For the Canadian Men's Health Foundation's 2021 centrepiece campaign, Men's Health Month, I was asked to craft engaging and impactful video events featuring local celebrities and mental health experts. Notable personalities like Trevor Linden, Kevin Bieksa, Buzz Bishop, and Farhan Lalji, along with recorded home video workouts by Tommy Europe, were seamlessly woven into captivating content.

My role involved transforming these video events out of zoom meetings and iphone videos, enhancing them with epic theme music, and creating dynamic intro and outro animations to elevate the overall viewer experience. To enhance the workout videos by Tommy Europe, I added workout music, timer graphics, and other elements to create the feel of a real home workout video. In addition to video production, I created social media posts promoting these events, strategically incorporating epic music and outro animations into the posts, ensuring they stood out and generated anticipation among the audience.

Though the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation was going through a transition period at the time and coming out of the pandemic, the combination of celebrity insights, mental health expertise, and dynamic workout sessions created a diverse and compelling narrative that resonated with the audience, promoting a holistic approach to men's health and well-being, and a successful first Men’s Health Month for the new era of the CMHF.

During my tenure as a Social Media Specialist at the Canadian Men's Health Foundation, I was with the responsibility of creating and aligning brand collateral across various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the main campaign, I successfully crafted a compelling social media narrative.

My efforts resulted in a 300% increase in social media engagement. I strategically developed a social media design system, utilizing a unique and consistent style of visual story-telling across social posts, videos, and stories, designed to guide users towards health tips articles on the main campaign outlet; a social journey throughout which they would absorb helpful health tips, as per the CMHF's main objective: to help improve the health of Canadian men. To create the design system I created original artwork, selected on brand visuals, drew from existing video ads and media library to create tailored social pieces, and engaged with staff to create community-driving pieces.

In addition to my creative contributions, I analyzed the user flow, conducted user testing, data harvesting, and A/B testing presenting valuable insights to stakeholders. This iterative process allowed for campaign adjustments, ensuring progress and effectiveness. My proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, design, graphics, and social media marketing played a crucial role in maintaining a cohesive and impactful brand identity.

Instagram, Facebook (B2C), Facebook (B2B), Twitter (B2C), Twitter (B2B), LinkedIn

Creative Direction, Infographics, Graphic Design

CMHF is a national, not for profit organization with a mission to inspire Canadian men and their families to live healthier lives. Every year, the main event for the CMHF is “Canadian Men’s Health Week” a week-long campaign providing a platform for raising awareness about men’s health. It has since evolved into a month long campaign. This was a very special Men’s Health Week, as it fell during the pandemic.

Though I had worked on Men’s Health Week media before, I was thrilled to be the given the task of creating the look and feel for the digital campaign this year which included infographics highlighting the unexpected mental health benefits which the pandemic had brought to men across Canada, with the hopes of raising spirits and inspiring more such healthy changes!

During my role as a Social Media Specialist at the Canadian Men's Health Foundation, one of my self-started initiatives was to spearhead a series of grassroots “meet the team” posts that not only engaged various members of the CMHF staff but also fostered a sense of community and connection with the audience.

These posts were strategically aligned with corresponding items in our content calendar, such as our National Campaign: “Canadian Men's Health Week,” with memetic social challenges in the zeitgeist, such as the pushup challenge, or the roll out of specific blog posts such as the 'deskercise' guide focused on staying active at work.

The success of these initiatives was reflected in the significant increase in social engagement, contributing to the 298% growth during my tenure at CMHF. Beyond the quantitative impact, these posts played a crucial role in humanizing the organization, turning it into a relatable entity for the audience.

By building a sense of authenticity and commitment to the CMHF mission with these interactive challenges, we created a space where health and well-being were not just discussed but actively demonstrated by the staff. This approach helped to convey the organization's dedication to its mission but also fostered a sense of shared commitment and community around men's health.

During my time with NextPhase Strategy, I played a central role in shaping the advertising efforts for Vuzix Eyewear Corporation over several years. As the responsible party for producing a diverse range of ads, my role encompassed creating Google and social media ads, designing and editing video advertisements, and coordinating photoshoots to generate supplementary materials.

