A yellow box of Goodlather Lemongrass and Ginger bar soap styled on a vibrant blue striped beach towel with a green border next to a custom stamped soap bar, emphasizing sustainable, plant-based, on-the-go skincare.

Close-up of Artizen Beverage Co's Raspberry Hibiscus iced tea in a clear glass bottle, featuring vibrant label design and custom illustrations of inclusive hands gathering hibiscus flowers, featured on Packaging of the World.

Original disruptive concept for Saunders Cider Flying Canoe hard cider cans, featuring elegant illustration work representing the agritourism destinations historic farmlands and cedar maze attractions.

Mentorships

The difference between a good designer and a great one usually boils down to three things: honesty about their work, a clear sense of design direction, and a heavy dose of sheer grit to power through. Our founder grew up in a small town where pursuing a creative career felt like shooting darts in the dark, hoping for a bullseye. Because of this, she understands exactly how much the right guidance can change someone’s path towards success.

Creative careers are rarely a straight line. Many designers imagine a linear path, but the reality is often messy—full of pivots, uncertainty, and learning how to keep moving forward when things don’t go as planned. Our studio and founder strongly believe in paying it forward. When we have the time to help, we do our damnedest to be there for those who just need an ear.

When we’re not deep in a brand launch, you can usually find us:

Mentoring emerging designers 1 on 1 to help them navigate the day-to-day realities of the design industry.
Guest lecturing at colleges to help them understand the differences between classroom settings and real world studio life.
Pushing designers to think beyond the basics, confidently giving them the tools to level up and think from a directional standpoint.

We do this because no one should have to navigate major career shifts entirely on their own. We’ve been there—just like so many other creatives—and we know how tough it can be to transition solo. We’re more than happy to be the voice in their corner, whether they’re facing a rough patch or just starting out.

How we can help folks 👇

Shifting Your Thinking

Moving your thinking from design execution to brand lead thinking.

Pivoting Career Paths

Navigating career shifts, lost dream jobs, the business of starting over, and changing niches.

Resume & Portfolio Review

We offer resume & portfolio reviews that focus on standing out, not just blending in.

Honest Conversations

Honest chats about imposter syndrome on a whole and surviving by the seat of your pants reality of this industry.

Being Human & Staying Human

Navigating the creative workplace as a neurodivergent designer. We share the stories, tips, and toolkits that helped our founder find her footing.

Being the Professional

Learning and understanding agency or studio dynamics and how to lead as an expert partner.

Digital Self Discovery

How to adapt your portfolio into a honed in curation to ensure your work reflects where you actually want to go (not where you’ve been).

Open Loop Conversations

Learning how to give & take feedback or advice that actually makes the work better (without it getting personal).

Note on Response Time

We personally read and respond to every single mentorship inquiry we receive. If the studio is in the middle of a launch, it might take a week or two to get back to you—but you will always hear from us. We promise.

Send us your flare signal

Reaching out about an internship?

At the moment, we’re keeping our team intentionally small. Which means we can’t offer internships the way we’d want to — but we are hopeful for someday soon.

Reaching out about employment?

We’re not hiring at the moment, but we’re always happy to connect with some solid folks. If freelance collaboration sounds like it could be your thing, send us an email saying hey 👋 and a link to your work.

Frequently asked questions

No dumb questions here. Ask away — we’ll explain it, break it down, and help you figure us out.

Are you currently hiring for full time roles?

TL;DR: Not currently. We want to stay intentionally small so we can focus heavily on our craft. When we need a larger team, we scale up with our freelance roster for bigger projects. 

We are always looking to connect with independent: brand designers, copywriters, web developers, packaging strategists, commercial photographer, etc. So, if you thrive in a low ego + high trust environment, we’d love to see your work. Reach out to us, and say hey! 🤙

How do I join your freelance roster?

TL;DR: Send us a casual email with a direct link to your portfolio. 

We are actively building a collaborative network through trusted industry referrals and direct submissions from specialized creatives. If your style, technical chops, and workspace ethics line up with ours, we’ll definitely reach out to loop you into an upcoming project.

Please note: If you randomly reach out with an AI generated intro email asking for work or to shoot up a conversation, you’ll probably get filtered straight to our spam. We value real conversations and authentic connections here. If you can't talk to us like a human (or edit it to sound like yourself), we probably won't be a good fit to build cool things together.

What does the studio look for in a portfolio?

TL;DR: We look for intentional thinkers and strategic problem solvers, not just pixel pushers. 

Your portfolio should demonstrate that you understand business (at least a tiny bit) and you can explain some of the logic behind your creative choices. Particularly within the CPG, hospitality, or lifestyle sectors since those are the brands we work with most. Beyond technical skill, we value: a laidback + transparent communication, zero ego attitudes, and a client first mindset.

How does your studio collaborate with external creative partners?

TL;DR: Our studio culture is built on giving our creative partners absolute creative freedom, flexible scheduling, and zero micromanagement. 

We carefully match larger incoming projects to the exact strengths of our rostered specialists, giving them room to push boundaries beyond the briefs original ask. We are exceptionally detailed with briefs, so we’ll always supply some guard rails for them to maneuver. If you can push beyond a clients original ask — that’s considered a huge bonus here. Our communication style is relaxed and transparent via email or quick check ins. Our system is completely remote first and built to adapt seamlessly around schedules.

Do you offer remote or in-person opportunities?

We’re 100% remote, which lets us work with the best talent no matter where they're from. For collab partners in Ottawa, we’ll sometimes meet up for breaky or a fun strategy sesh, but our remote first setup keeps things flexible so you can work wherever you’re most inspired.

What does the actual project workflow look like for freelancers?

Very low friction and highly documented. We provide detailed briefs based on crystal clear strategy sessions upfront so you can focus on your craft. You’ll be given solid timelines tailored to your schedule, and you’re always welcome to join client discussions for extra/full clarity (but only if you want to). 

‍Bonus: When we bring you into a project, the details have already been worked through before anything is sent to the client for onboarding. Often times if we know we'll be adding freelancers to projects, we'll build the scope around what’s actually possible from those specific creatives from the start. This means there’s zero surprises or guessing on your end.

How do you approach creative direction?

Our creative direction is built on clarity and trust, not micromanagement. Every project starts with a deep dive with each client, specifically for research and strategy to define their brands visuals and emotional anchors. From there, we give our creative exports space to push boundaries and go beyond our guardrails. 

‍Zero Guessing Policy: If you’re working on a project with us and you're unsure, you can ask us anything. We want to keep things simple, but it also lets our partners feel they can keep communication open and ego free. 

‍Strategy First: We set the foundation upfront so you can focus on your high level craft. If you'd like to join the creative meetings — you're more than welcome.

‍Intentional Outcomes: Even with multiple hands on a project, everything will always stay cohesive, polished, and purpose driven.

Do you offer internships or mentorship for juniors?

We don’t offer traditional internships right now, but when capacity allows us — we will be adding them into the mix. We do however, provide mentorships to emerging designers so they're never feeling left out to sea. 

When we’re able to bring juniors into projects, we want to make sure they get real hands on experience from our creative director from day one. Making it the best learning experiences possible.