Cate Arnold: from VIU graphic design intern to BDes collaborator

As a part of iilo’s “Meet the team” series, please meet Cate Arnold (she/her)!

At a Vancouver Island University graphic design class, Cate Arnold met iilo co-owner Lisa Hemingway. After discovering a shared love of the outdoors, this new connection led to Cate becoming iilo’s first-ever graphic design intern. Two years later, Cate has graduated from her Bachelor of Design program and is a vital member of the iilo collaborative team!

Cate’s journey with iilo took her from supportive roles to most recently leading the design of a 10-page document. Cate loves the variety of work she gets to dig into at iilo, from “websites and internal marketing to social media as well as icon graphics and illustrations.” Along the way, she discovered a special knack for typography details and finds it, “Fun to go through a whole document and make sure everything looks just right!”

Cate shared that she’d never considered working remotely as an option, meaning iilo’s flexible collaboration model came as a pleasant surprise. While working with iilo, she’s been able to stay on top of her school and design work, while also making time for visiting family in different parts of BC.

In the process, she discovered that remote doesn’t need to mean isolated. As a social person, Cate looks forward to iilo’s monthly picnics where the team gathers virtually. “Sometimes there’s a topic that we’re thinking of and sometimes it’s just a ‘What have you been up to? How’s it going?’ sort of life check-in. It’s always fun to see where the conversations go, like during the recent maternity leave send-off, where everyone shared childhood photos and memories.”

One of the biggest draws for Cate has been iilo’s values-driven business model. She has yet to find another communication design agency that talks about sustainability, accessibility, and social justice the way iilo does. As Cate puts it, creating designs so your grandchildren will have access to clean water 100 years from now feels so much more meaningful than simply designing for the sake of innovation.

Cate is grateful to be exposed to such a wide variety of projects and collaborators at this early stage in her career. In addition to learning about design processes and workflows, Cate appreciates iilo’s warm, welcoming environment where team members are encouraged to bring their passions and authentic selves to work. It’s wonderful to see other designers model rich, fulfilling creative practices inside and outside of work. For Cate, that means playing guitar, taking dance classes, and making comics, when she’s not meeting a client deadline.

With a Bachelor of Design (BDes) degree now under her belt, and practical experience to back up her classroom learning, Cate is ready to take her design career to new heights! At iilo, we look forward to many more years of collaboration with Cate!

View Cate’s portfolio or connect with her on LinkedIn.