Chair: Xandr Sutjiadi RGD (he/him), Calgary & Vancouver

Xander is a multi-hyphenated queer trans creative director, designer, illustrator, front-end developer and educator who believes in using his creative power for social good. His remote design firm, ARToverMATTER, is a creative studio that gives a damn and specializes in helping changemakers make a positive impact in their communities. He is also a co-founder of Ripple of Change Magazine. Outside of AOM, you might find Xander as a guest speaker sharing stories about his immigrant life journey or advocating for inclusive and accessible design. Xander chairs the Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

 

Vice Chair: Magued Hanna RGD, Newmarket, ON

Magued is a creative leader with over 20 years of strategic, management and hands-on expertise across media and industries–from fintech and real estate to high tech and automotive. As one of only a handful of UX Master certified professionals in Canada, he has a deep understanding of UX for web and mobile, and a passion for accessibility.

 

Sigrid Albert RGD (she/her), Vancouver

Sigrid designs books, publications and brochures for institutional, corporate and publishing clients as principal of StepUp Communications Inc. She has also been teaching part-time at Vancouver Community College since 2010 and recently decided to jump into education full-time. She is currently department head of the Digital Media Design department at VCC. Her interest in EDI increased with the Black Lives Matters movement and the George Floyd killing in 2020. She is part of the VCC Faculty Association Racism Committee. Her goal is contributing to and learning from the RGD EDI Committee in order to create a more equitable environment in both her work and personal life. She squeezes in hiking, biking, board games and urban sketching whenever she gets a chance.

 

Olivia Baker-Sullivan Provisional RGD (she/her), Toronto

A digital designer at Block, presently doing production work, Olivia has experience in a diverse range of digital media. She completed her Master's of Design at NSCAD University in 2020, and has since been driven to work on design systems and web design. Olivia's undergraduate studies were at the University of Ottawa, where she majored in Visual Art with a minor in music and French immersion. Olivia is bilingual, speaking English and French, and grew up in the United States. When she's not doing digital production work at Block, she's tending to her many plants, creating art, playing piano and practising yoga.

 

Diana Campbell CUA, RGD, CGD (she/her), Edmonton
Diana is an experienced usability engineer, award winning human-centred designer, accessibility champion and digital strategist with more than 15 years of progressive experience in universal design and behavioural economics. She has dedicated her career to empowering the voices of the underrepresented through compassion and advocacy. In leading the Digital Experience team at Alberta Blue Cross, Diana is dedicated to mentoring and coaching others to reach their potential through the discovery of purpose, passion and skill. She has been recognized for her extraordinary commitment to innovation and purpose-driven strategy.

 

Amanda DeVries RGD (she/her), London

Amanda has been a brand and graphic designer for 15 years, specializing in branding and packaging for food/beverage consumer packaged good (CPG) companies with her company Eye Candy Design. She spent 10 years in Ottawa, where governmental agencies kept her busy but not terribly inspired. Moving to Southwestern Ontario in 2009 presented her with the opportunity to work with small businesses and real people. She also works as a prop stylist and interior design consultant to food and beverage companies. 

 

Chris Dickert RGD (he/him), Burnaby

Chris studied history and philosophy at Simon Fraser University, where a chance request to make a poster introduced him to the wide and wonderful world of graphic design. Since then, Chris has been combining his love of the written word with design, first for over ten years in corporate communications, and more recently at a Vancouver media startup making data visualizations. At the same time, he has maintained a busy side hustle with clients in the tech, culture and education sectors. Equity, diversity and inclusion have been a strong throughline throughout Chris' career, where he has tried to be an ally and advocate, especially on Indigenous issues.

 

Erin Grandmaison RGD (she/her), Goderich

Erin is a senior graphic designer with the award-winning Creative Strategy team at Bruce Power, Canada’s only private sector nuclear generator. With over 20 years of involvement in the design industry, her broad ranging skill set has enabled her to design, manage and produce a variety of projects with clients such as York University, MLSE, the Government of Canada and the RGD. She has also been recognized by the RGD In-House Awards, HOW In-House awards, GDUSA Awards, American In-House Awards, Spark Design Awards and the International Business Awards.

 

Alan Joson RGD (he/him), Toronto

While completing his portfolio for entry into the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), Alan Joson discovered his passion and enthusiasm for graphic design and photography. He joined the corporate world for several years while simultaneously engaging in creative pursuits, including managing his own photography business. In 2010, Alan completed his studies in Advertising & Graphic Design at Humber College. Having further refined his design skills through his work at George Brown College and at the Ontario College of Trades, Alan now balances his role as the in-house graphic designer for the Michener Institute of Education at UHN with an active career as a freelance designer.

 

Kendra Legault Student RGD (she/her), Toronto

Kendra is a third-year student at George Brown College. She has a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in film studies from Toronto Metropolitan University, where she began exploring graphic design. Kendra is passionate about the impact design can have on identity, diversity, and accessibility. To that end, she values collaboration and learning as her lifelong goal.