The collaboration between myself and the NextPhase Strategy team resulted in a comprehensive and effective advertising campaign that aligned with Vuzix's objectives. The ads were strategically designed to resonate in and around the time of the Pandemic, an epoch when hands-free remote technology would be needed by the global community.

Notably, during this period, Vuzix experienced a 3500% increase in share value. While it's challenging to attribute this success solely to the advertising material, the fact that a significant portion of the content was produced by the NextPhase Strategy team at this time underscores the impact of our efforts.

Our work extended beyond the digital realm, as I organized and conducted photoshoots to create supplementary material that enhanced the overall visual identity of Vuzix. This comprehensive approach ensured that the advertising materials were not only impactful but also cohesive across various platforms.

Forever Green Digital Campaign

I spearheaded a comprehensive discovery process with the client to unveil the core value proposition of Forever Green Hemp, Inc., ultimately crystallizing it as the "Green Revolution." Recognizing hemp as a burgeoning material with myriad undiscovered applications and significant sustainable potential, I crafted a digital media content strategy centered around this concept. My approach aimed to enhance SEO and foster community engagement through various social media platforms.

In alignment with the newfound core messaging, I conceived and implemented a strategy to author compelling blogs showcasing the novel and exciting applications of hemp, its sustainability potential, and its profitability prospects. These blogs were consistently crafted and posted on the main website, transforming a nascent company dealing in local hemp fiber and harvesting equipment into a formidable presence in the industry. This strategy not only aligned with the CEO's grand vision but also positioned Forever Green as a substantial player in the hemp landscape.

This concerted effort to amplify Forever Green's image garnered recognition, with the company earning the title of a major player in the North American hemp fibre industry in a report by the Business Research Company, and through this strategic content creation and positioning, Forever Green has begun to successfully assert itself among other prominent hemp enterprises, solidifying its standing in the industry, and helping ensure a bigger, brighter, and indeed greener future for the fledgling hemp company.

In my role at Forever Green, I headed up marketing campaign for the KP-4 Hemp Cutter, creating and directing multimedia content for it across channels. So far I have created a youtube spot, a radio ad, and overhauled the website, with an expanded social campaign to soon follow.

A main aspect of this campaign was the production of a captivating YouTube spot, where I carefully edited visuals to complement a condensed narrative hihglighting the unique features and benefits of the KP-4. Through research and collaboration with the client, I ensured every second of the half minute spot showcased the unique value of this unique piece of harvesting equipment — equipment that really may have the ability to revolutionize the hemp farming space.

For the voice talent in the radio spot, we made a strategic decision by bringing in John Titus, a seasoned professional known for his work on John Deere ads. This choice added credibility and familiarity to the campaign, establishing a connection with the agricultural community. Furthermore, to evoke a sense of authenticity and resonance with our target demographic of farmers, we opted for folksy rock and roll music. The result was an on-brand advertisement that not only met but exceeded the client's expectations, successfully capturing the essence of the KP-4 Hemp Cutter for the target audience.

I also took charge of creating a radio spot that would amplify the campaign's reach. Leveraging the v/o from John Titus, I edited it into a version that worked without visuals.

I revamped the KP-4’s website presence with a strategic overhaul to align the platform with the campaign's messaging and enhance user experience. The redesigned website became an engaging resource championing the benefits of the KP-4’s features, advanced blade system, integrated harvesting technology, sturdy construction, and cost-effective reliability.

Collaboration was a cornerstone of this project, and working closely with the client was instrumental in ensuring that their vision and goals were fully integrated into the campaign. Through close communication and feedback sessions, we fine-tuned campaign’s identity to resonate with the target audience.

In late 2019, I led a dynamic Vuzix photoshoot with the primary objective of generating fresh marketing materials for their groundbreaking product, the Blade, and producing additional promotional content for one of their flagship offerings, the M400. This collaboration stemmed from the success of previous projects executed in tandem with NextPhase Strategy, prompting Vuzix to entrust us once again with their visual branding needs. Blessed with a more generous timeframe than usual, we meticulously curated a diverse array of models to showcase the versatility of Vuzix's products.

