LET US FIND YOUR VOICE + show HOW You ARE differenT
Mizu is Japanese for water. It’s never the same way twice. It bends to the elements of its environment yet shapes them at the same time. It is holistic and affirming.
Mizu Creative is a boutique graphic design firm launched by Rhonda Gill, to bring this concept to the client. By focusing on understanding our client’s businesses and unique marketing needs we deliver engaging products that not only give clients a distinctive voice but also deliver on a strategic level.
Though Mizu's clients tend to be medium sized, we have taken on large scale projects that range in length up to a year. We have also been fortunate to have had high-profile projects showcased in Washington, Tokyo, Shanghai, Moscow and Seoul (including Rhonda’s time as co-founder of Elio Creative). The Challenge Series, Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Village website and booklet project detailing the planning and green technologies of The Olympic Village received visitors from over 150 countries. It was used as a sustainable model for countries hosting future Olympics. VIEW WORK
Select Client list
AIBC - Architectural Institute of British Columbia
Arena Stage Theater (Washington, DC)*
Bark Design Collective (Tokyo Exhibition)
Bing Thom Architects
Charlotte Wall
Chris Doray Studio Inc.
Dr. Galia Anderson
Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Emily Carr Continuing & Networked Education
Enerpro Systems Corp.
Heli-One*
Iconstrux Architecture Ltd.*
Johnston Davidson Architecture + Planning Inc.
Mosaic Homes*
Olympic International
Paul Sangha Landscape Architecture
Now Strategies
Roger Bayley Inc.
Shift Architecture Inc.
StructureCraft
Survival-One*
The Challenge Series, Vancouver Olympic Village 2010
The Trinity Uptown Plan (Texas)
UBC Campus and Community Planning*
UBC Faculty of Education*
UBC Faculty of Science*
UBC Press
UBC Sustainability Office*
White Salmon Valley Education Foundation
* Work done as co-founder of Elio Creative
AWARDS
Gold, Visual Communication – Content Development & Editorial Category at the 2010 Design Exchange Awards of Excellence: The Challenge Series
Most Environmentally Progressive Printing Project in Canada, to Metropolitan Fine Printers at the Environmental Printing Awards: The Challenge Series
Silver, Landscape Architecture Category at the 2007 Design Exchange Awards of Excellence: UBC Sustainability Street*
Hemlock Printers Mohawk Silver Award: Emily Carr Parchment*
Stora Enso Design Merit Award: StructureCraft Brochure
* Collaboration within Elio Creative
PROFILE
RHONDA GILL Creative Director + Principal
Rhonda has over 20 years of experience working with a long list of prestigious clients. Her mark of trade is finding the optimum balance between creativity and business needs all the while managing large, multi-disciplinary, international projects. She also believes in building environmentally responsible projects and is continually seeking new ways of advancing design practices in a sustainable manner.
Rhonda earned her Bachelor of Communications Design from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (now University) and was the recipient of the Simon Chang Award for high scholastic standing. She also completed an exchange program in graphic design at the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam and returned to the Netherlands to interview the foremost type designers of the time for her thesis “Coding and Decoding.”
KIM ENDO Lead Designer
Kim has brought over 20 years of experience in graphic design to Mizu. Her expertise in designing identity systems and corporate marketing material along with large-scale displays and signage, as well as her tremendous ability to explore many facets of a solution contributed greatly to Mizu’s rich and broad spectrum of work.
Kim completed her Fine Arts Degree from UBC and then the Communication Design program at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design (now University).
SUSTAINABILITY
Mizu is extremely passionate about creating objects responsibly so we are always stretching to find new and better ways of doing things. When we worked on Sustainability Street for the World Urban Forum, we worked for six months with the manufacturer to ensure that we could use recycled glass for a signage treatment. For The Challenge Series we chose a printer who could respond to our needs for certain inks and papers – to the effect that Metropolitan Printers won gold for the most environmentally progressive print project in Canada in 2010.
We are also pleased to find that environmentally responsible organizations and companies are seeking us out. We love helping clients communicate their sustainable technologies and concepts.