Specializing in research communications and social marketing for most of her 20 year career, Robyn helps our health and academic clients clarify their goals and reach their diverse audiences.

She provides specialized communication services such as branding and positioning strategies, communications planning, marketing and community relations, as well as writing and editing. Robyn acts as the link for most of Signals’ health and education clients, ensuring the design is relevant, on-target, and appropriate for the identified audience. Before joining Signals in 2001, Robyn was communications director of the Canadian HIV Trials Network for 10 years, where she worked closely with senior clinical researchers, people living with HIV / AIDS and their advocates across Canada.

In the past three years, Robyn has developed communications and branding strategies for Providence Health Care and the Providence Health Care Research Institute, the federally-funded PROOF Centre for Excellence, the 17th International Conference on Harm Reduction and the Masters of Health Administration Program at UBC, among others. She recently completed a brand renewal program for the BC Cancer Agency and the Heart + Lung Institute at St. Paul’s Hospital, the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and the School of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology at UBC.

Robyn received an honours BA in communications from Simon Fraser University and a Masters degree in communications from Concordia University in Montreal. Most recently she has discovered the power of social media, using it to effectively build communities and promote ideas.

The founder, principal and creative director of Signals, Kosta Tsetsekas, has more than 25 years experience in the design field.

An honours graduate of the Communication & Design Program at the Ontario College of Art and Design, he provides creative and design direction for each project Signals undertakes. Kosta has taught and lectured at the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design and has served on a number of juries for design competitions including the US-based UCDA—University and Colleges Design Association. Recently, Kosta was a judge at the Unisource Annual Report competition, held in Montreal.

Kosta’s work has also been exhibited at the Vancouver Museum and the Charles H. Scott Gallery in Vancouver. He is the recipient of numerous local, national and international design awards, and has had hundreds of projects featured in prestigious publications around the world. He was one of only 23 international designers featured in Successful Logos Worldwide and Computer Generation and has contributed his work as well as a Foreword to a two-volume retrospective of Canadian logo design, Symbols and Trademarks of Canada.

In 2001, Kosta’s postage stamp work became part of the National Archives of Canada.

John brings strength in conceptual-based design and extensive experience in design and advertising.

John brings strength in conceptual-based design and extensive experience in design and advertising. He has worked with a number of Vancouver agencies and studios on a wide range of projects, including advertising for Tourism British Columbia, the North Shore Credit Union and the BC Lions, and design for the Vancouver Canucks, Terasen Gas, Telus and Teekay Shipping. John has also worked on many non-profit projects, including branding for the Tour De Delta and the Vancouver Firefighters Union 9-11 relief fund campaign.

A graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, John has a strong base in fine art and illustration which appears in some of his Signals work. He created the illustrations for a Vancouver Opera campaign and designed and illustrated capabilities brochures for The Heart Centre and The Renal Program at St. Paul’s Hospital. John designed the series of International Bid Books which were part of Vancouver’s successful bid for the 2010 Olympics and developed a series of custom illustrations for the Singleton Urquhart law firm which formed the basis of Signals’ brand renewal program for the firm. John was the principal designer for dozens of annual reports and was the principal designer for the CLBC Start With Hi campaign.

John’s first children’s book, In God’s Kitchen, was published to very favourable reviews. His popular tee-shirt illustrations for Ironhead, a local Vancouver retailer, have also gained international attention, with People magazine featuring a photo of Halle Berry wearing one of his original designs.

Rob is responsible for the planning and execution of all Signals’ digital projects, websites and campaigns. His depth and breadth of experience makes him a wonderful resource for clients seeking to integrate traditional marketing and communicatons techniques with the latest digital tools.

Rob works closely with our senior communicators to lead our clients through the entire digital strategy, planning, and development process, ensuring the result is a rich and positive user experience. He is well versed in user experience design (UX), accessibility and usability guidelines, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media trends and implementation strategies. His experience with a multitude of content management systems (CMS) ensures that the right system is matched to the clients’ needs.

Rob joined us from real estate project marketing agency Braun/Allison where he was responsible for the coordination and completion of dozens of websites and digital campaigns.

Rob has a degree in Business Administration from Acadia University where he was also a hotshot varsity football player — a Signals first!

Originally from Montreal, Julia is a digital strategist with a long history of writing and editing. Her experience working with pharmaceuticals, insurance providers, large non-profits, festivals, affiliate marketers and retailers has given her a breadth of experience in the digital world.

Julia has developed strong content plans, search landscape reports, YouTube channels, Facebook campaigns, Twitter feeds, Pinterest boards, alternative ppc campaigns and she’s a serial curator of wonderful things.

She’s Google Adwords Certified and insists on a mantra “search isn’t media!” Using analytics to better plan and deliver a message is a huge part of what her clients enjoy. She’s a blogger, a writer, a researcher, and Android Phone user.

When not at Signals, she can usually be found enjoying live jazz by local musicians, or poring over her next novel.

Barbara brings many years of experience — as an in-house communicator and a consultant — to her work with Signals’ clients.

Barbara began her career writing marketing communications for international high technology companies in Ottawa. Since moving to Vancouver eleven years ago, she has developed and managed corporate and marketing communications for industry-leading organizations, including Genome British Columbia, the Eastman Kodak Graphic Communications Group (formerly Creo Inc.), HSBC Bank Canada, Teekay Shipping Corporation, Terasen Inc. and Tourism British Columbia.

At Signals, Barbara is a strategic and creative resource. As the primary client contact, she contributes to strategic and conceptual work, provides writing and editing services, and handles project logistics. Her recent projects include annual reports for the BC Cancer Foundation, Genome British Columbia and HSBC Bank Canada, marketing campaigns for the Kodak Graphic Communications Group and a brand renewal program for Associated Labels. Barbara holds an MA from Carleton University, Ottawa.

