Established Vancouver Institution, complete with Long-Term Design and Development Support
10+ years (ongoing)
Fractional Creative Direction | Brand Strategy | Visual Identity | Website Design & Development | Season Collateral | Print Design
How do you modernize a 90-year-old institution without losing the credibility that comes with nearly a century of history? VYSO needed to tell a story that honoured their legacy while positioning them as vibrant and forward-thinking, and they needed that story expressed consistently across visual identity, digital presence, print materials, and every season’s worth of communications.
I’ve served as VYSO’s fractional creative director for over ten years, stewarding their brand story through their 90th anniversary, ongoing season campaigns, and now their 95th anniversary milestone. This is deeply embedded partnership. I understand their organization, their audience, and their voice well enough to make creative decisions that feel authentically theirs.
I started by immersing myself in VYSO’s world: attending concerts, meeting with staff and students, speaking with professional musicians about what resonates within classical music culture. The visual identity that emerged tells the story of an orchestra where every level matters, with iconography drawn from orchestral formation, giving each ensemble a distinct but unified presence.
Over the decade, the work has included a full rebrand, two anniversary sub-brands, a highly technical website overhaul, and graphics for each season (sometimes 4-5 concerts with multiple sessions for different orchestra combinations) across both digital and print. I work with multiple levels of internal stakeholders throughout each season, including board, volunteers, and staff, to ensure requirements are satisfied while keeping each season unique.
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A story that evolves rather than ages.
Ten years of consistent creative direction through multiple anniversary milestones, with a brand narrative that has deepened rather than requiring periodic retelling.
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Visual and verbal coherence.
Every season’s materials, every communication, every touchpoint tells the same story, because one partner understands and stewards the whole narrative.
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Institutional credibility with contemporary energy.
A visual identity that honours nearly a century of history while feeling vital and forward-looking.
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Operational breathing room.
Website systems that handle complexity so staff can focus on students and music, not administration.
Do you feel like you have the start of a brand but need the content, communications, and values-orientation expressed in an audience-focussed way? Do you know you need something, but you’re not sure what?
I’d love to hear from you.
Get in touch at mairin@mairindeery.com