Working in close coordination with a dedicated client liaison, we strategically planned and executed the shoot at the esteemed Larry Goldstein Photography studio. The collaboration with Larry Goldstein added a layer of expertise to the project. The resulting materials not only met but exceeded expectations, becoming instrumental in Vuzix's marketing endeavors for the subsequent years. I took charge of adapting these visuals to the 2020 ad campaign, coinciding with a historic moment for Vuzix as their stock market valuation experienced an unprecedented surge of 3500%, marking one of the most profitable periods in the company's history. The success of this photoshoot played a role in enhancing Vuzix's market presence and contributing to their remarkable financial achievements.

To immerse myself in the local art scene, I joined a collective dedicated to curating music and visual art fusion events in late 2017. In an effort to establish a recognizable brand for our series of events, I introduced a unique art style, dubbed "hyper-collage," which successfully unified the Nocturne brand while evoking distinct emotions for each gathering.

Later on in 2024, this collective would rebrand as “Casual Chemistry” and I would do some more work with them.

Our group made significant strides, entering our second year with ambitions to collaborate with local art institutions like Beaumont Studios and expand our network to include talented local DJs and visual artists, along with exploring international connections in the music scene.

A crucial aspect of our promotional strategy involved translating our dedication to art into the digital realm for platforms like Facebook and Instagram. I achieved this by creating animated videos, accompanied by music snippets associated with our shows. Additionally, I developed engaging Instagram posts and an original video artwork piece tied to our first event, serving as both brand reinforcement and captivating visualizations during our shows.

Casual Chemistry

Nocturne

- Image Selection
- Post-pro for unique Men's Health 'filter'
- Typographical design
- Video Editing

Created a new look and feel for the Canadian Men's Health Foundation's ongoing awareness campaign presence on Instagram. This included creating an intensely strategic series of images and videos for a Cuba trip contest they launched during their Canadian Men's Health Week. This period in particular saw raising of Instagram followership to over 100k, during which time I created the second most well-performing post on the IG channel (out performed only once by a very expensive outsourced influencer), which significantly helped spur final push to 100k.

Check out the ongoing campaign here!

- Photoshoot Direction
- Client Liaison
- Package Design; interior and exterior

Contract work with NextPhase Strategy. 

After their satisfaction the E3 Tradeshow display, Vuzix wanted us to design packaging for their new product, iWear. Though initial designs followed the tradeshow look, ultimately we decided on a minimalistic approach extending the green colour from the product design. As a new class of product, somewhere between established classes of monitors and headphones, I opted to emphasize the aura of preciousness, high quality, and designer style present in many high quality headphone packages these days. We convinced the client to increase the budget for the packaging, which would now be composed of a heavy-weight, solid green foldout box emphasizing the branding colours, within a primarily black, satin finish slipcase. The ultimate effect is that of in a more satisfying unboxing experience, and thus, the aura of a high-quality, fashion forward, consumer electronic device. The client was ecstatic with the end result, they were extremely satisfied with the overall effect and framing the package gave to their premium product.

During this job, I was also tasked with directing a photoshoot for packaging and marketing materials, directing three professional photographers and four models over the course of a full day shoot.

Photoshoot direction, photoshop post-production

Contract work at Canada Men's Health Foundation
- Image selection and editing
- Typographical design
- Video editing
- UX and Branding Research

Worked within established brand guidelines to reflect core values while injecting new vitality and bolstering content for existing social media presences on Facebook, Twitter, and the campaign blog. Developed and owned the direction for the foundation’s newly created Instagram campaign. Adapting core brand values to the slightly shifted, younger Instagram demographic, going in a new yet brand-adherent direction. Recommended and owned other new initiatives, such as adding professional grade viral annotation screens to the end of YouTube campaign videos.

I began working at the Canada Men's Health Organization as a temporary fill in for a digital designer. I later completed a six month contract to help improve the social-saturation of the foundation's campaign in several areas. I was asked to create a visual identity / consistent 'look' for their instagram account and went on to create the design for several new-sub campaigns such as 'Everyday Champions', 'Easy Tips', E-book ads, and most recently the contest in conjunction with 'Men's Health Week'. Finally, I did UX research, mockups, and implementations to improve conversion rates and viral presence on several in several areas of their social campaign, such as adding youtube annotations to their major video releases, including a personal message from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau!