CreateAthon for Fort McMurray gets underway

Thirty-four students, 30 professionals in graphic design, and the unstoppable sweep of the hands on a clock.
CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington for Fort McMurray 2016 got under way Thursday morning (Oct. 20) to provide 12 social-profit agencies in Fort McMurray with marketing tools they can use as the community gets back on its feet after a devastating wildfire in May.
Conestoga College design students (from left) Zac Spurling, April Bennett and Jessica Spencer work on branding concepts at CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington for Fort McMurray 2016.
Conestoga College graphic design students (from left) Zac Spurling, April Bennett and Jessica Spencer work on branding concepts at CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington for Fort McMurray 2016.

The Waterloo-Wellington CreateAthon, part of a worldwide network of similar annual events, usually generates logos, website improvements and other branding products for social-profit organizations in Ontario’s Waterloo Region-Wellington County area. It’s a design blitz, with tight progress deadlines over two days.

This year, the event’s partners — Capacity Canada, Alchemy Systems and the graphic-design program at Conestoga College — focused on Fort McMurray. They worked on branding projects through the day Thursday and will hold a reveal session Friday morning (Oct. 21). FuseSocial is the event’s Fort McMurray partner.
The marketing teams are working out of the Guelph studios of Alchemy Systems, a design firm with international reach. Check in on this blog space for a report on the event after the reveal.