The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a renowned institution dedicated to nurturing artists through residencies, performances, and educational programs within the Canadian Rockies. Our team examined the organization’s strategic positioning as it transitions from an analog to a digital model of cultural distribution. The project aimed to identify opportunities for long-term resilience, strengthen relationships with Indigenous communities, and enhance accessibility to global creative networks.
My primary contributions focused on design research and presentation storytelling, supporting my team translating complex findings into visually engaging frameworks and slides that communicated systemic relationships and opportunities for innovation.
We began by analyzing Banff Centre’s existing business model, governance structure, and operational ecosystem. Using secondary research, we reviewed annual reports, strategic plans, and sectoral studies (e.g., Art Fund, AAM TrendsWatch, Heritage Fund DASH Report).
This stage focused on identifying key signals of change such as climate impact, digital transformation in the arts, and shifting funding landscapes. These insights informed a situational analysis of Banff’s current challenges and future tensions.
Through service design tools, we mapped Banff Centre’s value chain—connecting internal systems (education, production, hospitality) to external actors (artists, donors, government, and audiences).
We visualized frontstage and backstage services, revealing dependencies across creative production, funding, and outreach. These mappings clarified operational pain points and highlighted areas for capacity building in digital strategy and partnership development.
Using a Choice Cascade framework, we evaluated Banff’s aspirations, strategic arenas, and core competencies. This synthesis defined the organization’s “burning platform”—its need to evolve from a facility-based artistic hub to a distributed digital ecosystem.
Our research informed opportunities such as global alumni engagement, experience-based tourism, and new digital service lines that align with Banff’s creative and educational mission.
I led the presentation design, ensuring that insights and systems diagrams were accessible, cohesive, and visually compelling. Each visual layer—from strategic mapping to opportunity framing—was designed to communicate complex interconnections clearly.
The final presentation used a minimalist visual system inspired by Banff’s landscape and identity, balancing research depth with storytelling clarity for both internal stakeholders and external audiences.
The project culminated in a strategic proposal identifying pathways for digital growth and sustainable creative production. The visual presentation provided a comprehensive overview of Banff Centre’s ecosystem, combining foresight research with design communication to support informed decision-making and institutional transformation.
