy Logo Design

Traveller's Joy provide guided spiritual tours, which sounds vague but actually encompasses a very specific range of services tailored to their clients. Nancy and Tzigany approached me with a pre-existing idea of what they wanted of the logo—some rough sketches and a few different typographic approaches. What they needed was someone to translate their ideas into a fully-functional, well-formed digital logo.

IOCS Logo Redesign

When Inside-Out Cleaning Services were nominated for a local business award, they approached me to design their logo, which is used on everything from their shirts to their trucks.

NSYL.ca Redesign

After I redesigned their logo in order to give it a younger, fresher appeal, I started work on a redesign of the Nova Scotia Young Liberals' website.

Triggersandsparks.com Time Capsule

I've learned that the pickiest and most demanding client I'll ever have to deal with is myself. I work myself well into the night and am almost never satisfied -- which might explain the excessive number of redesigns this site has undergone since its inception. Luckily, as I get busier and busier, it becomes more difficult to undergo a redesign, so I've slowed the pace considerably.

Photography Website

Mark wanted his website to be messy, and it was. I used a complicated system of Dreamweaver templates and libraries to get this website to be easily updateable despite the extreme limitations of his server (no scripting, no includes, even. It all had to be straight HTML. We were really roughing it.)

Wedding Website

The Steeleworthies didn't want any lace or pastels on their wedding site, but they were okay with a flower and a font with some curlicue. I later designed their invitations.

RED RED RED.org

My personal website, which I love and haven't changed in years. One of these days I may even add something to it. I found that cocktail umbrella broken on my floor and couldn't let it go to waste, especially when I'd just bought a shiny new scanner.

Tanzania Youth in Action Website

A volunteer project, the Youth In Action proved to be a huge challenge, mostly because my Swahili wasn't nearly as good as their English. I ended up editing and organizing their content in addition to designing the site, and learned a great deal about one of the world's poorest and most AIDS-stricken countries to boot.

Livejournal Templates

I like the extra challenge of working within a (somewhat restrictive) template system like LiveJournal's when designing -- gives me something extra to fight my way around.

Liberal Campaign Websites

Come election season, I start to get busy. Campaign websites usually need to have been up yesterday, so they're high-pressure and under a good deal of scrutiny sometimes.

Halifax Cranberry Company Website Conversion

The Halifax Cranberry Company liked their original layout, but were frustrated by their inability to modify its contents as it was entirely composed in Flash. I recreated the Flash design in HTML, making it both more accessible and easier to edit at a later date.

Animated Resume Website

Kim's a sales prodigy looking for a change of careers. Since her primary interest is in selling new media, she decided to nix the stale paper resume for a more tech-friendly online version.

Folk Harbour Festival Website

Every year, the Folk Harbour Festival floods Lunenburg with people. The skies are bright and everyone wanders around barefoot. Music plays in crowded tents, on harbour piers, and trickles from historic buildings. It's like Woodstock, except without the mud. When they asked me to overhaul their website, I jumped at the chance.

Bluenose Lodge Casual Dining Website

The Bluenose Lodge is one of the better dining establishments in Lunenburg, but their old website did little to express this. Owner Jeff Mayo approached me with an idea to expand, restructure, and revamp the website so as to bring in more visitors.

Kisserup.com Redesign

Kisserup came to me with a fairly uninspired website layout, but a logo they wanted to maintain. I cleaned up and brightened the logo a little, then based this website design around its colours and elements.

Ninja Monkey Knits Logo

Debbie approached me with an unorthodox project: she was looking for a combination of "ninja", "monkey", and "knitting". She was looking to appeal to the "hip mom" crowd -- women who have careers and knit yoga bags.

Brambles Antiques Website

This website was built with a dual purpose: to promote the antique shop both to locals and out-of-towners, and to attract antique collectors who now purchase via the internet. The site was outfitted with a customized PHP shopping cart and a backend that creates automatic responses to orders based on shipping estimates and tax rates entered by the seller.

Designwise, I tried to give the site a modern feel with antique elements.

Wordsmith Communication Identity

Wordsmith Communications, being a startup on a tight budget, didn't have much to spare on a logo design, so it ended up being derived from the website we'd already designed.

Wordsmith Website

The Wordsmiths wanted something a little fresh and funky, but still useable. I had a great time doing mockups, scanning in pens and erasers and bits of pencil sharpenings, using punctuation marks as decorative elements, and busting out my ancient typewriter for headings. The Wordsmiths went for the notebook option, and we proceeded to debate back and forth over the merits of various different pens. The one used here is one my favourites (except that on my desk, it's red rather than blue).

Idealbikes Website

IdealBikes were one of my first real clients. They paid me with a beautiful hybrid bicycle I was allowed to enjoy for a full three days until it was stolen in broad daylight, in the middle of Lunenburg, right in front of my house. If you're reading this, and you have my bike, I'm watching you.

COPAN Identity

A small startup offshore drilling/supervision company, COPAN approached me with a challenge. They wanted a logo that would represent their Nova Scotian/South Shore roots while expressing the concept of "safety". And it needed to be representative of their work, and it needed to work well on a sticker.

Pro-Choice Website Redesign

The Pro-Choice Action Network was one of my first client websites.