What we do

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Document Design

Document design is an area nearly untouched by design in most practical situations. Each day, countless documents are created and sent from one organization to another all kinds of purposes. Violet has a special interest in these important communications, and has a great wealth of experience in creating documents which are well-designed, clear, effective and beautiful. Perhaps it is a grant application, a proposal, an annual report or an award submission. Consider the importance of your documents and ask yourself if their purposes wouldn’t be better served with careful attention paid to their design.
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Welcome to Shobac
Brian MacKay-Lyons rents the cottages and studio on his family property in Nova Scotia during the summer months. We put together an attractive document to inform renters of some of the local history and attractions - as well as the “house rules”.

The design employs the same typeface as the MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architecture firm, and then allows the colour of the images to dominate the pages. Minimal type and generous space makes for an elegant design to compliment the visitors enjoyment of the Shobac experience.

Culturtal Opportunities for
Youth Grant Application
This document was produced for Project Peru, which was a Collaborative Projects class effort to connect students of Design at NSCAD University with weavers in remote communities of Peru. In the end, the project resulted in Threads of Peru, a website designed to create a sustainable market for the weavers. This document was designed to obtain funding for the project.

Fallen Peace Officers Monument
Technical Proposal
When Adam Collins taught his Collaborative Projects design class at NSCAD University in the fall of 2007, one of the projects was a submission to a public art competition. The competition required the conception and design of a monument for the Fallen Peace Officers Memorial to be built in Grande Parade Square in downtown Halifax. This was the document submitted for the Technical Proposal stage of the competition. The document was a collaborative effort, which utilized drawings and research from 20 class members. In the end, our submission was selected as the winner, and the monument is scheduled to be built by the autumn of 2010.

Brellus Business Plan
When Brellus was just starting out, the work we did on their identity convinced them that they might also be wise to let us help them with their business plan. The resulting document carries the essential qualities of the trademark throughout. The information is clear, the pages are uncluttered and calm. This is not the kind of document which is easily ignored or unappreciated. Your readers will thank you.

MLS Portfolio
MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects like to have a documents on hand that showcases some of their projects and provides a brief overview of the company and it’s people. These documents are good for presenting to potential clients or interested visitors. Beyond that, the pages are structured in such a way that they can be mixed-and-matched to be employed in different ways for different ocassions. A potential house client will likely be interested in a different selection of work than someone who is interested in building a university building to LEED Gold Standards. This design allows for that flexibility.

The Planning and Design Centre
Business Plan
The PDC is an organization dedicated to fostering a better understanding design and planning in the city of Halifax, and to facilitating more community participation in the design process. We lent our support to this important endeavor by working on their business plan. We tried to help them carry their message about the importance of design through clear, readable graphic design.