Toronto Life Magazine features Jacknife’s founders
Featured in Toronto Life Magazine, Jacknife Co-Founders Mike & Mikey discuss how they started out over 26 years ago to build a company focused on helping small to internationally recognized businesses build value through creativity. “We’ve always believed in a diverse and holistic approach in helping our clients connect with their audiences.” From the company’s…
Play’s the Thing
From the earliest days of the pandemic, we have all been touched by the power of design to communicate crucial information in relatable ways, provide clear instruction, and help us safely navigate environments. The “Keep 2m Apart” floor decal has become a ubiquitous feature of our landscape. As the number of the fully vaccinated…
3 Lessons for Building Authentic Brands
Now more than ever, it’s expected that brands are ‘authentic.’ We hear this a lot these days. ‘Be authentic.’ You might feel pressured, even intimidated, and think you need to do a complete 180, but what we’ve learned by working with brands across a diverse range of industries is that authenticity can’t simply be…
Jacknife’s Feature in Strategy Magazine
Jacknife is part of Strategy’s Indie List, highlighting how we’ve demonstrated flexibility and adaptability, turning chaos into creativity in the face of uncertainty. The feature discusses our integrated approach and the power of design thinking in modern business. In conversation with our leadership team, co-founders Mikey Richardson and Mike Kelar express that the most successful…
Creativity Always Finds a Way
A new year comes with a sense of new beginnings—a time for reflection and renewal. Through our experience building brands in a year unlike any other, patterns emerged and we were reminded that design is the ultimate connector. Even in the face of adversity, design as a discipline is inherently and uniquely positioned to help…
Happy Holidays from Jacknife
Phew, what a year. As crazy as it was, we found solace in the power of creativity and our belief that all young people deserve a chance to develop their creativity was strengthened—especially in areas that are often overlooked. So this year, we’re donating to The Cheryl Lynn Rutledge Northern Indigenous Student Award Fund on behalf of…
5 Things We Wish Someone Told Us Before Becoming Founders
Celebrating 25 years of working together, Jacknife co-founders Mikey Richardson and Mike Kelar reflect on lessons they’ve learned since starting their first design studio in a recent interview with Authority Magazine. Below they share the simple philosophy that guides their work, why balance is key and the positive impact of the creative process. / What…
Designing for the Future of Work
In December of last year, Jacknife facilitated a workshop in collaboration with The School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design at Centennial College. The event brought together students, faculty and industry experts to explore how The School could best prepare its graduates for the future of work and inform multidisciplinary programming. We were being proactive…
Re:Design with Ali Lalani
EXPLORING THE POWER & VALUE OF DESIGN We recently sat down with one of our clients, Ali Lalani, owner of General Assembly—a fast-casual gourmet pizza restaurant in downtown Toronto—to chat about the power of design: / Ali Lalani on the power of design: “I think that design is often overlooked when creating a brand—any…
Your 2pm fix just got sweeter
As holiday products start to permeate shelves across the country, we’re excited to see the launch of our very own seasonal confectionary work with Nestlé. In vein with our office’s sweet tooth, we worked on festive designs for Turtles, Kit Kat, Smarties and Quality Street, letting our designers’ imaginations play on the holiday looks of…
So you want to design a recreational cannabis brand in Canada?
Over the last four years here at Jacknife, we’ve been lucky enough to play an active role in branding and developing cannabis brands for licensed producers, medical educators, and commercial advocates. We’ve worked to define, position and craft a new wave of brands entering an unknown market at the flip of a switch. On October…
Cannabis branding—our high five
The new cannabis aesthetic is here, and it’s forcing brands to shed the stoner image and look to a more diverse, sophisticated, and nuanced consumer. Sleek branding, engaging activations, and an honest communication approach are beginning to re-introduce cannabis products to the masses. (Canadian brands have to get more creative with this, given current restraints…
Newsprint November 2017
/ Jacknife is shortlisted for Design Agency of the Year Its the first time Strategy has expanded its Agency of the Year program to include Design Agencies and we’ll find out in a fancy gala on November 9th if we’re the top of the crop. We already feel like we are, and our mom’s will…
Now that technology distribution has virtually touched every industry, how resilient is your company’s brand?
