The French Shop adds to creative leadership
The French Shop, which specializes in localization and helping brands adapt their strategies to the Quebec market, has hired Patricia Doiron as executive creative director.
The new position at the agency will see Doiron lead its creative department and existing team of CDs: Valérie Forget, Joëlle Fournier and Geneviève Vincent. Martin Archambault, president and founder of The French Shop, says the agency was looking to add more “creative power” to its leadership team, especially with growing demand from clients including Tim Hortons, Coca-Cola, RBC and Budweiser.
Doiron has more than 20 years of experience in creative departments throughout Montreal, having worked at Tank, KBS, Cossette and McCann, working with clients including Air Canada, BMO, Bell, McDonald’s, General Motors and the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
Manitoba agencies team up on scholarship for BIPOC designers
The Graphic Design Council has established a new scholarship and internship program aimed to help BIPOC students in Manitoba overcome barriers to entry in the province’s design industry.
Two scholarships of $2,000 will be given to a student enrolled in a design or design communications program at the University of Manitoba and Red River College, one for each school. In addition, the recipients will get a paid work placement at one of seven design firms: Brandish, Manoverboard, Honest Agency, Guppy Design, Relish New Brand Experience, ‘Segun Olude and Sly Bird Creative.
According to census data, Winnipeg – where more than half of the province’s population lives – has the highest Indigenous population of any urban centre in Canada, which is growing at a rate faster than the overall population of the city. It also has the highest percentage of Filipino people of any urban centre, and grow in both groups is particularly high among younger people.
ICA adds to its training
The Institute of Communication Agencies has partnered with General Assembly to add digital training programs to the association’s Training Unlimited program.
Founded in 2011, General Assembly is an education company focused on mid-career professionals, providing individuals and companies training programs on things like data science and analytics, coding, UX design, digital marketing and software engineering.
Through the new partnership, some of General Assembly’s one- and two-day bootcamps will now be made available without charge to ICA member agencies through its Training Unlimited program.
Leah Power, EVP and strategic operations consultant at the ICA, says the programs will help members with the up-skilling resources needed to provide clients with the kinds of services that are in greater demand today. The ICA also added in a release that the partnership was in line with the ICA’s goal to provide in-demand skills that help provide career opportunities, the need for which has become that much more apparent since the COVID-19 pandemic.