Reflecting on 2022

Client highlights

We collaborated with a wide range of value-aligned clients in 2022, including many repeat clients working to address social and environmental issues. We delivered impactful design and communications for interesting projects ranging from youth substance use and restorative justice to disaster management and healthy watersheds. While we won’t share all of them, we wanted to share some highlights:

• Our strong partnership with Boldt Communications was in full swing last year. We supported them with design on several client projects, such as the BC Rent Bank reports about rental housing assistance, and also did the branding for owner Lesli Boldt’s run for Vancouver City Council!
• 2022 was our 10th year helping CPHR BC & Yukon with their annual HR conference branding. It was a special one since we got to collaborate with an Indigenous artist, adapting her artwork to brand the event and help the organization deepen its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• We love Earnest Ice Cream’s commitment to sustainability (and their delicious products!). After designing their website in 2021, we continued helping them expand their brand and designing tools to tell their company’s impact story in 2022.
• We helped seafood tech company Vericatch (iilo’s first official client!) to continue expanding its brand and impact in the sustainable seafood industry by designing a family of marketing materials and design templates.
• As we have for many years, we continued supporting LOCO BC’s buy local message by designing various campaigns for them throughout the year, and we were an official sponsor for their BC Buy Local Week Campaign in December.

Company milestones

Not only did we deliver on a ton of client work last year, we also worked consistently behind the scenes to set a strong business foundation for iilo, and we hit many first milestones.

• We hired iilo’s first summer intern with funding support from ECO Canada.
• Celebrating iilo’s first fiscal year was a big milestone, and we learned a ton about preparing for tax time as an incorporated company. As a benefit company registered in BC, our annual reporting includes a public benefit report. We’re proud of the impacts our small yet mighty business was able to make in its first year, and we’re setting more goals to expand our impact in 2023.
• Speaking of goals, one of our major goals this year was to apply to be a Certified B Corp. We’re in the thick of the certification process now!
• Madelen and I continued expanding the iilo brand and we launched the new, more robust iilo website in the summer of 2022, with help from Krisztina at KunStudios. As most websites are, it continues to be a work in progress. Keep an eye on the iilo blog as we expand our marketing efforts and add new posts in 2023 with help from Hannah’s team at HM Virtual Assistance.
• A highlight of the year for Madelen and I was participating in the Forum E-series. This business workshop series was so rich in content, learning, and connections. We’re excited to be joining this community of female entrepreneurs and having a business mentor for the upcoming year!

Looking ahead

In 2023, we’re aiming to continue expanding our branding work, collaborating with more Indigenous-focused organizations, creating more accessible design, and doing more work in the education space. Do you see yourself joining our client roster in 2023? We’d love to support your vision for a better future. Let’s connect to discuss your communication design needs!