Remarkable Collaborates with NIȽ TU,O to Craft an Innovative New Tool For Coast Salish Young Adults

In the fall of 2023, NIȽ TU,O Child and Family Services Society released an innovative and immersive new tool to support Coast Salish young adults and community members: the NIȽ TU,O Culture & Care Daily Planner. The Remarkable team managed the project from concept to completion and delivered the planner in under 90 days. We are honoured to receive multiple media recognitions for its innovative and interactive approach to supporting young adults within the seven communities that NIȽ TU,O serves.

(Shown above, the planner’s cover page)

THE PLANNER PROJECT’S OBJECTIVE

NIȽ TU,O is a Coast-Salish-Led organization dedicated to strengthening the families of the seven communities that NIȽ TU,O serves. To support this mission, NIȽ TU,O trusted our team of talented communications professionals to design the Culture & Care Daily Planner. This flexible, undated planner aims to provide Coast Salish cultural, wellness, language, and budgeting resources in an easy-to-use format. The planner is just one small part of NIȽ TU,O’s ongoing work to meet Coast Salish youth’s needs physically, emotionally, spiritually, culturally and psychologically.

THE PLANNER PROJECT’S OBJECTIVE

NIȽ TU,O is a Coast-Salish-Led organization dedicated to strengthening the families of the seven communities that NIȽ TU,O serves. To support this mission, NIȽ TU,O trusted our team of talented communications professionals to design the Culture & Care Daily Planner. This flexible, undated planner aims to provide Coast Salish cultural, wellness, language, and budgeting resources in an easy-to-use format. The planner is just one small part of NIȽ TU,O’s ongoing work to meet Coast Salish youth’s needs physically, emotionally, spiritually, culturally and psychologically.

A 3-MONTH TURNAROUND

The Planner project began in July 2023, inspired by the First Nations Health Authority’s Daily Health & Wellness Organizer, which community members know and love. NIȽ TU,O had the idea to create their own Daily Planner and trusted our team to execute the idea and make it Remarkable. Our team built the planner around four pillars of Coast Salish culture: Language, 13 Moons, Place Names, & Care Rooted in Culture.

Within three months, Remarkable staff had developed a robust plan to research the planner’s tools, finalize its content, distribute it, and promote it on social media to reach the communities NIȽ TU,O serves.

BUILDING AN IMMERSIVE CULTURAL EXPERIENCE

Our Remarkable team put a lot of consideration and care into the Planner project to ensure that we created an innovative resource that positively impacted the communities’ youth. The entire process of producing and delivering the planner was not trivial. Members of the project team included CEO Laurel, Senior Graphic Designer Rochelle and Project Managers Nadine & Amy. Each member proofread four different versions of the planner approximately 10 times each. Their attention to detail resulted in this coil-bound beauty’s final version being printed error-free.

Crafting the Pillars

Remarkable worked closely with NIȽ TU,O’s in-house Knowledge Holders to identify and expand on the chosen four pillars of knowledge for the planner. These would serve as the foundation of the powerful, culture-centred support to young Coast Salish adults moving into their next stage of life.

Language, 13 Moons, Place Names & Care Rooted in Culture were the four pillars determined to most effectively support the target audience to stay connected with Coast Salish culture. Exploring these pillars with cultural accuracy was made possible thanks to the wisdom of Coast Salish Knowledge Holders, who collaborated with Remarkable Staff throughout the design process.

Research

After finalizing the pillars, our team conducted countless hours of humble consultation with Knowledge Holders to ensure accurate and culturally appropriate representation of all elements, according to protocol. Our project team sat with, TELTÁLEMOT, the daughter of Ivan and Madeline Morris, to record words and phrases spoken in the SENĆOŦEN, Hul’q’umi’num’, and lək̓ʷəŋən dialects. The Remarkable team then gave the translations of these recordings a permanent home on NIȽ TU,O’s website, in a new Speak section.

Creative Design

The physical design of the planner was the next priority. The creative talents at Remarkable obtained consent to utilize the artwork of 4 Coast Salish artists, Jeannie Chipps, Jeremiah (Ish) Peters, Bradley Yuxwelupton Dick and Doug LaFortune. In addition to repurposing existing artwork, we also commissioned custom art from Jeannie, the imaginative Visual Artist originally from Scia’new First Nation. Jeannie has lived in the community all her life and brings a unique, highly valued perspective to the Remarkable Communications team.

Each stage of the creative process was completed in collaboration with Knowledge Holders and Staff Members at NIȽ TU,O to ensure an accurate, culturally rich final product.

After our initial concept was presented to the client and Knowledge Holders, we incorporated numerous rounds of feedback into multiple versions of the planner. These revisions ensured that all 130 pages of the final design met the client’s standards and were both culturally accurate and visually appealing.

