The current job market has seen many sectors contract, making work opportunities tight for creatives.
Join us for a discussion with ECU alumni that explores how to think laterally and creatively to find work and take an active role in your career.
April Joy Dela Noche Milne | BFA, Illustration (2014)
April dela Noche Milne is a mixed Filipino-Canadian illustrator and writer based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
April studied Fine Arts at Langara College and graduated with a BFA in Illustration from ECU. She contributed to the Cloudscape comics anthology The Witching Hours, and illustrated the middle-grade graphic novel The Blue Road: A Fable of Migration, which was named a Quill & Quire Best Book of the Year. A graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, she’s currently an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. April’s debut picture book as author and illustrator, Nora at Night, is forthcoming September 2026 with Kids Can Press.
Her personal work explores grief and memory, the humour of everyday narratives, and issues of identity. April’s also interested in maintaining her committed, passionate love affair with the internet, and—despite what her resting sad face would have you think—making people laugh.
Kat Morris | BMA, Animation (2014)
Kat G. Morris is a Filipino-Canadian 2D animator and storyboard artist from northern B.C. After graduating from ECU with a BMA in Animation, she worked on DreamWorks TV series like Gabby’s Dollhouse, alongside independent freelance projects and collective work with Flavourcel.
Now based in Vancouver, she’s drawn to fluid, illustrative motion and to bringing projects to life in her own distinct style. Right now, Kat is directing a short film through the Titmouse Foundation Fellowship while taking a small business course to launch an online shop, exploring ways to bring her character-driven work off the screen and into physical, handmade goods.
Blair Muxiang Yu | BDes, Communication Design (2022), MDes (2024)
Blair Muxiang Yu is a designer whose work bridges creativity, design process and care. She holds a Bachelor of Communication Design and a Master of Design in Interaction Design from ECU. Her practice spans digital marketing design, branding, knowledge translation and UX/UI design.
Blair has worked as a graphic designer developing digital marketing campaigns for major real estate developers in British Columbia and has collaborated on knowledge translation and branding projects with healthcare organizations, including provincial health initiatives and non-profit organizations. She currently works as a freelance designer and marketer with ROSC Healthcare, Sushi Mura, and YouLive Marketing.
Blair is passionate about creating meaningful, user-centred designs that communicate thoughtfully, improve accessibility, foster inclusivity and create positive impact.
Panel Moderator: Rafael Zen | 4th Year NMSA Student
Rafael Zen is a Brazilian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, working across sound art, experimental electronic music, intermedia installation and performance. Their practice explores glitch feminism and queer utopias, ensembles with machines, cyborg wearables, speculative languages and malfunction as an artistic and revolutionary method.
Zen holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Brazil and is completing a BFA in New Media + Sound Art at ECU. Recent projects and awards include collaborations with the Buschlen Mowatt Nichol Foundation + Vancouver Biennale, B.C. Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery, Western Front, New Media Gallery, Capture Festival, SUM Gallery, Lobe Studio and Queer Arts Festival.