A selection of brand style guides categorized by various classifications.

Branding Style Guides https://brandingstyleguides.com

Branding, Packaging and Opinion offers design inspiration, industry opinions, and logo archive.

BP&O https://bpando.org

Peruse design briefs from creative professionals for portfolio building.

Brief Box https://www.briefbox.me

A large component of graphic design is branding and advertising, which often than not, crosses paths with marketing. Creating a visual identity — from start to finish, is a true labour of love. Initially, this meticulous task involves comprehensive research in a design brief. Subsequently, an effective brand style guide is developed, encompassing these fundamental sections: brand story, tone of voice, logo guidelines, typography, colour palette, photography direction, illustrations, and branding assets. All documents provide a strategic framework for communication to internal and external stakeholders of a company.

Brand Identity

Offers a host of colour tools across web, iOS app, Figma plugin, Adobe and Chrome extensions.

Coolors https://coolors.co

A universal colour matching system utilized by graphic, interior, and fashion designers. 

Pantone https://www.pantone.com

Web app and colour palette generator with create, explore, trends, lab, and libraries features. 

Adobe Color https://color.adobe.com 

Understanding the principles of colour theory (hues, shades, tints, and tones) is essential in selecting colour combinations to establish visual harmony and evoke key emotions. In the conceptual development phase of designing a visual identity, researching colour psychology helps define and differentiate a colour palette to enhance brand recognition. Moreover, colour contrast in UI/UX design (foreground versus background) is necessary for readability and accessible design practice. 

Colour

Curated collection of free open and closed source fonts to license for creative use.

Fontshare https://www.fontshare.com

The largest marketplace of fonts to explore for purchasing and licensing.

MyFonts https://www.myfonts.com 

Downloadable, vast collection of fonts for graphic designers and web developers.

Google Fonts https://fonts.google.com 

A library of fonts with seamless integration on all Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

Adobe Fonts https://fonts.adobe.com 

Employing type in creative work is more than selecting a font based on visual appeal, it's a strategic undertaking rooted in design purpose. Each source to license fonts for personal or commercial use has its own set of terms/agreements in print and digital media. Hence, it's imperative legal compliance is ensured in branding, web, and print projects as much as consistency, aesthetics, white space, contrast, and readability. 

Typography

This portable document is an indispensable resource after graduation. It helps you land your first graphic design job by highlighting tips/tricks for portfolio development, tailoring your resumé + cover letter, utilizing job boards, networking strategies, interview preparation, following-up, and negotiating compensation. 

The RGD Career Planning Workbook for Designers by Association of Registered Graphic Designers

Workbook

In the realm of communication, graphic design and writing are intersecting disciplines. This mutually inclusive relationship creates a compelling, impactful message and story for its target audience. Exceptional graphic design possesses the ability to transform complex information into compelling visuals. The assets specified below provide me the tools to craft mesmerizing brand identity, advertising, packaging, print media, editorial, information design, websites, and motion graphics.

Data + Statistics
Citations

                                                                                                            by Rebecca Mcclanahan
Often, I revert back to this resource when encountering creative impasse. It has taught me the wonders of employing powerful descriptors to elucidate, persuade, entertain, or narrate distinct genres of written work.

Word Painting, Revised Edition: The Fine Art of Writing Descriptively

                                                                                      by Rosyln Petelin
How Writing Works is a general book on contemporary writing in academic, creative, workplace, and journalistic settings. Like hand and glove, communication is a blend of words and visuals. This stellar field guide — engaging and informative — gives primacy to the written word.

How Writing Works: A Field Guide to Effective Writing

                                                                                                                   by Doug Babington, Don LePan, Maureen Okun, and Nora Ruddock
An essential, academic handbook focused on style, context, grammar, punctuation, format, and research. During my first year of undergraduate studies, I frequently consulted this pocket guide for writing essays and research papers. 

The Broadview Pocket Guide to Writing, Revised Fourth Canadian Edition

Manuals/Guides

Akin to everything else, practice makes perfect. To hone the craft of writing well, you must write consistently to cultivate your personal voice. Read books and passages not just for pleasure, but to suss out how authors weave a story, compose grammar/syntax, and frame turn of phrase. Your work should be defined by its purpose. Hence, the standard approach is to always keep your readership in mind. Edit your drafts relentlessly to replace meandering text with coherent prose. Fact check and cite. Get an extra pair of eyes to review your writing for a fresh perspective. 

This page offers a knowledge hub of websites, tools, and data that continue to shape my trajectory in career, personal, and social wellbeing. Discovering the right balance between these determinants is embracing a journey beyond intention to thrive authentically. The value is in the process and experience — the destination is merely an outcome. With that being said, I invite you to revisit this portal periodically as it evolves with new treasures, inspiration, and support.

resources

A library of high-resolution digital assets, free-to-use by photographers and creatives.

