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An independent, creative business combined with a lifelong passion for art and writing: The Word & Image Studio delivers expert results and attentive customer service, down to the last detail ~ including meeting your important deadlines.
Skillful research, accuracy in writing, interesting visuals, attention to detail and personal service have been our standard in creative communication for wide-ranging clients such as The National Film Board of Canada, government ministries, municipalities, universities and colleges, industrial and environmental firms, small business and non-profit organizations with results spanning signature logos, website design, commemorative videos, and a full range of print materials large & small, such as books, educational manuals, technical spec sheets, promotional billboards, truck wraps, posters, postcards & more.
Beyond this varied portfolio, a personal connection with Ukrainian culture and heritage led to the research, writing, illustration and book design of • ‘Show Them What You Can Do’ ~ Building the Ukrainian Spirit Across Canada: An Illustrated Biography of Pavlo Romanovich Yavorsky, published in 2007.
Since its release, orders for the book have been received from every province between B.C. and the Maritimes; it is on file at Library and Archives Canada and Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec as well as the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa, Alberta’s Vegreville Centennial Library, Saskatoon Public Library and the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, and has been used as a course book by the Alberta Ukrainian Dance Association.
This biography of a pivotal figure in Ukrainian-Canadian cultural heritage (Darene’s father, Pavlo Romanovich Yavorsky) led to an invitation, in 2009, by Dr. Marcia Ostashewski at Cape Breton University to be involved in an exhibition titled • A Cape Breton Story of Ukrainian Dance: From Village to Stage ~ which served as a gateway to other collaborative writing and design projects such as the 25th anniversary republication by the Centre for Cape Breton Studies of • Strangers in the Land: The Ukrainian Presence in Cape Breton and the exhibit • ‘Mnohaya lita!’ Celebrating 100 Years of Ukrainian Faith in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and many others up to and including the present day:
• The concept and design for a 6-panel CD cover and disc face for Lassana Diabaté of Mali, revered master balafón griot, titled Bala. This unique project — the first recording of its kind — was headed by Dr. Marcia Ostashewski, Director, Centre for Sound Communities and Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at Cape Breton University, with input from Dr. Lucy Durán, Professor of Music, School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. *In 2022, taken into the collection of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
• An evocative CD cover for • Songs of Truth: Music & Song from the Kobzar Tradition by banduryst Julian Kytasty, released at the Celtic Colours International Festival through the efforts of Dr. Ostashewski in partnership with the Centre for Cape Breton Studies at Cape Breton University. *In 2022, taken into the collection of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
• The 2015 launch of the DiversityCapeBreton.ca web portal (still in use), a large-scale project encompassing the signature logo, overarching design, selected writing, and • ‘In my Father’s Footsteps: Finding my way along an unmarked musical journey’, a musical component involving sheet music hand-written by Pavlo Romanovich Yavorsky in the 1920s and ’30s, now housed at the Beaton Institute of Cape Breton University.
• 2015 also marked the occasion of a new endeavour: promoting Ukrainian heritage and culture through the launch of a memorial foundation and The Pavlo Romanovich Yavorsky Youth Award in Ukrainian Dance, bestowed annually at the Tavria Ukrainian Dance Festival, Saskatchewan ~ now in its 8th year of presentation to “the student whose solo performance communicates joy and passion for the art form, conveying the heart and soul of Ukrainian culture and tradition.” (E-mail wordandimage@brucetelecom.com for details)
Please see 2024 PROJECTS SNAPSHOT for a display of recent work, as well as Project Snapshots for previous years, accessible from the home page.
Darene Roma Yavorsky, Creative Director of The Word & Image Studio, is an affiliate of Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency under three categories: writer, publisher and visual artist. She is also a student of the violin, member of Orchestra Grey Bruce, and board member of the Kincardine Summer Music Festival.