The Mustard Seed.
Multi-year design partnership with one of Western Canada's most recognized nonprofits — delivering campaign identities, volunteer handbooks, annual reports, apparel, signage, infographics, and print assets across Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Kamloops.
Design at the scale
of a mission this big.
The Mustard Seed serves people experiencing homelessness across Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Kamloops — providing food, clothing, shelter, and community through a network of programs built around dignity and care.
That scale demands a lot of design. Campaigns to recruit and mobilize volunteers. Annual reports that communicate impact to donors in a way that feels credible and human, not like a brochure. Location-specific print materials. Branded apparel for programs with their own identity. Infographics that turn large numbers into something people can feel.
The work spanned years. The common thread across all of it: every piece had to honour the people The Mustard Seed serves — not just fill a wall or satisfy a committee.
Demolishing stereotypes.
Demonstrating God's love.
Democrew is The Mustard Seed's volunteer mobilization program — recruiting ordinary people to step into something that changes them as much as it helps others. The campaign needed a visual identity strong enough to hold that message: bold, grounded, impossible to ignore.
The Democrew identity was built around the wordplay of "ORDEXTRANARY" — ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The campaign ran two years with distinct visual systems: a teal geometric language in 2019, and a deeper navy in 2018 under the "Inversion" theme.
Each campaign included a 60-page volunteer handbook, branded apparel with custom t-shirt designs, and a complete suite of program materials — all designed to make volunteers feel like they were part of something worth wearing on their chest.
Two years. Two visual systems.
One consistent message.
Numbers that feel like people.
The Mustard Seed's annual reports had to do two things at once: communicate the scale of the work to donors and funders, and make that scale feel human rather than institutional. 488,268 meals. 1,400 spiritual care events. 350,000+ clothing items. 97,000 volunteer hours.
The design approach turned those statistics into infographics with personality — city skylines, icons built with care, layouts that made someone stop and read rather than scan and set aside. The 2018 "Report to Community" also featured a community magazine cover with real faces from the program, reinforcing that the work is about people, not metrics.
Accompanying newsletters, brochures, and location-specific materials kept the brand consistent across four cities while leaving room for each community to feel like its own.
Design at every level
of a large organization.
Volunteer Handbooks
60-page Democrew volunteer handbooks across two campaign years — complete interior layout, typesetting, and branded cover design for both the 2018 "Inversion" and 2019 "Ordinary Extraordinary" programs.
Campaign Apparel
Custom t-shirt designs for the Democrew volunteer program — wearable campaign pieces with strong typographic and illustrative identities built around each year's theme.
Annual Reports & Newsletters
Multi-page editorial design for The Mustard Seed's annual reports and community newsletters — infographic layouts, data visualization, and editorial photography integration.
Print & Signage
Promotional banners, location brochures specific to Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Kamloops — adapted to local program needs while maintaining brand cohesion across the organization.
Campaign Identity
Complete visual identity systems for the Democrew campaigns — logos, colour palettes, geometric design language, and all supporting assets to bring each year's theme to life across every touchpoint.
Social Media & Web Graphics
Infographics, digital assets, and web graphics supporting campaigns and fundraising communications — consistent visual language translated across print and digital channels.
Running a nonprofit that needs design
at the level of the mission it's serving?
We work with organizations that care deeply about how they show up — not just whether the file gets delivered on time.