by Cameron Wykes, President at Jacknife Design Inc. When I ask prospective clients to name three of their brand engagement touch points, without fail, they start naming advertising initiatives. It was my wise friend Will Novosedlik who said that “engagement comes from the interaction with a brand, not the ad… and all you should expect…
Jacknife Holiday Gift Guide
Make holiday shopping better(er), buy your loved ones cool stuff created by Jacknife. We’ve got something for everyone on your list…. Already blessed with the ultimate gift, all this lucky dude needs is a few Jacknife essentials to make his hectic life a little bit easier. Give him a quiet Sunday morning on the ice…
Re-branding Arc Productions
We’re happy to present our most up to date work with Arc Productions – who recently just moved across the street from us! Make sure to check out their new location and follow them on Facebook and Twitter! / About the Brand Arc Productions is one of the largest animation studios in Canada that creates spectacular CG…
Lunatik Athletiks Socks
When Kelly the passionate founder and CEO of Lunatik Athletiks approached us she was on a mission to change the compression sock market from dull and dreary to lively and energetic. She explained to us how Lunatik Athletiks is committed to creating synergies of fabulous design with medical efficacy so you can express your unique…
Celebrating our 10 Year Partnership With Scott Sports
For the past ten years we’ve been working in partnership with Scott Sports to redefine, redesign, and refine the mountain experience for snow sports enthusiasts. We’ve formed a long lasting friendship with the Scott Sports team over the years while working on over 40 projects. From the hundreds of brainstorming sessions on Skype to our…
Our Partnership with Pride at Work Canada
Take a look at our recent work created with Pride at Work Canada! Pride at Work Canada empowers employers to foster work-place cultures that recognize LGBT employees as an important part of a diverse and effective workplace. They achieve this through dialogue, education and leadership. / About the Brand Founded in 2008 by a group…
Meet: GrowWise – Medical Cannabis Education
We’re happy to present our most up to date work with GrowWise! GrowWise currently has opened their first Toronto based Education Centre, with plans to open more locations. Be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with medical cannabis information! / About The Brand GrowWise is a team of medical…
Field Report No.2: The 2016 Interior Design Show
The Interior Design Show has always been seen as the show that shapes the design industry for the year to come. Now going into its 18th year, we see IDS as the event where both Canadian and international designers showcase their innovative services and products. We noticed that this year the show wanted attendees to focus on the…
Mark McMorris Identity
Almost a year ago today we met Jasen Isaacs, Mark McMorris’s agent in Denver to discuss Mark’s personal branding needs. At the time Mark was training to compete in the Sochi Olympics, but was already making a big scene within the snowboarding world. A few short months after our initial meet we were kicking off the project…
Field Report No.1: Winter Outdoor Retailer 2016
We’ve seen a big shift in culture in relation to how we experience the outdoors. With glaciers shrinking and unpredictable weather conditions affecting all of us, the mass consumer seems to be rekindling their love affair with nature. This newly rekindled romance has got me thinking, why are people getting outside? It might be a…
Thule & Trek
We recently completed some great product work with Thule on their GoPro Pack & Shuttles, and with Trek/Bontrager on their 2016 Apparel Design. COMING SOON
Makers of the Unmade No. 2: Paddl Infuser Makes for Thirsty Work
Lifestyle is one of the most rewarding categories to work in. Inspiration comes easily from the waking moments of life. Every sigh of frustration presents an opportunity to make a difference. The results are tangible, easily accessible and usually measured in smiles. The warmer moments of Summer 2015 found a number of parched Jacknifers considering…
Jacknife at The Fast Company Innovation Festival
Fast Company is to an entrepreneur in the same way a compass is to an explorer. For years we’ve been shaping our views on ‘what’s next?’ by following every page of every issue and taking notes on critical insights and information from various industries. Imagine how excited we were when in July when Fast Company…
Jacknife is On the Grid
Think Wikipedia for cool places curated by designers. On the Grid’s mission is to cover every awesome place in every creative neighbourhood in the world. Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity to participate. Created by Hyperakt of Brooklyn, On the Grid is a user-friendly guide curated by local designers who want to share the…
The Rise Of A New Medium: Wearables Creating New Experiences and Environments
After attending the WEST Conference in Toronto on Tuesday we are thrilled to see how the technological advances in wearables are improving our ability to boost our athletic performance as well as create immersive narratives and interactive entertainment. One might think a conference on advances in wearables would have better been suited to take place in Silicon…
Runnymede – 1945 meets 2020
2015 marked the 70th anniversary for Runnymede Healthcare Centre and they were looking to do something special to celebrate this milestone, recognize their excellence, and get people looking ahead to what they continue to bring to the community. Anyone who sifts through a traditional annual report knows the task of communicating complex and dynamic information…
Union Juice in BlogTO
Union Juice just launched their bigger, second location at John and Adelaide in Toronto with some coverage by BlogTO. Jacknife handled the branding and environmental design for this quick serve restaurant alternative which serves up fresh, healthy and nutritious options with a focus on made to order juices, smoothies, panini sandwiches, salads and other healthy snacks….
