No Frills 🍌

No Frills, one of Canada’s most beloved discount grocery stores, is known for its bold, no-nonsense approach to value. As the brand transitioned from the iconic #Hauler campaign to a more value-focused advertising strategy, I took on the role of Manager, Art Direction to oversee this evolution in a short contract. I aimed to maintain No Frills' unique, confident personality while ensuring the messaging resonated with budget-conscious shoppers in new and meaningful ways. This shift allowed the brand to stand out in the competitive grocery landscape while staying true to its core mission of delivering unbeatable value.

Brand guidelines

Before my time at No Frills, the brand lacked a comprehensive brand book—relying instead on scattered PDFs and a one-pager. I made it my mission to change that, and together with a copywriter, I brought the No Frills brand guidelines to life.

We established clear, distinctive stakes for the brand, pulling from its iconic past to strengthen its current identity while incorporating forward-looking insights to future-proof the guidelines. The result was a cohesive, detailed brand book that became a cornerstone for maintaining consistency and driving creativity across all No Frills communications.

We know local

We Know Local is an annual program at No Frills, and this year, the focus shifted to incorporating store owners into the storytelling. Rather than changing the program’s well-received design, I concentrated on bringing the concept to life through engaging social media content.

Collaborating with my copywriter, we developed the idea that “we” know local the best—so well that we could push the boundaries of traditional brand storytelling. This led to playful content, including farmer challenges and quirky interviews using a broccoli microphone. The final result was a trendy video series that celebrated No Frills’ promise to support local communities while showcasing the stars of the program: fresh produce and the store owners who make it all happen.

To further elevate the We Know Local program, I developed a dynamic graphic video ad campaign tailored for different provinces. Each ad highlighted a local farm and its featured produce, ensuring the content resonated with the specific communities it reached.

Window display

Tasked with creating a new aesthetic for No Frills within two days, I shifted the brand away from the #Hauler style toward a design aimed at engaging Gen Z. Here's how I approached it:

• Collaborative Brainstorming: I worked with my team to gather insights and identify themes for the brand’s evolution. I orchestrated a practical brainstorming session to get the themes and points of view of the other team members so that the direction could easily be adopted by the creative team at large.

• Strategic Research: Partnered with a strategist to explore Gen Z design trends, aiming to align the brand with this new generation.

• Creative Exploration: Produced various concepts, allowing for flexibility and innovation.

• Instant Approval: The client immediately accepted the final design, which was sent to the SVP of Marketing with no changes.

Although the business later opted for a simpler design direction, given the public opinion of the brand, this project highlights my ability to deliver thoughtful, on-brief creative solutions quickly.