 

Parker McLean RGD (he/they), Vancouver
Inspired to make the world a gentler place, Parker is an avid colour enthusiast, schnauzer dad, husband and creative director from Vancouver, BC. Leading his team at Harc Creative with equal parts heart, head and humour, Parker’s lived-experience growing up with a speech difference informs his sensitive, clarity-focused creative practice. Pouring everything he has into everything he does, Parker is certainly a ‘more is more’ person, but don’t let that fool you: his quiet approach and tender perspective keep his feet on the ground and his head facing skyward.

 

Derrick Oduro Provisional RGD, Brampton
Derrick is a multidisciplinary Graphic Designer based in Toronto, Canada. He received a BDes degree in Graphic Design from his undergraduate at OCAD University in 2018, where he studied and developed his passion for art and design. Derrick's work mainly focuses on branding, editorial design, UX design, digital marketing, social media, and art direction. Utilizing his extensive work experience and expertise freelancing with his own clients, he recently began his own initiative as the Founder of D0Media — a creative multimedia hub agency offering various services to help bring small businesses’ vision to life. More importantly, the idea is to provide a collective space and work hub for like-minded and open-minded creatives, especially marginalized voices (BIPoC) to be heard, seen, and supported. Thus, Derrick became a Provisional RGD Member to further expand his knowledge and skills, and to be more involved within the design community by connecting with fellow professionals.

 

Gopika Rajendran Provisional RGD (she/her), Brampton

Gopika is a multi-disciplinary designer specializing in packaging and digital design with a keen interest in type design/typography, illustration and motion. She currently works at Loblaw Companies Ltd as a designer. Her curiosity and passion for visual storytelling have led her to work and train in various creative fields, from design to film. Gopika co-chairs the Provisional Committee.

 

Mark Rutledge RGD (he/him), Whitehorse

Mark Rutledge is one of Canada’s design leaders with deep roots and over 30 years of experience designing for Canada’s Indigenous communities and organizations. He is currently the Senior Creative at Outcrop Communications where he leads the creative team on projects throughout the three territories (Yukon, NWT and Nunavut). He has worked with many Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations helping First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Mark has also spoken and participated in panel discussions and conferences on many international stages where he brings his extensive experience and Indigenous knowledge to a global audience. His passion is engaging with and mentoring emerging designers from around the globe. He is Anishinaabe, wolf clan from Little Grand Rapids First Nation and Lac Seul First Nation. He is proud of his Ojibway roots often spends his time dancing, drumming and sharing his culture with others. Mark lives, works and plays in Whitehorse, Yukon on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council.

Wendy Tabor RGD (she/her)

Wendy is a generalist graphic designer with nearly ten years of graphic design and marketing experience in highly regulated industries. While practicing design, she has learned the art and science of turning highly technical information into clever, thoughtful and engaging content. Wendy also brings her experiences navigating between the hearing world and the Deaf/Hard-Of-Hearing world and offers her insights to create bridges of communication. To Wendy, accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion mean everyone can have a complete human experience. She pursues photography, finding coffee shops and reading fiction books in her free time.

 

Rita Tang Provisional RGD (she/her), Toronto

Rita is a graphic designer based in Toronto. She received an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design in 2019. Currently, she is an on call volunteer designer at The New Kid collective where they work on creative projects with non-profit organizations. While underwraps she is developing a project that hopes to bring representation and amplify the voices of BIPOC creatives. She hopes by becoming a part of the committee we can create an open dialogue and help change the landscape of our industry for the better.

 

Ashley Tomlinson Provisional RGD (she/her), Toronto

Ashley is a multidisciplinary graphic designer based in Toronto, Canada. She received an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design from Humber College in 2019. Recently, she was the junior designer at Studio Wyse where she worked on editorial projects for the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and the Creative Destruction Lab. She’s also a cofounder of Cove Collective, a community that centres the voices of BIPOC womxn through events, workshops and podcasts. Ashley is always up for a conversation; her favourite topics include intersectional feminism, books and dogs.

Meggan Van Harten RGD (she/her), Sudbury
Partner & Strategic Leader

Meggan is a big-picture thinker and ensures operational success by being committed to long-term strategic planning. She’s committed to accessibility in all sectors and actively promotes diversity by teaching inclusive design through mentoring and the education of clients and students alike.

Donica Willis RGD (she/her), Toronto
An interdisciplinary artist and graphic designer based in Toronto, Ontario. She is an in-house Graphic & Web Storyteller at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University), the founder of The Blaqk Gold Project and the owner of DW Creativ – a creative studio specializing in branding, graphic and web design solutions that are accessible, inclusive and empower companies and organizations to share authentic stories. In 2022, she completed a Master of Design (MDes) in Interdisciplinary Arts, Media & Design at OCAD University. Her research explored decolonizing design and specifically the ways in which adding a speculative lens to one's design practice can create alternative ways of being.