Designing In Tkaranto*

*Tkaranto is the Mohawk name for Toronto, and it means "where there are trees standing in the water” 

Cover image for the 2020 annual report for the Native Men’s Residence in Toronto

By Will Novosedlik 

For Toronto-born-and-raised Dean Mitchell, partner and creative director of Toronto-based firm Fresh Art and Design, maintaining ties to his Mohawk heritage has been an important business driver.

His grandmother was born on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, and even though her family moved to Hamilton when she was seven, she maintained close ties with her Six Nations relatives. Dean made many trips to the reserve as a kid with his grandmother, and although that allowed him to get to know his Mohawk cousins, it was not something that they talked about outside the family. “Back then, your indigeneity was not something you would advertise. You tried to blend in because people were pretty racist in those days. They still are of course but nowhere near as much.” 

These days Dean wears his Mohawk heritage with pride, participating in drumming and being actively involved as a vendor with the annual Na-Me-Res traditional Pow Wow held at Toronto’s Fort York to celebrate National Aboriginal Day.

He and his life and business partner Susan Mitchell have been working with Indigenous communities since 2014. They made a concerted effort to develop clients at Indigenous organizations like the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council, the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto and Na-Me-Res Native Men’s Residence. 

Two annual report covers for the Native Women's Resource Centre of Toronto, a relationship spanning more than 10 years

Each one of these organizations has a social mission at its core, which not only aligns with Dean’s Indigenous background but with Susan’s earlier career in social work, during which she was a staff member at a halfway house in Parkdale for ex-offenders, and the supervisor of a 120-bed men's hostel in downtown Toronto.

Their initial approach to Indigenous clients was based on the observation that existing visual communications in many of these organizations was in dire need of good design. So the pitch was that a more thoughtful and creative product would stand a much stronger chance of helping them secure the funding they needed to operate. 

Annual report covers for the Na-Me-Res Native Men’s Residence in Toronto. Left: 2023; right: 2017

One of their first Indigenous clients was Na-Me-Res Native Men’s Residence in Toronto. Says Dean, “We love working with them. We've been working with them for at least a decade now. We saw their annual report and it really needed an upgrade. So we made our pitch. It helped that the executive director was my drum mentor at the Native Canadian Centre. Since we've been involved with them they've really come a long way. They’ve been able to fund a lot more housing builds. We like to think we made a small contribution to that success.”

The quality of the work can be explained by Dean’s long career in editorial design. One of Fresh Art and Design’s longstanding clients over the years has been the University of 

Toronto. Fresh inherited the UofT as a client from longtime designer James Ireland and were called upon by the UofT Magazine, the faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Engineering, as well as Trinity College and St. Michael’s College. Aside from UofT, the client roster has included BMO Harris Bank, TD Canada Trust, Rogers, the ROM, St Michael’s Hospital and many others. 

When asked if there’s a difference between working with Indigenous clients and non-indigenous clients, two words come up: latitude and gratitude. “Our Indigenous clients are always so grateful and appreciative,” says Mitchell. “We have a great relationship. They give us a lot of creative latitude. It's not like working with some other (non-Indigenous) clients, who tend to want more control over the process.”

The result is long relationships and repeat business. And as anyone will tell you, that's the best kind of business.

Will Novosedlik is a Toronto-based writer, designer and editor. He is known for a critical perspective on the socioeconomic impact of design, advertising and marketing.