Valerie Thai - Founder, Cabin + Cub Design - cabinandcub.com
by Isabelle Groc
Valerie Thai walks to work every day. It’s just one way that the graphic designer demonstrates her commitment to stepping more lightly on the Earth, both in her personal life and in her business.
Cabin + Cub Design, the company she founded in 2006, specializes in art direction, design, and illustration for non-profit, socially conscious, and environmentally sustainable companies. One of her recent projects was a poster to promote TransLink’s Ride-Share Week campaign.
Valerie sees herself as a socially responsible designer—quite a departure from the more traditional commercial work she was initially exposed to at design school.
“I want to do work for companies that I like, companies that are responsible and are trying to make a difference,” the 32-year-old explains. Her clients include British Columbia Film, Boca del Lupo Theatre Company, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, and givemeaning.com .
Valerie saw the opportunity to create social change when she was hired by Adbusters magazine while still a student at Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design.
“Adbusters did really open my eyes,” Valerie says. “It pushed me to play a more active social role as a designer.” As associate art director, Valerie worked on designs for a number of campaigns, including the now-famous Buy Nothing Day.
Now that she works independently, she makes sure she adheres to the principles of being an eco- and socially savvy designer. “For me, it means being more aware; knowing your clients’ backgrounds so that you are not in conflict with what they do.”
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