Prioritizing Wellness

When finalizing the planner’s contents, our Remarkable minds ensured that the planner clearly prioritized the readers’ wellness. The team included wellness wheels, budgeting tools, goal-setting information, and more models to encourage users to be the best version of themselves through their unique journey. Our team sought inspiration for this model from the wisdom of Elders, Knowledge Holders, and Traditional Healers.

(Shown above, the Holistic Wellness Wheel displayed in the planner)

Leveraging Technology

The planner was also made interactive to provide an immersive cultural experience for users. Scanning QR codes placed throughout the planner take users to NIȽ TU,O’s Speak Section to access audio recordings of spoken words and phrases from Coast Salish Knowledge Holders themselves.

(Shown above, a page from the planner that features an interactive QR code)

Remarkable’s web team also ensured the planner was digitally accessible by creating a new section on NIȽ TU,O’s website, under Resources, where users could download a PDF copy.

The Planner Meets the World

After receiving confirmation from our clients at NIȽ TU,O that the planner’s design met their expectations, it was ready to go into production. We organized the printing of hundreds of copies of this new resource so that Coast Salish Youth could enjoy a physical copy of their own. We contacted a local printing company to provide a swift and high-quality printing process that produced:

After being brought to life by printers, the planners are being made available in bulk orders of 25 copies to stores, institutions, and community centers that might want to sell them.

(Shown above, the printed planners being delivered to NIȽ TU,O)

THE PLANNER ATTRACTS GLOBAL MEDIA ATTENTION

While printing the planner during the early distribution stages; we crafted an official media release to announce this new, exciting tool to support growing members of the Coast Salish community. The Remarkable project team sent the release to multiple organizations across categories of Indigenous Media, Indigenous Child & Youth, Print, Digital Media, Television, Radio and more.

Thanks to the tireless work from Knowledge Holders, the clear vision provided by our clients at NIȽ TU,O, and the creative minds at Remarkable, the planner quickly gained global recognition. On November 21st, NIȽ TU,O went live with CBC radio to speak about our new Care & Culture Daily Planner.

(Shown above, the interview posted on the CBC Radio website)

Soon after, in a December 1st interview, Executive Director of NIȽ TU,O Katharina Stocker, discussed the new Culture & Care Daily Planner with Yvonne Raymond from CTV News. Shortly after, the planner gained a feature in Seaside Magazine, a monthly publication with ten years of experience serving readers and advertisers on the Saanich Peninsula.

(Shown above, Katharina Stocker being interviewed by CTV News)

GETTING THE WORD OUT

Knowing the importance of social marketing, our team leveraged the digital landscape, handling all social media and web content aspects. To promote the planner and reach Coast Salish Youth across multiple platforms in only three months, we drafted and posted:

Since its release, the planner was integrated into numerous NIȽ TU,O initiatives.

For example, winners of NIȽ TU,O’s 2024 Family Day Art Contest would receive personal copies of the planner as part of a Prize Pack worth $80.

DELIVERING VERSION 2.0

After delivering the initial version of the planner, Community Members used it in their daily lives and provided crucial feedback. After hearing from these trusted users, our team returned to the drawing board to make the planner even more suited for young, Coast Salish adults.

More writing and drawing space was throughout the planner, allowing users to fill each page without limitation. We also reformatted the resources included in the planner and added new NIȽ TU,O Wordsearches, which dive into the beauty of SENĆOŦEN, Hul’q’umi’num’, and lək̓ʷəŋən dialects. Finally, our team upgraded the planner to include an external pocket which can conveniently store the paperwork and documentation that inevitably come with the territory of young adulthood.

(Shown above, still image from the planner promotional video, featured on social media)

A REMARKABLE OUTCOME

The collaboration displayed by our team to tackle this project surpassed all expectations. The outcome was a beautifully designed new resource that attracted media attention from multiple news outlets and of course, a satisfied client. Executive Director of NIȽ TU,O Katharina Stocker, expressed her satisfaction with the quality of the finished product and even suggested that it be submitted to award categories across Vancouver and the country.

The Remarkable Team looks forward to its ongoing work with NIȽ TU,O as they strive to keep Coast Salish children with their families and in their community by providing culturally safe programs and services.

CALL TO ACTION

A PDF copy of the planner is now available on the NIȽ TU,O website, https://niltuo.ca/ under resources.

Those interested in receiving a planner can reach out to NIȽ TU,O directly at info@niltuo.ca or 250-544-1400. To place a bulk order of 25 copies for $550, please email Erica at EFritch@niltuo.ca while supplies last.