b'INDIGENOUS DESIGNMadison Johns and Mariah Meawasiges work on the 2025 Soaring branding incorporated elements of West Coast Indigenous art stylesIllustrator in the 2000s, and I would use it to create calen- After that, I freelanced for a couple of yearsbut six dars with simple illustrations for each month. For example,months after graduation, in November 2018, I got a job at December was various snowmen, and I used the bucketIndspire! I applied for two positions: the digital marketing tool to make the sky blue and the ground white. She wouldlead and the marketing coordinator position, although I also code programs. Web stuff wasnt as big back then, butwas more of a graphic designer than a marketing person. she coded things for people, and I was so amazed by it. I didnt get either, but the vice president of marketing and communications at the time saw the strengths in my When I was in high school, I approached my guidanceportfolio and liked my interview. HR told me that there was counsellor and said I wanted to do something art-related,a four-month contract as a marketing assistant available, so she got information about a bunch of programs, andand I took it. Ive been here ever since. A four-month Sheridan College was one of them. All the schools werecontract turned into a yearthen I got offered a full-time away from my community, and I knew I would have toposition as of January 1, 2020. The rest is history: first leave, but I was eager to explore! I toured Niagara College,digital marketing specialist, then digital marketing lead, Sheridan College and Mohawk College. and now my current position as manager of design and Sheridan stood out to me because it was very clearly andigital strategy.arts school. When I did the tour and talked about careerMariah Meawasige (MM): I grew up in Serpent River First pathways, they suggested the two-to-three-year VisualNation, then moved to Elliott Lake. My Ojibwe/Anishinaabe Creative Arts program. It teaches life drawing, painting,background has always been a huge part of how I under-all the visual art basics, but it also goes into pathwaysstand the world; its rooted in storytelling. A part of me has where you can either continue to do fine art or explorealways wanted to be a storyteller, regardless of what skillset graphic design. I found my way into. Its in my bones! Ive always been the I did the two-year program and then decided to extend itcreative child out of all of us; no one in my family has had a to the three-year program because they had more graphiccreative career, so that was different. Being creative is the design instruction, and I had an inkling that I wanted tothing that I enjoy the most.pursue graphic design. I had actually applied to the jointI found my way to design in high school; I always spent York University/Sheridan College graphic design programmy time doodling instead of listening to what was and was rejected three times. It was disappointing, buthappening, especially in math class! I remember the I knew that I could do this on my own. Not everythingmoment I decided I wanted to be a graphic designer: goes to plan, and theres always an alternate route toGrade 9 or 10 math class. I was doodling something for a your dreams. friend, and they wanted to have text and a drawing with it. I remember thinking, There must be a word for this I took courses where I got to use new tools and then gradu-putting images and text together. I think I Googled it ated from the three-year advanced diploma program. I hadon my iPod touch and knew: Im going to be a graphic taken an Intro to Web Design course that came naturally todesigner! I literally havent changed my mind since then.me; I thank my mum for that because she bestowed those skills on me. Then I did the one-year postgrad web designI decided on the Ontario College of Art & Design (now program, where I learned design basics, coding basics, andOCAD University) because they came to my high school how to market yourself as a web designer. for a career fair, and they stopped by; it seemed like a 2025indspiration51'