Matthew Le Blanc's Portfolio

A Swiss Army Knife of Storycraft: Writing, Design, Imagery, and Beyond

FriesenPress Bookstore •

In A Split Second: Living in the World With Cerebral Palsy

During the pandemic, I had the privilege to write a book about my cousin Kyle, who has struggled and triumphed in life while dealing with cerebral palsy. It was an intimidating task, but the project revealed that I could write almost anything despite suffering from a serious case of imposter syndrome. Synopsis: Kyle Scott was diagnosed with a mystery classification of cerebral palsy at the age of sixteen months, but that hasn’t stopped him from living his life to the fullest. Surrounded by the best family and friends one could ask for, he has strived for and achieved far more than doctors, specialists, and therapists claimed he would, ultimately proving that anything is possible.
Aecon •

Darlington Nuclear Reactor Mockup

This article on the Darlington Nuclear Reactor mockup in Ontario might be one of the most challenging pieces I've ever written. Like the reactor mockup itself, this piece required thorough research and execution to comprehensively bring all of its many details together. There were many times where I found myself staring at the blinking cursor in Word as I tried to wrap my head around such a technical project. I wasn't even sure how I would pull this off even after two interviews and visiting the project site in person, but I did it. After a few sleepless nights, I took it one step at a time and slowly fit the pieces together as you would a 5,000 piece puzzle. I've had a weight lifted off my shoulders many times before, but offloading this one was the best.
Aecon •

Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line History Piece

My favourite aspect of researching this article was relying on archived photos to help transport me to a project completed in the 1950s. I really felt as though I was piecing together an important part of Canadian history from the perspective of those who built it. The images in this article were never published until Aecon released this piece in 2015. I enjoyed writing this article because the information was scarce with no one alive to interview and it required actual digging.
Aecon •

Aecon's One Magazine

As the Feature’s Editor for Aecon, I was responsible for writing their construction- and people-focused ONE Magazine twice a year; ultimately producing five issues during my tenure. I researched, interviewed and wrote each publication cover-to-cover. I also worked closely with our photographer and graphic designers to guide imagery for the final product. After acquiring approvals for the final draft, I was responsible for having it physically printed and shipped to over 14,000 employees across Canada. This particular issue was my favourite.
BGIS •

BGIS Corporate Sustainability Report 2018

Working for BGIS, I was responsible for producing an annual sustainability report. Unlike Aecon’s - How We Build Things Matters magazine, the BGIS CSR reports have been data driven. Each document required extensive research and adherence to GRI Standards, which is the industry standard for sustainability reporting. The documents were solely created by me, which required heavy amounts of writing, research, designing, photography (both my own images and some stock), and overseeing printing and distribution.
BGIS •

BGIS Branding Policy & Style Guide

In 2017, it was my sole responsibility to complete a corporate rebrand for BGIS. Everything from letterhead, fleet trucks, marketing collateral and building signage needed to be identified and redesigned from scratch to follow our new direction. One such task was to create the company's first branding policy and style guide that was pushed out to the entire organization to ensure branding consistency and compliance. This document required extensive planning, research, writing and design.