What a year it’s been! Let’s take a quick look back, before we say hello to a new year.

In 2012, we worked on many exciting and challenging projects.

One ambitious project we checked off in 2012 was the web refresh of Vancouver Coastal Health Research. We designed a more user-friendly digital experience to showcase the value of their research and also crafted a professional online home for researchers and staff.

For Providence Health Care, we built a digital communication tool, a one-stop shop to house their substantial amounts of news and information. With a few clicks of the mouse, knowledge can now be broadcasted and migrated across site-specific platforms.

Clearly, organizing big data has been…well, big this year.

Another interesting project of 2012 was rebranding one of the oldest and most respected law firms in BC, Bull Housser. We bridged the gap between their prestigious 120-year history and their new, modern character.

In 2012, we had our hand in a couple of big firsts.

We had the honour of creating a brand identity for the very first provincial First Nations Health Authority. Collaborating with talented First Nations artists, we created a brand that is both beautiful and representative of First Nations culture.

We also worked on Pearson-Dogwood, the first land development venture led by a health authority, Vancouver Coastal Health. We loved the challenge of conceiving an identity that reflects the values of this future community: health, wellness, and integrity.

In 2012, we hit a few milestones.

Namely, we marked the 30 year anniversary working with Canada Post and designing special edition and collectors’ stamps.

Last, but certainly not least, in 2012, we beefed up our digital and interactive department. We will always stay true to our design roots, but we love our digital folks, too! Meet our newest members in the team section.

It’s been a tremendous and productive year, and at the tail end, we are delighted to say that we are a happy community of designers, communicators, strategists and developers!

We wish you all a very beautiful holiday. See you in 2013!

Recognized globally, World AIDS Day is an opportunity for people and organizations around the world to unite in the fight against HIV and AIDS. It’s an important day for Signals because for more than 20 years we’ve worked hand-in-hand with a number of incredible organizations and initiatives that are deeply involved in Canada’s response to HIV and AIDS. Today we reflect on some of that work…

In the early 90’s, near the beginning of the Canadian response to HIV, we branded the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS  and the Canadian HIV Trials Network. In 1996, we did the conference branding and were the Agency of Record at the XI International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver. This conference brand featured the work of local artist, advocate, and Signals’ friend, Joe Average.

We branded the Canadian Association for HIV Research 2000 and in 2009 we helped them roll into the digital age with a website and new look and feel. We continue to work with them every year in a support capacity to help display the work and presentations coming out of annual CAHR Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS.

In 2006, we developed conference branding, a communications and marketing strategy, website and all conference publications at the 17th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm held that year in Vancouver.

And in 2007, we branded the Canada-Africa Prevention Trials (CAPT) Network, a network formed in partnership with HIV researchers and governments in Uganda and South Africa to expand life-saving HIV clinical trial activities beyond Canada.

Today as we reflect on the work we’ve done in this field, we also take a moment to remember our close friends who we’ve lost to this disease, and continue to honour our friends, clients and colleagues working collectively towards an HIV and AIDS free world.

Signals has come to be known for clear communication. And more and more of that communication is happening online. So our clients will notice that our interactive department has grown to cover four major areas: Interactive strategy, interactive design, technical development and social media.

While we’ve long had a handle on interactive design and development, we added a social media and community manager last January in the form of Alissa Sadler. In September we added interactive designer Tom Froese. In October, lead interactive strategist Rob McDougall, who will help all of Signals interactive clients maximize their online presence in all their various forms.

To fill out the technical side of our abilities, we’ve added a lead developer, James Baker, a Drupal specialist, who will join us in November. James will head our team of developers to operationalize the strategy and design to create clean, intuitive and functional applications. While we’ll continue to be known for bringing clarity to complex issues, now our online team will allow us to bring this clarity even further into the digital world.

Check our Team section for more information on these new additions to our interactive team.

The PROOF Centre relies on Signals for ongoing strategic advice about their communications. This year, instead of a printed annual report, Signals recommended taking the report online. We made this recommendation because of the PROOF Cente’s very Internet-saavy audience base, spread all over the world. We also knew we could track analytics on page views and video plays to gather some hard statistics about who the report was reaching.

The other great thing about this online strategy was that it allowed the PROOF Centre to offer several levels of information, giving their readers the opportunity to engage with the report according to their interests. Unlike a traditional print report, this unique online version allowed us to incorporate a variety of engaging content including custom illustrations, video messages from key stakeholders and a scrollable timeline to detail their history. The result was an interactive, friendly and shareable annual report that highlights the PROOF Centre’s achievements to date and sets the stage for the year ahead.

You can view the online report here. The custom illustrations were created by our Creative Director, John Belisle, and the videos were produced in partnership with Lemongrass Media.