Unsplash https://unsplash.com

A comprehensive catalogue of iconography for universal visual communication.

The Noun Project https://thenounproject.com 

Access through Adobe Creative Cloud, which provides royalty-free photos, videos, illustrations, mockups, and audio.

Adobe Stock https://stock.adobe.com/ca

For branding and website design, custom photography exhibits a more professional presence of people and products while establishing client trust. With that being said, while generic images are not a genuine Picasso, royalty-free galleries do possess value as creative assets. Specifically, images, videos, and audio. Similar to typography, licensing (access and use) of stock visuals is dependent on the provider source. Always read the terms for correct application in graphic design projects.

Royalty-Free Images

Garners a reputation for high-quality, exclusive content. 

Getty Images https://www.gettyimages.ca 

Free stock imagery for personal and commercial use.

Pexels https://www.pexels.com 

Provides free and premium professional mockups. 

Mr Mockup https://mrmockup.com 

Quality and free PSD files (Photoshop templates).

Mockup Tree https://mockuptree.com

Offers mockups and templates for brand presentation.

Moyo Studio https://www.moyo-studio.com

Professional mockups are absolutely essential in developing a strong portfolio website and PDF (portal document format). In graphic design projects, presentation of real-world applications provides employers with visuals of a final product ready for digital or print. 

Mockups 

Packaging of the World is a website for packaging design inspiration published by creatives around the globe.

Packaging of the World https://packagingoftheworld.com

GS1 Canada provides universal barcodes to scan for shipping, receiving, merchandising, and checkout.

GS1 Canada https://gs1ca.org

The choices presented to you in a supermarket isle for purchasing spicy chai tea or granola bars are endless. In consumer marketing and psychology, effective packaging design must visually communicate a compelling brand story. Standout packaging possesses elements of visual hierarchy, white space, brand harmony, sustainability, and labelling of key information. 

Packaging Design

Custom printing and fast delivery offering premium finishes: foil, letterpress, embossed, debossed, and laser cutting.

Fast Printing https://www.fastprinting.com/ca/

VistaPrint is an online, print on demand service offering branding and marketing materials for small businesses/consumers.

VistaPrint https://www.vistaprint.ca

Our federal mailing service providing envelopes, cards, and postcard templates for professional design and print. 

Canada Post https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/tools/machineable-mail-advisor.page

Learning the ins and outs of print production is a valuable technical skill to master in the graphic design profession. Despite the contrary, print media is a thriving industry. Adobe InDesign creates print-ready documents ready for export with correct colour space, bleed settings, and image resolution. OpenType fonts and Pantone colour formulas are industry standard tools for high-quality print production. Paper quality, grade, type, and finish are also essential considerations in design strategy. 

Prepress

Professional print service based in Burnaby, British Columbia. 

Still Creek Press https://www.stillcreekpress.com

E-commerce website platform built for startups and brands to sell retail products.

Shopify https://www.shopify.com/ca

Website builder for portfolio, service, and product sites using customizable templates.

Squarespace https://www.squarespace.com

Designed for creatives to build highly customizable webpages and layouts without code. 

Showit https://showit.com

For some of my peers, the basics of coding and web development was taught to them in their early years in high school or a summer bootcamp, for example. The language acquisition of HTML, CSS, Javascript, and jQuery programming took significant effort, but it was worth my time invested. Nowadays, most website design platforms offer no-code templates with a drag-and-drop interface to build and customize your own site. In the foreseeable future, I predict more artificial intelligence technology will be integrated into these same platforms. Hence, this enables graphic designers/marketers to focus on brand strategy and user experience. 

Website Design

New web design tool, which uses artificial intelligence and offers seamless integration with Figma. 

Framer https://www.framer.com

A creative marketplace for high-quality templates, fonts, graphics and illustrations.

Creative Market https://creativemarket.com

Leading creative agency based in London, New York, Austin, and Berlin. 

Pentagram https://www.pentagram.com

The Professional Association for Design publication, which features articles, opinions, and stories on graphic design.

AIGA Eye on Design https://eyeondesign.aiga.org 

While Behance, Dribbble, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube are my initial sources for creative spark, the following graphic design and creative entities exhibit inspiration, the latest news, and industry trends. 

