Centre for Digital Media

The Centre for Digital Media wasn’t always called the Centre for Digital Media (CDM). It used to be known as the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC), and that posed a challenge for the creative agency tasked with creating marketing materials for GNWC’s grand opening year. The issue? The group of institutions behind the master’s program in digital media (UBC, BCIT, SFU, and Emily Carr) weren’t legally recognized as a “Centre.” The real snag? The creative agency had already built everything around the headline “The Centre for Digital Media,” and with only four months left before student registration, they decided to quit.

Enter a call from the energetic and resourceful director’s assistant, Christa Ovenell, asking if I could step in and help—fast. Despite my initial hesitation, I agreed to meet with the Executive Director of GNWC, Dr. Gerri Sinclair, the next day. I’m so glad I did.

Gerri is an extraordinary woman. Describing her as collaborative, experienced, highly knowledgeable, and endlessly curious would be an understatement. Our meeting turned into a mini think-tank, and ideas began to flow. I sketched out my concept on a scrap of paper, showed it to her, and she hired me on the spot.

Instead of “The Centre for Digital Media,” I made a small tweak—changing “for” to “of” and adding “is here” at the end. “The Centre of Digital Media is here,” paired with a graphic of an arrow pointing directly to Vancouver, made the message clear. This subtle change shifted the meaning of “centre.” We also made other adjustments to the copy, emphasizing the Master’s degree in Digital Media—the first of its kind—and downplaying the use of GNWC, which sounded more like a union than a cutting-edge university.

By using “Centre of Digital” as a stopgap, we not only filled seats with eager students but also built some brand equity. This set the stage for when they eventually became the legally recognized Centre for Digital Media (CDM) that they’re known as today.