Founder of Flying Squirrel
Welcome! I’m Jen Smethurst, head designer here at Flying Squirrel, located in the highest tree tops of Barrie, Ontario. With over 16 years of industry experience, I have a love for clean well thought out design projects and brands that can truly show off a company’s character.
When we’re not talking shop, you can find me mountain biking in the forest, getting in a round of golf, or paddle boarding on the lake, but mostly you’ll find me in my office developing some awesome graphics for my diverse array of clients.
As in the name Flying Squirrel, I’m constantly moving and improving by staying on top of the latest social trends and ensuring to provide my clients with the kind of quality they have come to expect. I work hard—maybe a little too hard sometimes—but I love what I do and my passion for creativity and design fuels me.
We’ve been outsourcing our graphic design work to Jen for years now. She collaborates with our marketing and content teams to deliver exactly what our clients need. What’s more, she adheres to our clients’ strict brand guidelines, ensuring their brand message stays strong and consistent. And with her timely turnarounds, she ensures our clients stay happy. It’s been nothing but a pleasure working with Jen!
Scott Armstrong, Partner, Brainrider - www.brainrider.com
I've worked with Jen for approximately one year on a variety of projects (creative, design, document templates, web-site content and graphics, RFP Response templates). Flying Squirrel has created all of our sales collateral and marketing material; CanadaDirect | OnPath has been very satisfied with the results. Jen's company is easy to work with and flexible; they have gone out of their way to meet tight time lines and Jen is responsive to inquiries and communicates in an open, transparent manner. Flying Squirrel has become a natural extension of our sales & marketing team and we look forward to working with her for many years to come.
Chris Spencer, SVP, Business Development, CanadaDirect | OnPath - www.canadadirect.ca
We cannot express how pleased we are with the level of professionalism and service we receive with Jen at Flying Squirrel. Jen always captures the elements we wish to portray with fresh, concise marketing materials and is an absolute pleasure to work with. We have had many occasions with urgent requests and Jen never fails to deliver. We cannot say enough about the quality, speed, creativity, attention to detail, and effectiveness of her work. She has been integral in helping us achieve our advertising goals and she has exceeded our expectations every time.
Richard Edmonds, GM/Managing Partner, Tangle Creek Golf & Country Club - www.tanglecreekgolf.com
I had a great experience working with Flying Squirrel! Jen is very quick and detailed, she completed two logos for me one a re-creation, the other completely from scratch. Both designs produce many compliments, especially with how clean they look and were completed very quickly with limited back and forth. She really understood what I was looking for and was able to deliver above and beyond my expectations.
Matt Shaw, Owner/DJ, Eyekon Entertainment - www.eyekonentertainment.com
Our charity has been working with Jen at Flying Squirrel Creative Studio on updating and re-branding some of our program and promotional material. Jen was able to take the brief information that we gave her and turn it into exactly what we had been envisioning, only her version was even better. She went above and beyond in helping us develop materials with a very short timeline. We are so pleased with the sleek, consistent, professional look of our new materials and we have had several compliments on them. We definitely recommend Jen and Flying Squirrel to anyone looking for materials that will elevate their products and services to a whole new level.
Kimberly Thompson, National Director, Rainbows For All Children Canada Inc. - www.rainbows.ca
We’ve used Jen at Flying Squirrel Creative Studio to help develop some of our marketing collateral, including business cards, letterhead and real estate specific pieces, like listing brochures. Jen has been very accommodating, helping us bring our vision to reality. We’ve been pleased with her prompt service and her patience. Her ability to make the graphic design world accessible to the average consumer makes her an easy choice.
Lindsay Fournier, Sales Representative, The Fournier Experience - www.thefournierexperience.com
Jen of Flying Squirrel is simply amazing! From the moment I met her, I knew I wanted to work with her. She had this 'can do' attitude that I really love when I'm working with someone. We have worked together on a few projects now and most notably my new branding. Jen went above and beyond for me to get my branding done on a time crunch. She came up with cool ideas and things to think about and was there for me throughout the process 100%. Jen is an incredibly hard worker and great at what she does. I'm so proud of what we have created together so far with many more projects to come. Thanks Jen. You ROCK!
Paige Royal, Owner/NCCP Cycling Coach, Pura Vida Performance - www.puravidaperformance.com
Jen does a great job! I am full of my own creative ideas as my field requires creativity also, but she is an expert in her field and takes my ideas and refines them so that I have material that is professional looking! Thank-you Jen for the great work you do!!!
Stacey Kost, Owner, Simply Design - www.simplydesign.ca
Throughout the process of redesigning my logo, Jen asked me in-depth questions about my business, what I want in a logo and what branding means to me. She worked with my answers and combined my overall vision to create my new logo. Jen's process for choosing and finalizing my new logo was painless; she had a few options for me to choose from and used my feedback on what I prefer. I always felt like I was in the driver’s seat when it came to making decisions. Jen also designed the overall style for my new website, the pictures she chose and the way she used colour to balance the page layouts works perfectly with my new logo. Everything flows well together and creates the feel I want for readers. Working with Jen was a pleasure, I felt comfortable and she understood what I was asking for, even when my language was not technical, and created the finished product in a timely manner.