David brings a depth of experience in communications strategy, conceptual development and project management to corporate and marketing communication projects. His focus is on translating objectives into creative solutions that support and enhance brands, and achieve results.

For over 25 years he has been applying his creative and management skills with insight and dedication to hundreds of projects in a diversity of design disciplines. He has been responsible for the success of projects including branding, visual identity development, packaging, marketing communications materials, corporate video and website development.

Born in Vancouver, David is a graduate of the Media Resources Program at Capilano University and has been recognized for design excellence by both the Graphic Designers Society of Canada and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. As a long-standing member of the design community, he has been a guest speaker at various professional association meetings, was a participant in the BC Institute of Technology, School of Business Mentors Program and is on the Advisory Council for Vancouver’s Kwantlen University College, Graphic Design for Marketing programme.

A music enthusiast, David has learned new ways of expressing his creativity through the power of “youtube”– sans stage fright.

James is a Drupal specialist who joined Signals after six years with a local digital agency. James’ goal is to make smart websites that engage, delight, and sustain.

A hands on programmer, James brings a wealth of experience having since 1998 produced work for clients like Nintendo America, Disney, the Magazine Association of BC, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and Windset Farms.

James lives in Drupal, WordPress, PHP, standards-based XHTML, CSS and jQuery, and has considerable expertise in interface design, information architecture, usability, functional design, SEO  design and strategy and CMS development and configuration.

James has a BA in English Literature from the University of Winnipeg and a BDes from Emily Carr University in Electronic Communication Design where he has also taught New Media and Advanced Web Design for five years.

In addition to the above, James has in the last year, attempted the chocolate Guinness whiskey cake, and the now legendary James Joyce donut upside down cake, which he has been known to share with his officemates and lucky visitors.

Janelle is a digital native from Vancouver with a broad range of talents. She has a unique ability to engage with people, be it as an interviewer, a coordinator, as an event planner, as a social media manager or when working with design and technical experts in-house to bring a project to life.

She also has a background in neuroscience. She’s been recognized for her excellence in research, and was published in the journal Cephalalgia.

Janelle’s experience in the health-care field has given her expertise in connecting with the healthcare communities, and in connecting with the broader public on healthcare topics. Her experience in event planning and promotion makes her the perfect fit for our conference events. (and our holiday parties!)

When not at Signals, Janelle can be found online, or in competitive dance, and in October 2012, she co-chaired the Beyond Pink Conference for Young Women in Business.

After setting out from New Zealand on his personal “design odyssey,” Mike stopped at Signals in May 2006 and he’s been a valued member of our team ever since.

A graduate of the Christchurch Polytech Art & Design School, Mike previously worked as a graphic designer and art director with Waves Advertising in Christchurch, New Zealand. In addition to his strong background in branding and advertising, Mike has a passion for photography, which has made him the studio’s in-house photographer.

Since joining Signals, Mike has worked on a variety of marketing and communications materials and has become known for his skill in integrating messages with a unique visual approach. Mike’s recent work includes the collateral materials for the BC Generations Project, annual and corporate responsibility reports for Providence Health Care, the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia and Methanex Corporation and a marketing brochure for Genome British Columbia.

Jasper arrived on Canadian soil in 2001 from Ireland. He holds a degree in Typographic Design from the University of Hertfordshire in England.

He has been in the design industry for over twelve years and has worked for large agenciees such as Cossette Communications as well as making his mark in smaller design firms, with recent awards for his design concepts in Communication Arts and How magazine.

He’s also flown solo doing branding and design for clients such as the Vancouver Art Gallery, Entree Canada and Richmond Centre.

When not in the studio, Jasper can be found running the seawall, road biking, playing tennis or painting up a storm. His art has also been exhibited and sold in several galleries in the Lower Mainland.

Peter Szymczak is a Drupal specialist who joined us from an in-­house developer position at a non-profit focused on legal education.

Peter is a developer and designer who turned his hobby of building internet properties into a lifestyle. He started way back in the first dot com wave with a classic gaming site. After that wave broke, he continued creating new sites. To Peter, the Internet is an equalizing force, and an opportunity to communicate well with anyone. His work includes simple, elegant properties for bike shops, resorts, real-estate developers and e-learning platforms.

In addition to web development, Peter worked extensively with the Justice Education Society of BC. His efforts have resulted in excellent legal education programs, toolkits and of course, a simple and usable digital resource for anyone who needs help understanding and navigating the legal system in Canada, and B.C.

When not writing jqueries, Peter can be found out with friends, tweeting about the Vancouver Canucks.

Defne is a graduate of Emily Carr University's Master of Applied Arts in Design. She is a communication designer with special interest in brand experience and brand identity design.

Through her work, Defne connects the rational and the emotional, strategy and design, to create effective and appealing brand experiences.

Prior to joining Signals, Defne worked on real estate marketing campaigns for national communication agency, Cossette. Previously, she was an art director for an advertising agency in Istanbul, working on large campaigns for national brands.

When not working, you can find her enjoying the outdoors and cooking for her friends.

Bree is a communication design student at Emily Carr University and soon to be published children’s book author.

She is particularly interested in design for health care and social (and affordable) housing, and hopes to integrate these interests into her graduation project. Bree is also part of the editorial team at Current, the design research journal at Emily Carr.

When not working on school work, Bree is either writing books or teaching her two little boys everything they need to know about life.

It takes a unique talent to ride herd over a stable of creative types.

Lucky for us, Bev is a dynamic, innovative and team oriented professional with many years of experience in Accounting and Office Administration.

Bev is our go to person for accounting, job costing and analysis, human resources, payroll and systems implementation. All the good stuff our creatives occasionally take for granted, but our clients and suppliers always appreciate.