Shikatani Lacroix

Putting athletes first has always been the goal of the See You In Canadian Athletes Fund, and now that pledge is reflected in its new moniker, Canadian Athletes Now – the CAN Fund.

In other words, this Fund enables athletes from across Canada, both able-bodied and paralympic, to declare “I Can Now Have Better Equipment, I Can Now Dream, I Can Now Focus, I Can Now Work Less and Train More…” and most importantly, “I Can Now Compete With The World.”

“We have seen the tremendous impact our Fund has with providing direct financial support to our athletes… says Jane Roos, Founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund.

Jane Roos began the Fund in 1997 to allow all Canadians to impact the lives of our country’s athletes with ongoing, direct funding. Since then, over 3 million dollars has been raised and 500 athletes supported. Sami Jo Small, 2002 Olympic Gold Medallist Hockey, tells how she appreciates the effort, “The CAN Fund recognizes the life of a high performance athlete can be very demanding, not only physically and emotionally but financially as well. The Fund is an incredible initiative that benefits not only countless athletes but their families and communities.”

Roos emphasizes that “the new name and look of the Fund would not have been possible without the time and talents of K. Inc. Marketing Management, Shikatani Lacroix and Hotspex Inc., who came together pro bono to create our new brand.”

“The timing for this announcement could not have been better,” Dave Kincaid, president of K. Inc. responds, “After nine years of hard work and commitment Jane came to us saying that she wanted to turn the See You In… project into a brand. We believe strongly in the CAN Fund purpose, commitment, and future. We are confident that it will be successful going forward.”

For more information on Canadian Athletes Now—the CAN Fund, or to make a donation, please visit www.canadianathletesnow.com or call 416-487-4442 or 1-866-YES-2008.

When the Toronto Blue Jays organization launched a retail initiative to market the 2-time World Series-winning baseball team’s branded merchandise, they trusted Shikatani Lacroix with the development of a brand position and logo for the new shop.

The objective was to develop a new brand positioning, as well as a logo and retail environment reflective of this new direction, while leveraging the key Blue Jays equities. The project was then extended to include the development of a catalogue to showcase the apparel and merchandise for the store’s grand opening.

A fashion-forward concept was created to reflect a hip, youthful, urban brand positioning. The store features a kinetic display screen at the entrance, with various graphic elements and lifestyle imagery throughout. A new font was developed for collateral material, and the catalogue was designed to capture the style of the store, and templated so the pages could be easily populated with updates in the future.

The SL team really hit one out of the park! The Jays Shop opened to major-league reviews, and SL was again retained to work on a larger retail outlet for the team at the Rogers Centre.

Shikatani Lacroix and Tetley have shared a long standing working relationship for over 16 years. As part of this relationship, Shikatani Lacroix provides yearly brand tune-up sessions to identify business opportunities based on consumer trends and unmet need states.

Tetley has gained market share leadership in both the black tea and herbal tea categories through innovation and new product initiatives. As part of the brand tune-up process, Shikatani Lacroix identified a need for an improved storage solution for Tetley’s core product, Orange Pekoe tea.

SL explored a wide range of container shapes that were subsequently taken into research. From key learning, Shikatani Lacroix developed a stronger package with a “flip top” to allow for easier access to the tea bags by consumers, while also reducing material cost for Tetley.

The launch of the new Tetley flip top carton received rave reviews, and generated a significant sales increase as reported by ACNielsen.

The Design Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC) represents the design sector in Ontario and commissioned two studies for the government to identify concerns and propose solutions relating to education and business issues facing the design industry. Shikatani Lacroix partnered with DIAC to design the full report, and develop a 20 page brochure to highlight the main points of this important information.

The objective was to educate professionals within the design industry in addition to governments, educators, and business professionals who buy design services. It was important to strike the right balance between a professional and factual communication, and a simple, approachable, and relevant presentation.

The overall design intent was to be unique and reflective of the design community, but with a straightforward approach due to the amount of copy. SL explored two to three layouts featuring the front cover and a typical inside spread, leading to the selection of a final design direction. The brochure design was then adapted to PDF versions of the report and brochure, a CD label promotional card, and website.

The comprehensive and informative report “Design Matters: DIAC Design Industry Study” reflects a modern design and style with contemporary use of brown, orange, and light blue, especially evident in the presentation of the various charts and graphs. Its visual appeal is key in attracting awareness to this important initiative.