Senior Illustrator Carlie Russelle shares what the studio learned during its collaboration with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government on Being Métis Makes Me Happy, and why culturally responsive design for Indigenous organisations requires a fundamentally different engagement model from standard creative work.
-- The Beacon Design Collective Inc. has been awarded a VEGA Award Gold in the Digital Illustration Editorial category for its work on Being Métis Makes Me Happy, a children's book commissioned by the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Children and Family Services and designed to nurture cultural awareness and pride among young Métis children and their families.
The project was directed by Creative Director Dani Vachon, writing support by Matthew Turner, illustration by Carlie Russelle, and senior design by Anile Prakash and Jaz Rodriguez. Senior Illustrator Russelle has published reflections on what the project revealed about the structural demands of culturally responsive design for Indigenous organisations.
What the Project Required
In Russelle's account, the brief for Being Métis Makes Me Happy required significantly more than a standard design engagement. It required a genuine understanding of Métis culture, artistic traditions, and the visual language through which identity is expressed and transmitted across generations. That understanding, she notes, could not be assumed or approximated. It had to be developed through sustained collaboration with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government throughout the project.
The studio chose a cut-out paper style for the illustrations, selected to resonate with the handmade crafts central to Métis tradition, including beadwork and hand weaving. Key cultural symbols including the woven sash were incorporated throughout. Two-page immersive spreads were designed to keep the storytelling dynamic and engaging for young readers while remaining rooted in the cultural identity being celebrated.
The Broader Principle Russelle Identifies
Russelle distinguishes between surface-level cultural representation, in which cultural markers are added to otherwise generic work, and genuine culturally responsive design, in which the cultural context shapes every creative decision from the outset. Indigenous communities, in her assessment, can identify the difference immediately.
Genuine culturally responsive design, she argues, begins with listening and requires treating the client organization as the expert on its own identity. The external creative partner's role is to facilitate that expression with skill and humility, not to interpret or impose a framework over it. A brand or communications piece that misrepresents or flattens cultural identity does not simply fail aesthetically. It causes harm.
At Beacon, this approach is described as the basis of every project the studio undertakes in the Indigenous sector. The studio's client work in this space includes projects for Métis Nation Alberta and other Indigenous and government organisations across Canada.
About The Beacon Design Collective
The Beacon Design Collective Inc. is an award-winning, carbon-negative creative studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia, specializing in culturally responsive design, nonprofit branding, and impact communications. The studio has been recognized with a VEGA Award Gold for Illustration and named a Top Branding Company 2024 by Clutch. For more information visit beaconcollective.com.
Carlie Russelle is Senior Illustrator and Graphic Designer at The Beacon Design Collective Inc. For more information visit The Beacon Design Collective Inc. has been awarded a VEGA Award Gold in the Digital Illustration Editorial category for its work on Being Métis Makes Me Happy, a children's book commissioned by the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Children and Family Services and designed to nurture cultural awareness and pride among young Métis children and their families.
The project was directed by Creative Director Dani Vachon, writing support by Matthew Turner, illustration by Carlie Russelle, and senior design by Anile Prakash and Jaz Rodriguez. Senior Illustrator Russelle has published reflections on what the project revealed about the structural demands of culturally responsive design for Indigenous organisations.
What the Project Required
In Russelle's account, the brief for Being Métis Makes Me Happy required significantly more than a standard design engagement. It required a genuine understanding of Métis culture, artistic traditions, and the visual language through which identity is expressed and transmitted across generations. That understanding, she notes, could not be assumed or approximated. It had to be developed through sustained collaboration with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government throughout the project.
The studio chose a cut-out paper style for the illustrations, selected to resonate with the handmade crafts central to Métis tradition, including beadwork and hand weaving. Key cultural symbols including the woven sash were incorporated throughout. Two-page immersive spreads were designed to keep the storytelling dynamic and engaging for young readers while remaining rooted in the cultural identity being celebrated.
The Broader Principle Russelle Identifies
Russelle distinguishes between surface-level cultural representation, in which cultural markers are added to otherwise generic work, and genuine culturally responsive design, in which the cultural context shapes every creative decision from the outset. Indigenous communities, in her assessment, can identify the difference immediately.
Genuine culturally responsive design, she argues, begins with listening and requires treating the client organization as the expert on its own identity. The external creative partner's role is to facilitate that expression with skill and humility, not to interpret or impose a framework over it. A brand or communications piece that misrepresents or flattens cultural identity does not simply fail aesthetically. It causes harm.
At Beacon, this approach is described as the basis of every project the studio undertakes in the Indigenous sector. The studio's client work in this space includes projects for Métis Nation Alberta and other Indigenous and government organisations across Canada.
About The Beacon Design Collective
The Beacon Design Collective Inc. is an award-winning, carbon-negative creative studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia, specializing in culturally responsive design, nonprofit branding, and impact communications. The studio has been recognized with a VEGA Award Gold for Illustration and named a Top Branding Company 2024 by Clutch. For more information visit beaconcollective.com.
Carlie Russelle is Senior Illustrator and Graphic Designer at The Beacon Design Collective Inc. For more information visit beaconcollective.com.
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