Surfacing throughlines in complex terrain
Vanilla Five Creative Inc. develops design strategy and visual communication for cultural institutions navigating increasing complexity. From concept to implementation, V5 engages stakeholders and the public through experiential storytelling, software, identity systems, and immersive installations.
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 reveal the underlying relationships within complex terrain, surfacing throughlines that empower intuitive understanding. Rather than simplifying or flattening complexity, we help audiences navigate it, preserving its depth while enabling clarity.
This approach emerged from design work for Gehry Partners on their paradigm-shifting architectural processes, where technical sophistication needed to meet public accessibility. We developed a "navigation-in-context" approach: designing communication where understanding emerges through exploration and engagement with key relationships, instead of didactic instruction.
Our process is collaborative and iterative, integrating stakeholder expertise directly into creative development. We treat every project as an opportunity to discover and map underlying patterns and translate them into coherent, engaging visual communication.
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 studio founded in 2006 by Hanif Janmohamed. V5 collaborates with cultural institutions, performing arts organizations, and creative enterprises on visual communication and experiential design across print, digital, interactive, and video.
The practice emerged from the development of methodologies to communicate Gehry Partners' paradigm-shifting architectural processes. This experience shaped an approach centred on revealing relationships within complex terrain—surfacing throughlines rather than simplifying or flattening complexity.
Alongside commercial work, V5 serves as the production house for ongoing artistic research, including Brain Terrains, a multi-year inquiry exploring identity, data, and nested systems across cultural and institutional contexts.
Hanif Janmohamed
Founder & Creative Director
Hanif's practice spans graphic design, multimedia, scenography, exhibition media, systems thinking, and AI-supported generative work. He holds an MFA from Domus Academy in Milan, where engagement with theorists and leading designers shaped an enduring interest in how designed systems mediate meaning and perception.
His work has been recognized with multiple awards and exhibitions at major international venues including MOCA-LA, the Design Museum London, Vitra Design Museum, and Triennale di Milano.
Hanif is developing research around meta-relational approaches to AI and conversational intelligence, informed by the Burnout from Humans framework and participation in the UVic Meta-Relational Approaches to AI course.
With a background spanning multi-disciplinary design and artistic inquiry, Hanif brings a systems framework to visual communication, treating every project as an opportunity to map underlying patterns and translate them into coherent and delightful experiential engagement.
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