NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS
illustration
THE CLIENT
Neighbourhood Small Grants (NSG) is a program created by Vancouver Foundation, offering grants for any type of community project to help create better neighbourhoods across British Columbia (BC).
THE BRIEF
NSG was looking for assistance in creating a set of 3 illustrations to be featured on their website. These illustrations would help to promote NSG, especially for people who are not aware of the program, and inspire them to participate. NSG wanted the illustrations to be friendly, community-inspired, showcase diversity, and highlight the sense of fun of their program. Some themes and messages that the client wanted to convey through the illustrations included, “connecting neighbours”, “make your project happen”, and “let’s take care of each other”.
THE APPROACH
Some key considerations in the approach to the illustrations included showcasing projects that can be completed across BC in both urban and rural communities, depicting community connections without showing gatherings or large groups of people (as the images needed to be appropriate under the current provincial health orders during the ongoing pandemic), and showcasing a variety of offline and online activities. Look closely at the final illustrations below and you’ll see little easter eggs that connect them together!
The first scene in the illustration series shows a family thinking of different project ideas. Their ideas feature actual projects that have been funded by NSG: the cheerful flowers project, neighbourhood library, and card designs from care packages.
This scene is also based on an actual project, a Zoom karaoke call. Look closely and you’ll spot that the participants have received a card by someone else in the community, from the project idea in the first illustration.
To convey a sense of community while still staying apart, this concept shows neighbours waving to each other after a care package is delivered. Look closely and you’ll spot the characters in our Zoom karaoke scene in the window as well!
A look at how the illustrations were incorporated into NSG’s website
“Cheryl demonstrated a strong intuition and ability to showcase the idea of community while also modeling the need to stay physically distanced—a real asset in a designer during these times! I love how she’s brought to life the community-oriented life of Neighbourhood Small Grants and has help us come up with design solutions to reinforce our messaging. I highly recommend working with her for your next illustration project.”
ESTHER TUNG
Manager, Content & Creative
Vancouver Foundation
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