Under Construction: A Blueprint to Glamour
Our relationship with Square One, the largest shopping centre in the West GTA, started 2 years ago when we took on the full rebrand to help position Square One as a premiere fashion destination. With extensive renovations underway at Square One, the challenge was to embrace the development and to build anticipation to the high…
Proud to join OLG as it celebrates the big 4-0
Ontario’s Lottery & Gaming (OLG) marked the 40th anniversary of Wintario, the first provincial lottery game in Ontario, on May 3rd at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto. The event also doubled as a soft launch of the newly unveiled OLG corporate brand in partnership with The Hive.. We worked in partnership with The Hive to develop a…
Meet: Union Juice
We’re really excited for the first Union Juice to open end of April at 382 Bloor Street, in the Annex. Be sure to follow @unionjuice on instagram, and @getunionjuice on Twitter for updates! / What We Did Naming and strategic brand positioning Brand Identity Created an extensive brand expressions guide that detailed the brand’s positioning, identity guidelines, brand applications, experiential…
Reinventing a Classic: Sandbox Helmet Design
Inspired by former Major League Baseball personality, Pete Rose, we started on a new helmet design for Sandbox. Pete, or “Charlie Hustle” as others knew him, played during the 1960’s when baseball was in the golden era of sports. This Sandbox helmet is a bit of a throwback and is based on the old school, earless…
Red Bull Thre3style
Red Bull Thre3style is an international DJ competition showcasing some of the best in music. We had fun designing the creative for the 2015 USA regional qualifiers. The Uncle Sam was a call to action for all US DJs to enter to be selected to compete in one of 12 regional Thre3style qualifier competitions. The DJs have been chosen…
Sweet Santa
We wanted to do something special for our clients as a thank you for a great year in 2014, so we honed our design and crafting skills to create the perfect gift. The limited edition chocolates were handmade and hand painted by Heinrich Josef Stubbe, a German born chocolatier who moved his family’s 150 year…
Feature: Heritage Leisure Ice Skates on De Zeen
You may remember our reimagined ice skate, and we’re super stoked to see them featured on De Zeen, a popular magazine showcasing the best design, architecture and interior projects from around the world. Click HERE to read the full feature.
Featured in Los Logos
We’re honoured and excited to be featured in Los Logos 7, a highly respected handbook featuring a selection of cutting-edge designs from around the world. The first issue of Los Logos was printed in 2002, and continues to be a bestseller and source of inspiration among designers, brand managers, trend scouts and marketers. We are especially…
Makers of the Unmade No. 1: Meet Our Reimagined Ice Skate
Check out one of our early concepts of our premium, leather leisure ice skate. We’d love to grab our loved ones, some hot cocoa and enjoy a night of skating under the stars. Handcrafted in Canada and made with the finest leather, we’ve got men and women covered for the winter season. Well, what do you think…
The ADCC Annual Awards
The Advertising & Design Club of Canada is a non-profit group dedicated to encouraging and highlighting excellence in design and advertising. The annual ADCC Awards began 65 years ago, and it is such an honour to have two of our products featured in the book this year. The first is for our Scrimshaw Blade in…
M3 Snowboard Designs
We’re stoked to see some of our M3 board designs and collaborations hit the market, and we thought we’d share some of them here. We love working with photographers, designers and illustrators from around the world to create stunning board designs. The first design, the shortstack, was designed in house by Mikey Richardson. The term shortstack…
Collab with Salomon: 2014/2015 Boots
We designed the product logos for Salomon’s new 2014/2015 snowboard boots which recently hit the market. The lineup includes logos for Launch, Triumph, Dialogue, Faction and Lily (women’s). For inspiration we went back to old school skate influences, vintage mountain wear and streetwear to create these retro, timeless designs. Our work includes the product logo, as…
Featured: Industrial Design Served
We’re pretty stoked to be featured on Industrial Design Served today for the Salomon Boots we designed. The curatorial team at IDS selects just a few projects to be featured on the homepage each day, with careful consideration as to what their community would like best. Check out our feature here. A screenshot to, you…
Sneak Peek: Wilbur Mexicana
Though some of us here at Jacknife may be self-proclaimed foodies, we are actually in the business of design so this post is going to be featuring just that: the space at Wilbur Mexicana. We had the privilege of doing the branding identity for Wilbur, a new Mexican restaurant on King West in downtown Toronto….
