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WE ARE VANCVR: Nancy Wu, designer

Vancouver is an amazing city, chock full of creative talent. WE ARE VANCVR is a simple, elegant way to showcase all that talent in one place. Every Tuesday we profile one individual from the VANCVR community. VANCVR.

Vancouver is an amazing city, chock full of creative talent. WE ARE VANCVR is a simple, elegant way to showcase all that talent in one place. Every Tuesday we profile one individual from the VANCVR community.VANCVR.com is a Domain7 Labs project, inspired by PRTLND.com.

Nancy Wu's fingerprints are all over this fine city. This super talented designer has done work for Vancouver favourites like Earls, Westcoast Air and Coco et Olive. Somehow she balances being a pretty-big-deal designer, a wife (to AMAZING origami artists Joseph Wu—whose work you know from the Fairmont Pacific Rim), and a mom, while also contributing to a handful of blogs and teaching sessional courses at Emily Carr. phew! Read on to find out why she loves being a creative in Vancouver.

Photo of Nancy taken by her little black Canon PowerShot

Backstory: concept development and identity design for Los Angeles documentary filmmaker

Central: identity design for Vancouver real estate project (Agency: Cossette / Creative Director: Nick Richards)

Hawksworth: concept development and identity design for Hotel Georgia fine dining restaurant (Studio: Lightroom)

What do you do?

I love creating conceptual logo designs and brand identities for companies big and small. I love typography, letterpress and print. I also love working with people who are nice, trust the creative process, and smell good. Taking me out for meals helps too.

Why do you love being creative in Vancouver?

I grew up in Vancouver; it will always be my home and my heart. The city has grown so much in the last decade, with more likeminded creative types to work for and with, plus I can wear shorts & sandals while I work. Walking or running around the city provides so much beauty and inspiration. Even a rainy day has its moments. Vancouver is a great environment to work for clients both here and abroad, and it's actually a city I love to stick around in, rather than to try and escape from on a long weekend. Everything is accessible by foot, bike, transit or car and there is constantly something creative happening in town every week. We have a great Pecha Kucha, Likemind Vancouver and the brand new Creative Mornings. Plus, the number of restaurants serving authentic Japanese and Mexican food has VASTLY improved, which is where I often crash into new and old creative friends.

How would you love to collaborate with local creatives?

Like this: "Hey Nancy! I love your work. You love mine. There's a decent budget and a client who is willing. Let's get together and rock it out!"

Seriously, I relish the opportunity to work with other creatives who make positive contributions to a project, challenge me in good ways or add a different point of view/way of thinking to make something extraordinary. We all know of too many instances where a great project gets killed because of one thing or another but I truly believe that there are courageous clients and creative opportunities out there ready to make a difference, and give us personal fulfillment. My fulfillment comes in learning something new every time and hearing a client say "thank you"; appreciation and politeness goes a long way.

How can people reach you?

me@nancywudesign.com, www.nancywudesign.com or twitter: @nancywudesign. I can also be found at Foodists.ca, LovelyPackage.com and FeltandWire.com.