Inspiration

DOCUMENTARIES

National Film Board of Canada https://www.nfb.ca 
CBC Gem Documentaries https://gem.cbc.ca/section/documentaries
Kanopy https://www.kanopy.com/en/category/9515
Turner Classic Movies https://www.tcm.com
WatchDocumentaries.com https://watchdocumentaries.com
Knowledge Hub https://prod.prime.knowledge.ca/page/documentaries
HBO https://www.hbo.com/movies/genre/documentaries
BBC Documentaries https://www.bbc.com/video/docs 
PBS Documentaries & Indie Films https://www.pbs.org/explore/documentaries-and-indie-films/

Nowadays, one of the best forms of understanding people, culture, history, public policy, business, society, and civilization is through motion media and film. These providers/channels enlighten me to see the big picture, which is a guiding force and motivator to my academic learning in the social sciences:

PUBLISHING WORK

Presenting short stories, articles, research papers, illustrations, and photography for publication in literary magazines or academic journals — big or small — bolsters courage to share with a wider audience, validate credibility, and receive feedback with an open-mind through the peer-review process. Making some curated materials publicly visible provides you with the opportunity to put your best foot forward for professional growth.

University 
Link Magazine (British Columbia Institute of Technology) https://www.linkbcit.ca
Event Magazine (Douglas College) https://www.eventmagazine.ca

Vancouver-Based
Room Magazine https://roommagazine.com
SAD Mag https://www.sadmag.ca
Geist Magazine https://www.geist.com

Canadian professional association for graphic designers, which facilitates DesignThinkers conference, publishes annual Creative Earners report, The Business of Graphic Design: The RGD Professional Handbook, job postings, and opportunities for Student Awards. 

Association of Registered Graphic Designers https://rgd.ca

Registered with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) collegiate chapter, which offers a myriad of conferences, events, and training opportunities. Membership provides marketing journals and access to job board. 

American Marketing Association https://www.ama.org

My short-listed library companions imparted below will change over the course of time as I flip through more books that shape my personal saga while society transforms around me. The following recommendations are arbitrarily categorized, shaping my worldview while offering me new reflections on the human experience. 

For some, landing an internship, your first paid full-time job, securing a new role, or transitioning careers can appear to be a rigorous and daunting task after graduation. Nevertheless, I've categorized a general list of job boards (relevant to my own background and experience).

Sister job search offering key workplace insights, such as company reviews to evaluate corporate culture, salary data reported by former employees, community postings, and interview questions shared by previous candidates. 

Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.ca

Indeed is a distinguished employment portal utilized by job seekers and employers. It offers a wide range of jobs across various industries and niches.

Indeed https://ca.indeed.com

General

This nonprofit organization works to serve creatives in the arts and culture sector across the province. The classifieds menu provides job postings, calls for artists, and volunteer calls for an array of opportunity for professional development. 

BC Alliance for Arts + Culture https://www.allianceforarts.com

A career site offering local jobs in well-recognized companies solely in the province of British Columbia.

BC Jobs https://www.bcjobs.ca

Metro Vancouver

Awarded one of BC's top employers, the City of Burnaby champions diversity and inclusion to propel forward facilities/services the community needs. 

City of Burnaby https://www.burnaby.ca 

Within my current municipality, Coquitlam offers comparable career and volunteer openings as aforementioned. 

Coquitlam https://www.coquitlam.ca

Specifically designed for the tourism and hospitality industry in British Columbia. go2HR is a nonprofit organization offering human resources, health + safety, employee training, and a tailored job board to deliver world-class experiences. 

go2HR https://www.go2hr.ca

This employment board offers opportunities to get involved in municipal government jobs across all provinces. 

CivicJobs https://www.civicjobs.ca

Facilitated by the Government of British Columbia, WorkBC is a resource centre for career planning, education + training, employment services, and labour market statistics for residents navigating the workforce.

WorkBC https://www.workbc.ca

Government

Allows creative professionals to display their portfolios, discover full-time or contract jobs, and view career guides. With Behance, graphic designers can integrate projects into a custom Adobe Portfolio website. 

Behance https://www.behance.net

Isarta is targeted towards Canadian marketing and communications professionals to discover new job opportunities, salary data, and news/trends in the industry. 

Isarta https://isarta.com/eng.php

Graphic Design & Marketing

With the mission to do public good, Idealist is a job board helping individuals find nonprofit or social service based employment. 

Idealist https://www.idealist.org/en

A nonprofit organization providing careers to individuals who possess the desire to address the most critical global challenges society faces today.

80,000 Hours https://80000hours.org

Social Impact 

Climatebase offers employment, fellowship, community, and professional events to those interested in environmental sustainability. Explore jobs in climate tech and nonprofit agencies within the United States, Canada, and globally.

Climatebase https://climatebase.org 

Environment 

A platform that champions a work from anywhere job culture to embrace flexible, people-first workplaces.

We Are Distributed https://wearedistributed.org 

Remote