Creative services for the cultural sector
Vanilla Five Creative Inc. supports cultural institutions and organizations through thoughtful design projects across print, digital, web, and video.
We bring creative thinking to production-ready execution.
MOCA-LA - Gehry Retrospective Installation
GT-Digital Project Exhibition
Marginalia - Live Performance, Set and Motion Graphics
SelfDesign - Visual Redesign
Sagrada Familia - Short Form Video
Gehry Technologies - Visual Identity System
Approach
We frame complex problems by revealing the relationships that give them structure. Rather than simplifying systems, we make them legible—designing communication that preserves depth while creating clarity.
Our process is collaborative and iterative, integrating stakeholder expertise directly into creative development. This approach emerged from work on large-scale architectural and exhibition projects where technical sophistication had to meet public accessibility.
What makes this different: we bring a systems perspective to cultural communication, treating every project as an opportunity to uncover underlying patterns and translate them into coherent visual language.
Projects
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Confluences/WDCH
Interactive Multimedia | Walt Disney Concert Hall Realization
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GT Digital Project Exhibition
International Touring Exhibition | Multi-Screen Video
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Brain Terrains
Installation, Exhibition | A long-form inquiry into identity, scale, and relational systems
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Gehry Technologies Visual Brand
Los Angeles | Graphic Design, Print
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OMBU
Software Product | Collaborative authoring software for rich-media storytelling
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Marginalia: Re-visioning Roy Kiyooka
Canada | Performing Arts | Set, Video Projection, and Motion Design
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Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia
Copenhagen | Exhibition Video
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National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA)
Canada | Graphic Design, Print
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SelfDesign Learning Foundation
British Columbia | Graphic Design, Print/Web
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What complex challenge could we bring a fresh perspective to?
Services
Creative Direction
Visual strategy for cultural organizations
Visual Communication
Graphic design for print and digital platforms
Exhibition & Performance Media
Visual media for exhibitions and live performance
Video & Motion
Short-form video and motion graphics
Clients
Cultural & Public Institutions
Art Gallery of Ontario — 14-month public engagement, 10,000+ participants
MOCA Los Angeles — Touring exhibition, multiple international venues
Danish Architecture Centre
Vancouver New Music Society
Innovation & Strategic Environments
Deloitte Greenhouse — Permanent installation supporting strategic innovation
Education & Non-Profit
National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association
SelfDesign Learning Foundation
Architecture & Design
Gehry Technologies — Visual systems for paradigm-shifting architectural software
Gehry Partners
Works Exhibited
MOCA-LA
The Design Museum (London)
Vitra Design Museum
Triennale di Milano
National Building Museum
Ready to start a conversation about your project? Get in Touch
About
Vanilla Five Creative Inc. is a Vancouver-based creative services studio founded in 2006 by Hanif Janmohamed. V5 collaborates with cultural institutions, performing arts organizations, and creative enterprises to deliver thoughtful, well-crafted visual communication across print, digital, interactive, and video.
The practice emerged from developing design methodologies while working with Gehry Partners on paradigm-shifting architectural projects. This experience shaped an approach centred on making complex systems legible—not by simplifying them, but by revealing the relationships that give them meaning.
Alongside commercial creative services, V5 serves as the production partner for ongoing artistic research projects, including Brain Terrains—a multi-year inquiry exploring identity, data, and systems across cultural and institutional contexts.
Hanif Janmohamed
Founder & Creative Director
Hanif's practice spans graphic design, scenography, video, exhibition media, and systems thinking. He holds an MFA from Domus Academy in Milan, where engagement with theorists like Baudrillard shaped an enduring interest in how designed systems mediate meaning and perception.
His work has been recognized with multiple awards over a 30-year creative practice. Hanif is currently developing research around meta-relational approaches to AI and conversational intelligence, informed by participation in the Burnout from Humans community.
With a background spanning architecture, cultural institutions, and artistic inquiry, Hanif brings a systems perspective to visual communication and experiential design—treating every project as an opportunity to uncover underlying patterns and translate them into coherent language.
Contact
We work with cultural institutions on exhibition design, visual identity systems, strategic communication challenges, interaction design and project realization. Whether you're planning a major installation or rethinking how your organization communicates, let's talk.
Selected case studies are available for review here.
Typical engagements include:
Exhibition and performance media (3–12 month projects)
Visual identity systems for cultural organizations
Strategic communication design across print and digital
Long-term creative partnerships and multi-year initiatives