My Story
COURAGEOUSb is Andy Maier. Andy is a certified member (CGD) and President of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada / BC Chapter, with over 19 years of industry experience. Andy mixes his creativity and design intelligence with a visionary sense of business strategy.
Long ago at the age of six Andy first discovered his passion for creativity and design. His Swiss relatives often sent him Swiss made watercolours and pencil crayons. Sitting next to his mom watching her ‘colour inside the lines’ Andy would for hours explore colour and learn the art of meticulous Swiss craftsmanship.
In high school, inspired by the encouragement and support of his art teacher, Andy won two International Student Art competitions. His first taste of advertising and design came at the age of 14 when he won a bus panel design competition, “The Great Graffiti Feat” for Fox & Fluevog Shoes. At the age of 16 and 17 Andy won an international poster design competition through Raiffeisen Bank of Austria. And by the time he was ready to graduate Andy won an Art Scholarship that took him to Emily Carr College of Art & Design.
During art school Andy began leveraging his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit with business. He never learned to play the guitar and jam with ‘the band’ but in order to keep hanging out with the cool guys in the hay-day of grunge Andy started his first business venture designing and printing band posters and T-Shirts out of his parents’ garage. After four years of design school (Foundation Year at Emily Carr and the 3yr Capilano College Graphic Design & Illustration program), he started his first of two design firms. He ran the most recent, branding based, firm from 2002 to 2007 before selling it so he could spend the next few months (wait - two years) ‘sustainably’ renovating a house with his father. Andy’s creative spirit never ends…and apparently nor does a reno!
Today Andy’s passion is to share, inform and inspire those who have the courage to think differently about their purpose on this planet. As COURAGEOUSb, Andy consults to businesses, non-profits, even individuals to define the COR, or heart, of what motivates them and to help them make an impact in their organization, their community, the world.
Andy’s greatest skills are passionately envisioning where a brand’s opportunities lie and in making the emotional connection between internal brand promise and external brand experience then translating those opportunities into strategic, distinctive and authentic creative communications.
In May of 2009 Andy was a recipient of the Capilano University’s ‘40 over 40 Alumni of Inspiration’ honouring 40 of 60,000 alumni whose passion and achievements reflect Capilano’s four decades (1968-2008) of exceptional services and community involvement.
In addition to his volunteer role as elected President of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada BC Chapter for 2011/2012 he has been with the GDC since 2008 in roles such as Sponsorship Chair, Co-Chair of Canada’s National Design Awards Graphex in 2010 and on their National Sustainability Committee. Andy is in this 5th year volunteering with the Hospitality & Restaurants Division of BC Children’s Hospital and from 2003 to 2006 he sat on the Communications committee for the BC Epilepsy Society during which time he assisted in the rebranding of the BCES.
Born and raised in North Vancouver, Andy is a single dad to two amazing kids. He plays competitive soccer and volunteer coaches his daughter’s U9 soccer team. Andy is also seriously addicted to home renovations for which he is currently seeking treatment.