Behind the Scenes: Square One
We had the opportunity to work with a great team of photographers, stylists and models to create Square One’s fall 2014 campaign. We thought you might want to check out this video of the shoot, created by fashion photographer Christopher Wadsworth.
Meet the Professor: Wilbur Mexicana Branding
Given the recent Strategy Online article and interview with Jacknife partner Michael Richardson on our branding work for Wilbur [read here], a soon-to-open restaurant on King Street West, we thought people might be interested in getting a closer look. The Strategy Online story explains the origins of the moustachioed professor Scoville, but the images below…
A Hand Saw for Troy Lee
During a recent trip to California, we stopped in to visit the fine folks from Troy Lee Designs at their ranch in Corona. As it turned out Troy wasn’t there. He was layed up in the hospital after a pretty serious MX crash. During our meeting with the rest of the TLD team we heard…
Blue Goose at Taste of Toronto
Our wonderful client Blue Goose was at Taste of Toronto this weekend at Fort York. Chef Ted Reader did some specialty BBQ chicken rubs just for the event.
The Thanks Gilmore Campaign
When the sports fans of Jacknife saw Canadian speedskater Gilmore Junio give up his spot at the 2014 Olympics to allow teammate Denny Morrison to race (& bring home a silver medal), it offered a glimpse at sportsmanship and personal sacrifice that inspired our team, and compelled us to do something special for Gilmore himself…
Scott LCG Goggle at the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya)
The Scott LCG goggle makes it first appearance on the Formula 1 circuit, appearing in these spectacular shots of Sebastien Vettel’s Red Bull pit crew at the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix (at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya), courtesy of Pitpass. The Jacknife-designed goggle was designed specifically with high-performance and extreme conditions in mind, and there’s little more…
Four-Stringed Daredevil
Strange things are done under the Scarborough sun: the untold story of a logo uniting Evil Knievel, Woodstock, a Southern Ontario escarpment, and a four-stringed Polynesian guitar.
Red Bull Thre3style: Global
Red Bull Thre3style continues scratching, head-nodding & marching across the globe, bringing the best in global beats culture to appreciative audiences. Here’s some posters designed for the Japan leg of the series in Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo and Sapporo (based on the World Guide we created.) There are still plenty of events left this summer:…
AppliedArts: The New Order
Jacknife is featured in the most recent issue (June 2014) of AppliedArts with a story by Chris Daniels on 3 ad/design agencies that are leading a new order of smaller multi-disciplinary shops. The New Order by Chris Daniels Agency giants such as Young & Rubicam, BBDO and DDB have long had a major presence in the…
Sugar Rush!
A fun tasty little cookie box from our friends at Polyester Studios Thanks for the sugar rush! Check out some behind-the-scenes shots of a miniature stop animation project they did for Toyota!
Scott Symbol Helmet
The Scott Symbol helmet launched this year as a Scott premium snow-sports helmet. Taking structural and styling cues from the paper creases in origami, we designed the helmet from the inside out, creating a series of 360 channels to dump heat and moisture from the perimeter of the helmet up to the adjustable vent holes….
Thanks Gilmore!
We’re big Olympic fans at Jacknife. When we saw Gilmore Junio give up his spot to allow Denny Morrison to race instead (and bring home a silver medal), we were inspired to do something special for Gilmore to recognize his incredible personal sacrifice. We started an Indiegogo campaign, and hundreds of Canadians came through, quickly…
Jacknife’s One Year Anniversary Dim Sum Lunch
For our one year anniversary, we took to Toronto’s Chinatown for dim sum. In all the raucous celebration, orders were placed, and we wound up facing a table of bamboo skyscrapers.
Stolichnaya: Origins Films
Jacknife and Stoli commissioned a collection of short films for ORGNL.TV exploring the origins of true originals in the worlds of Art, Music, Fashion, Taste & Technology. Each film is a tongue-in-cheek recounting of a fictional moment of discovery told with the unique vision of our handpicked filmmakers: Julian van Mill, Hector Herrera, Nicolas Kadima, and Sean Wainsteim to create a counter mythology of the genesis of the seemingly banal ice cube, the musical genre of hair metal, the sport of radio tennis, and that perennial party favourite, the French exit.
The Origins series were released on Stolichnaya’s Orignl.tv web platform