About
BEGINNINGS
Creative Beginnings
One sunny day, Adri was just about to go out the door to elementary school, when her Mom said,
“I need a drawing for the article I’m sending out today. Can you sketch something quickly?”
Grabbing a black marker, Adri drew a pen-and-ink sketch, gave it to her Mom, and dashed out the door never giving it another thought. What a surprise when the final article arrived, there was Adri’s drawing – big as life – in a magazine!
While developing her flowing pen and ink drawings during high school, Adri illustrated many school newspaper covers. Fellow students loved her art so much that she was even offered money for her Narnia-inspired drawings that she created in class!
European Influences
Growing up in both Belgium and Holland, Adri traveled throughout Europe and even got to visit Morocco. She saw Marimekko-style designs in the 70’s and was inspired by the bright, bold, and simple images. It’s why she loves to create with bright and happy colours.
While overseas, Adri visited her paternal grandfather often, a fancy pastry baker and artist. He made delicious pastries and had art hanging on the walls throughout his home.
On the opposite extreme, the cozy Dutch homes with their sparkling windows, short lace curtains, and warmth also spoke to her. Maybe that’s why she enjoys creating projects that feel inviting and create a comfortable space for people.
On the other side of the family, Adri’s Canadian maternal great-grandmother took up painting in her 80’s. It’s no surprise then that Adri has creativity in her genes!
EDUCATION
Loving to Learn... Ever Curious
Art & Communications
Adri received a B.A. in Fine Art from the University of Toronto and took courses in illustration, perspective, and logo design at the (then) Ontario College of Art.
Not long after, Adri earned an M.A. in Communications/Journalism from Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois. She studied communication theory, screen writing, creative writing, and media studies (which took place in England and The Netherlands to compare media systems). To finish off the program, Adri’s thesis focussed on women missionaries who experienced cross-cultural re-entry.
Photography
A life-long learner, Adri wanted to be able to capture the visual merchandising retail displays properly. As a result, she decided to take photography at the Continuing Education Department of Conestoga College. There she has enjoyed a variety of classes including:
– commercial studio photography
– Adobe Photoshop
– practical digital imaging
In 2014, Adri took the Digital II photography course, and was thrilled to receive 90%.
EXPERIENCE
Strategy & Creativity
Display Designer & Merchandiser
For over seven years, Adri was a display designer and visual merchandiser for a bookstore company with multiple locations. She was responsible for creating strategic designs for seasonal in-store and window displays and large-scale sale events.
Visual Storytelling in Retail
In order to display the product well, Adri asked herself, “How do I tell the story of the item, so the customer can see what it is about?” Once the story emerged, she drew the designs, sourced the props (or in many cases made her own), organized the product, and photographed it all when the display was finished.
Strategizing
For key event displays, Adri also collaborated with the buyer for product selection and price. Working together, they created a display and then checked the sales results. Adri was always excited to see that when the display,product selection, and price all worked together, it resulted in a higher sell-through.
Stylist & Contributing Editor
As a visual merchandiser, much of Adri’s inspiration came from magazine photography. So, getting to work behind the scenes at Scrapbooking & Cards Today (SCT) Magazine – styling pages and working on photo shoots as a Contributing Design Editor was a thrill. How exciting…visualizing the scene, bringing it to life, hearing the “click” of the camera, viewing the result… if not right, repeat until perfect!
Adri also created a pirate theme for SCT, featuring her craft design of a pirate ship and her own backdrop painting. Other published projects with SCT include a two-page birthday party spread and several articles.
Adri’s papercrafts have also been published in Papercrafts Magazine.
“Why do signs always have to be rectangular? What if they stand out better if they are round?”
Event Design & Management
Using Adri’s experience merchandising large spaces, sometimes as large as 10,000 sq. feet, Adri managed and designed events from a large international conference to smaller educationally focused ones. She incorporated a unique creative twist to each.
Sometimes it meant creating unique event signage by questioning what would be the most effective so that the attendees would be able to see the information quickly. For example, Adri would ask;
“Why do signs always have to be rectangular? What if they stand out against modern decor better if they are round?
At the event, it means paying attention to the little details such as small gifts designed to end each event memorably.
The result? A positive customer experience. Attendees feel welcome, cared for, and able to absorb what they are learning.
STORYTELLING
Storytelling and Website Design
Where Design Became Story
Adri saw the strands of her journey come together while working at the (then) Laurier School of Business and Economics. She realized that, once again, she was using imagery to enhance writing — just as she had when illustrating her mom’s article — this time through design.
Website Design
At the (then) Laurier Executive Development Centre (LEDC), Adri absorbed everything about business planning and marketing strategy. She learned that a strong foundation begins with understanding the audience.
While designing the e-commerce Drupal website for the LEDC, Adri incorporated visuals from the well-received leave-behind brochure she had created. She didn’t stop there: the same imagery flowed into parchment graduation certificates for the finale event. The visual story stayed consistent across every touchpoint, online and offline.
Websites that Help People
After designing the LEDC website, Adri was hooked. The immediacy of the digital visual story was compelling — a place where images, words, and atmosphere could work together. It became a way to create connection and conversation, drawing on Adri’s love of visual narrative and eventually her writing, as when she developed copy for Heidi Brannan’s website.
Understanding What Really Mattered
Adri was drawn to projects that helped people grow, change, improve their lives, or realize their dreams. Her strengths included clarifying a story, refining visuals, creating warm yet professional wording, and empathizing with the end user — thinking through what they needed and how they would move through the experience.
“Watching my inner vision and wisps of ideas come into a visual form was the most amazing experience. Adri has the skill of capturing the essence of my needs and wishes and then delicately balancing that with what is possible – and then taking the whole thing to a new level I didn’t even know existed.”
Jennifer Davis
Playing With Sparks
ATMOSPHERE
Atmosphere
Where the Thread Leads Now
There has always been a quiet through-line in Adri’s work.
She notices what a space needs.
She brings order where things feel scattered.
She uses images and words to give a moment its shape.
Merchandising did this across large rooms.
Events did it with people in motion.
Websites did it in the digital world — guiding the eye, guiding the experience.
Over time, this way of seeing became more defined: atmosphere, presence, identity.
Not abstract ideas — simply the way a story settles when everything aligns.
Each phase became its own apprenticeship. She learned how a room speaks before anyone enters, how visuals shift the tone of a message, and how people move through an experience when it feels clear and intentional.
The thread stayed the same. It just kept moving forward.
What This Means for Her Work Today
This foundation now anchors all of Adri’s creative work — the fine-art photography, the line-drawn places, the journals and cards, even the way she shapes a blog post or curates a quiet corner of Pinterest.
Each piece begins with the same principle: consider the space, shape the mood, create room to breathe.
Atmosphere as invitation.
Presence as orientation.
And in collaborative work, Adri brings that same steadiness. She can see how a project holds together — its pacing, its visuals, its tone — and help teams create work that feels coherent, human, and quietly welcoming.
This is where the strands converge.
Not a pivot, but a settling.
The architecture beneath everything becoming visible.