Amplifying the benefits of buying local

Person pointing at display board about Loco bc

The first infographic we did with LOCO BC was in 2013 and it still hangs in many members’ retail stores! / Photo: LOCO BC

Date 2013-2022

ClientLOCO BC

Work TypeCampaigns Infographics Social media

Team

Lisa Hemingway, project management & creative direction; Cheryl Loh, illustration; Trina M’Lot, design; Sarita Mielke, production design; Hannah McCormick, social media strategic support

iilo has helped LOCO BC to communicate the value of buying local through several impactful campaigns over the last 10 years. Each campaign builds on the strengths of the previous one, and the “buy local” message keeps evolving and expanding each year.

Communication design challenge

LOCO BC is a growing alliance of local companies working to strengthen communities, grow the local economy, and build strong, sustainable businesses. LOCO BC is well aligned with our values. We have been a member of LOCO BC since its inception in 2009.

We love the work we get to do to amplify the impacts of buying local. Keeping the visuals fresh and interesting from year to year is a constant creative challenge, and so is inspiring target audiences to connect to the real people behind the local businesses in their communities.

Six campaigns for encouraging people to buy local — A variety of share graphics we’ve created to help LOCO BC amplify its messages. The “Support Local to help out” campaign (top row, second from left) was in collaboration with the Kitsilano Business Improvement Association.

Outcomes

We’ve collaborated with volunteers and partners on many campaigns over the years. Though the original branding for LOCO BC was created in 2012 by Cause+Effect, we’ve been working to build out consistent, more accessible brand standards. We’ve also been building out brand assets with every project, which we then provide to LOCO BC to help support their in-house marketing capacity.

Large icon set we designed to help illustrate the topics and themes LOCO BC talks about.

We designed assets in Mandarin and Punjabi to expand LOCO BC’s reach in 2022.

LOCO BC loves to use these “infobytes” we designed since they sum up the big impacts of shopping local.

Two infographics communicating how purchasing bikes impact the local economy — Graphics we designed to share the compelling impacts of shopping locally (vs. buying from a multinational) for common products. Read full report on LOCO BC’s website.

Different angles of a full bus sticker decal in real life and on a mockup — Together in collaboration with West Broadway Business Improvement Association, in 2023 we got the chance to design an entire bus focused on the BC Buy Local messaging!

Our impact

“The iilo team always helps take our ideas and turn them into engaging collateral so that our message effectively reaches our audiences. They are always professional, even when working to our often-tight timelines!”

Amy Robinson (she/her)
Founder & Executive Director, LOCO BC