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Peter Ruan

Designer Bio 

I’m a level-headed problem-solver and love working with like-minded people with a passion for creative solutions and practical designs. My experience in the Graphic Design program at St. Lawrence College has helped me understand how design plays a role in every decision we make, and I want to utilize my design background and experience to make these decisions as easy, fun and accessible as possible for people. 

Some of my strengths include illustration, brand identity work, writing, and public speaking. I love to talk design with others, whether they’re designers or not. Some of my professional goals include working within a design firm, working as an in-house designer, and doing short-term, freelance projects to diversify my portfolio. 

Design is everything, and everything is design! I can’t wait to take what I’ve learned at St. Lawrence College and apply it to every experience ahead of me. Learning more about design changed how I see the world. 

Course 

Design Illustration 

Objective 

This project tasked us with the creation of a map or recipe that illustrates an idea for viewers new to the concept at hand. 

Description 

This map is an illustration of Midtown Toronto, showing the layouts of city streets within the boundaries of St. Clair Avenue, Caledonia Road, Lawrence Avenue, and the Don Valley Parkway. The map highlights specific areas and landmarks within the area that might draw the attention of tourists, visitors, or new residents. On the right is an isolated look at the illustrations on the map representing specific landmarks or attractions within midtown Toronto.

Course 

Brand Identity II 

Objective 

This project was a brand identity overhaul for an existing organization; High Five Canada. High Five is a Canadian organization founded by Parks & Recreation Ontario. The goal of the organization is the standardization of recreational programming in Canada, and High Five achieves this with a widespread accreditation system adopted by all thirteen provinces and territories. 

The current logo and brand identity system employed by High Five does not clearly represent the objectives and values of the organization, making it difficult to grasp the purpose of High Five. This inspired me to build a new brand identity system for High Five, with the primary goal being clear messaging that gives viewers an idea of exactly what High Five does for local communities. 

Description 

With a clear design problem to solve, I began brainstorming different foundations for a new brand identity system. Clearly referencing a specific activity that High Five standardizes like hockey as it helps viewers understand the purpose of the organization. I decided to build a brand identity built on the intersection of carefree fun and responsible recreation, as these are the values most important to target audiences like parents and guardians. This intersection is represented in the colour choices, as well as the design choice for text styling, combining youthful hand lettering with a slightly more mature, blocky typeface.

Course 

Graphic Design V 

Objective 

The goal of this project was to design an Integrated Mental Health Strategy that includes faculty, staff, and students. The focus was supposed to be on starting the conversation about mental health and being direct when talking about it. This project was very open-ended, so I designed a multipurpose app with the primary goal of making new connections and having new conversations about mental health with friends or family. 

Description 

The app presents a multitude of functions to users, the ultimate goal is to find new people to connect with. Using a private profile, users document their own mental health journey and talk about their challenges and successes. The app organizes this information, and if you create circles with other users, the app can display all journey maps within the circle as they relate to one another. This unique format allows users to discover what they have in common with their friends or peers and challenges users to make new connections if they don’t know anyone who can relate to something they’re struggling with or proud of.