iilo Creative Alliance inc.

Who We Are

iilo Creative Alliance Inc. is a virtual creative services agency, co-owned by Madelen Ortega and Lisa Hemingway. We lead a collaborative group of creative professionals and deliver communication design solutions for progressive impact businesses and organizations.

“iilo” means “thread” in Spanish (spelled “hilo”) and is pronounced “ee-low” in English. We’re inspired by the idea of interdependence and the “threads” that connect people to each other, because we’re all connected.

iilo is a new business, registered as a benefit company in BC. We’ve been collaborating for over 10 years under Backyard Creative, an established creative studio in BC. Our team members have 20+ years of experience working in web and print design and communications for nonprofits, institutions, social enterprises, municipalities and communications agencies. In other words, we know our stuff!

Services include:

• Communication Design Consulting
• Marketing / Communications Project Management
• Full-service Graphic Design
• Communications & Social Media Support
• Website design, development and content strategy

Why We Are Involved

Both founders hold strong values-alignment to principles of inclusion.

Madelen, as an immigrant to Canada, knows what it’s like to feel left out and feels a strongly about being an advocate for others who might feel this way due to a language barrier or physical challenge.

Lisa grew up, as many left-handed people do, challenged with dyslexia. As a designer passionate about sustainability, it’s become clear that good design is accessible design. Through her design career, she’s taken seriously her role in advocating for the end user. The more we learn about who needs to access information, and how we can design to broaden our reach.

In recent years, it’s become a professional goal to design with accessibility top of mind; a conscious design team knows how to design for accessibility.

We collaborated with KunStudios on the Accessible Employers website and learned so much in the process. We love to amplify the work of this group!

Accessibility Initiatives

Not yet but as we’re looking to hire in as our business evolves, we’d love to know how to better attract / support for accessibility within the workplace.