That Blue is a small Graphic Design studio in Vancouver, Canada.
My passions include art, technology, and the environment — I am fascinated by what people make, how things work, and our natural world. In my design work, I specialize in these areas, always keeping in mind the potential for design to catalyze and support positive change.
~ Lisa Marshall, That Blue, Founder & Graphic Designer (she/her)
~ Lisa Marshall, That Blue, Founder & Graphic Designer (she/her)
With extensive experience, especially in the arts and technology sectors, including work with several successful start-ups, I specialize in visual brand strategy for print and online delivery. I have been fortunate to work at design agencies, galleries, new ventures, a public utility, and a tech research facility; this wealth of experience contributes to my projects at That Blue.
My clients include inspiring innovators, from inventors and technologists to galleries, museums, and artists. Invigorated daily with new challenges and ongoing growth of knowledge and skills, I enjoy keeping current. Clients have included: Surrey Art Gallery, Museum of Surrey, Sage Simply Accounting, SAP, Sierra Wireless, Fraser River Estuary Management Program, Burrard Inlet Environment Action Plan, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and more.
The studio is happily located in an area known in Squamish as Khupkhahpay'ay.
Khupkhahpay'ay may be translated approximately as cedar grove. The studio neighbours several cedar trees and for me, khupkhahpay'ay sounds like the whisper-motion of the cedar boughs in the wind, an experience beautifully multi-sensory: visual, auditory, and cedar-scented, all enjoyed when standing under the trees. I would be glad to hear from anyone who knows more about the Squamish name and history. The neighbourhood is also known as Cedar Cottage.
That Blue accepts the difficult truth that we live and work on unceded territory gained through acts of colonization. Continued efforts to think and feel through the issues left in the wake of history will be made here at That Blue, with particular gratitude for our location and respect for the long-time locals who have had their self-determination disrupted, their culture vandalized, and now are seeking and speaking truth, rebuilding, and becoming whole. That Blue's studio and clients are in territories of the: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Peoples, and also in Surrey, BC, the territories of the Katzie, Semiahmoo, Kwantlen, and other Coast Salish Peoples. Inquiries about projects with long-time locals are always welcome.
Preference will be given to projects and ways of working that are in alignment with the studio values here at That Blue.
Does the project or action have an attitude of consideration and respect for the intricate interconnectedness of all ecosystems and life on earth? Does it respect all beings?
As Paul Hawken put it in Regeneration, Does it heal the future or steal the future?*
A few more good questions from Regeneration:
Does it serve human needs or manufacture human wants?
Does it reduce poverty or expand it?
Does it promote fundamental human rights or deny them?
Does it provide workers with dignity or demean them?
In short, is the activity extractive or regenerative?
Does it reduce poverty or expand it?
Does it promote fundamental human rights or deny them?
Does it provide workers with dignity or demean them?
In short, is the activity extractive or regenerative?
In some cases these questions may be difficult to answer. Nonetheless, at That Blue the overarching goal is to humbly strive towards improving the situation of all beings and life on earth, always hoping to leave things better than we found them. Supporting that goal, That Blue regularly considers the above questions in all work, ways of working, and actions taken in the studio and beyond.
Opportunity to Lend your Voice and Protect Endangered Ecosystems in BC
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) is approaching businesses across the province, intentionally spanning a variety of sectors, to invite them to support the protection of native ecosystems in BC by simply signing a resolution. Please read and consider signing the Resolution to Protect Endangered Ecosystems in BC. Visit the EEA website and check out the short introductory video to learn more.
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) is approaching businesses across the province, intentionally spanning a variety of sectors, to invite them to support the protection of native ecosystems in BC by simply signing a resolution. Please read and consider signing the Resolution to Protect Endangered Ecosystems in BC. Visit the EEA website and check out the short introductory video to learn more.
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* Paul Hawken, on Regeneration, The Tyee, August 2021.