Stephanie Butler, Owner, Serenity Organizing Solutions - www.serenityorganizingsolutions.ca
Jen was able to put what I wanted in a creative and professional way. She is smart and incredibly fast with providing me with what I wanted and goes above and beyond of what is required of her.
Sandra Shosha, Shosha Books - www.shoshabooks.com
I work for Shania Twain's charity Shania Kids Can and Jen and I have been working closely on projects to support fundraising efforts during the current tour. With that comes crazy deadlines, the need for things "NOW" and at times changes on the fly. Jen has delivered beyond my expectations, sometimes working late into the night to ensure that I have what I need. Her work is fantastic, and Jen makes it so easy to get my job done. Jen has worked on a lot of projects for SKC but what she has delivered on this 6-month project goes way above and beyond. She is simply the best!
Sandy MacNevin, Managing Director, Shania Kids Can - www.shaniakidscan.com
Jen was a pleasure to work with. She took my vision and ideas and turned them into what I was looking for. She always presented different options and made alternate suggestions based on her expertise. She met all deadlines and was very quick with turnaround times. Jen worked very hard to meet my very design specific needs and did an outstanding job! I will continue to work with her and recommend her to anyone who wants a designer who is through, creative and easy to work with.
Janey Reilly, President, WeeSleep - www.weesleep.ca
I wanted to say a big thank you for the wonderful redesign you did for my business card. After 7 years, I realized that my business card design was looking tired and old. I really appreciate how quickly you picked up on what I was looking for. Within a week, I had 3 ideas to choose from. I have to say that the hardest part was choosing which one to go with. I liked them all! Thank you for such a wonderful job of re-imagining my business card. I'm proud to hand it out and show it off.
Debbie Ouellet, Chief Idea Officer, EchelonOne Consulting - http://echelonone.ca
We had the distinct pleasure of working with Jen Smethurst of Flying Squirrel for our website rebrand and redesign. We knew what feeling we wanted to invoke and the new direction we wanted to go in but we did not know how to transform our ideas into the new website. With Jen's knowledge and expertise, she helped with our logo redesign, business cards, speaker sheet and created what we consider to be an absolutely stunning website. We are so thrilled with her customer service, graphic design and that she went above our expectations with timely delivery. We look forward to our ongoing relationship with Jen and we consider her apart of our team. We highly recommend her services.
Tara Everson, Marketing Director - www.smallbusinesssavvy.com
Thank you, Jen, for your support these last few years with my business. You have been an instrumental part in my success making sure my graphics are professional, crisp and inviting to the eye. Your work has encompassed everything from designing flyers, rack cards, pocket folders, banner graphics and online PDF's. Your timeliness and professionalism are so important to me and it's been a real pleasure working with you. I look forward to future collaborations. Health and Happiness, Katherine Parent
Katherine Parent, Nutritionist/Owner, Make Good Choices - www.makegoodchoices.ca
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your excellent work on the Choice Bank re-branding project. Not only do we now have an updated image; our entire portfolio of documents and marketing materials now has a consistent look and feel. From our client and staff perspective, the use of fillable PDFs wherever possible has been greeted with enthusiasm. I appreciate your timely responses and creative suggestions enabling us to stay true to our vision yet enhance the end result. Our marketing materials hit the professional standards we drive for and I have no hesitation offering a recommendation of your services to other organizations.
Rob Anderson, Vice President, Choice Bank Ltd. - www.choicebankltd.com
Jen is a creative powerhouse. I collaborate with Flying Squirrel on a daily basis on a wide range of graphic and digital design projects. They have an amazing creative talent for taking highly complex design concepts and simplifying them into creative assets that embody the core essence of the brand. There have been various instances where we had multiple projects in the works with very tight deadlines. Not only did they complete the deliverables a head of time, but also maintained consistent communication regarding the status of the projects and deliverables.
Fahad Muhammad, Director of Marketing, Telax - www.telax.com
As a business owner, you have put a lot of hard work into building your business so don’t take the chance of someone dismissing you simply based on the appearance of your logo, brochure, or website. At Flying Squirrel, we want to help local businesses improve their visual identity. Your logo and marketing materials are part of any good professional first impression.
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At Flying Squirrel Creative Studio our main focus is on customer satisfaction, we want to personally see your business succeed! We want to share your passion for your business, that’s why we will take the time to meet with any new clients to get an in-depth vision of what they do, where their passion lies and how they want to express who they are through print and digital media.
Together we will create branded marketing materials that showcase your unique brand positioning and give you a visual presence that is irresistible to others. Whether you’re starting up or are a well-established business we can help create your unique brand, continue your current style or maybe your existing look just needs to be freshened up a bit. We can help you stand out against your competitors!