A student-run design studio in Vancouver
Making help easier to find.
Help for addiction, recovery and mental health already exists in this city. It is just hard to find. We design the websites, cards and posters that close that gap, and we do it for free.
The gap
The help is there. Finding it is the hard part.
Someone decides today is the day they will ask for help. They search. They find a page that has not been updated in years, or a number that no longer works.
Meanwhile the people who can help are small teams with no design budget, no time, and a website nobody can read on a phone.
In between those two things, people give up. That is the part we are trying to fix.
What we make
Plain, clear things that help people find what they need.
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Websites
Fast, clear sites that still work on an old phone with a weak signal. Easy to read. Easy for your team to update.
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Wallet cards and print
Small cards someone can keep in a pocket. Posters for clinics, shelters, waiting rooms and bus stops.
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QR resource posters
One poster, one code. Someone scans it and gets your full list of services right away, without typing anything.
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Translated materials
Your words in the languages your community actually speaks, laid out properly instead of squeezed in at the end.
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Hand-off brand kits
Fonts, colours and ready-made templates, so your team can keep making things long after we are gone.
How it works
Four steps, and you own it at the end.
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We listen
We sit down with your team. You tell us who you serve and what gets in their way. We ask a lot of questions and take notes.
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We design
We build the real thing, not a picture of it. You see working drafts early, so nothing is a surprise at the end.
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You check every word
You know this work and we do not. You review the wording for accuracy before anything is published, especially anything about services, hours or safety.
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We hand it off
The site, the files and the accounts all end up in your organization's name. You own it. We can stay on to help, but you will never need us to.
Our work
We are just getting started.
We would rather show you nothing than show you something we did not make. As projects finish, and once each partner is happy for us to share, case studies will go here.
Running an organization that could use this? Tell us what you need.
Connor
Founder
The founder
Hi, I'm Connor. I started design4van.
I kept noticing the same thing. The help in this city is real, and the people running it are good at what they do. But the websites in front of that help are often out of date, hard to read on a phone, or missing the one thing someone needs at two in the morning.
So we work only with organizations in addiction, recovery, harm reduction and mental health. We do it for free, and we take on a few projects at a time, so each one gets real attention from people who care about getting it right.
For student designers
Design something that matters while you are still learning.
We are students too. You do not need a finished portfolio or years of experience. You need care, patience, and a willingness to redo things until they are genuinely clear.
You will work on real projects for real organizations, with real people depending on the result. We will tell you honestly what that responsibility means before you start.
Email us about joining- Web, print or both. Tell us which you would rather learn.
- A few hours a week. We work around school, not over it.
- Proper feedback. On your work, not just on the file.
- Credit, always. Your name goes on what you make.
Work with us
Tell us what your people need.
We work with nonprofits and community groups in Metro Vancouver working on addiction, recovery, harm reduction and mental health. There is no cost, and there is no catch. We take on a few projects at a time so each one gets proper attention.