CUPE Manitoba
Client
Sectors
Labour
Youth
Services
Creative Activations
Strategy
Collateral Design
Illustration
Animation
Celebrating Manitoba's public sector workers — and helping a new generation see their impact.
When CUPE Manitoba — the province’s largest union — set out to create an engaging children's activity book, they partnered with LeBlanc (& co.) Communications. Together, we created We Work for Manitoba: A Kids' Activity Book on Public Workers — a playful, illustrated activity book designed to help kids and families understand the important roles that public sector workers play in their everyday lives. Order your own copy of the activity book at cupe.mb.ca/activitybook.
The goal of this project was to introduce kids and families to the public sector workers who keep their communities running — from the child care worker who educates young kids to the health care aide who cares for patients each day. The project aims to increase the public's appreciation for the public sector workers represented within CUPE Manitoba.
Created to be engaging for kids, the activity book uses fun activities and vibrant illustrations to highlight the public sector workers who support communities across Manitoba. We developed a custom illustrated style to bring the workbook concept to life and carried that visual identity across the full campaign rollout. From stickers and posters to social media graphics and an animated video, this cohesive design system helped expand CUPE Manitoba’s brand into a kid-friendly, community-oriented format that communicates their message.
Using an interactive approach, the book blends story-driven scenes with interactive activities like colouring scenes, word searches, fill-in-the-blanks, and mazes. The characters in the workbook represent real-life roles like custodians, park workers, and admin staff who are shown working and connecting with people in their communities. In order to show a diverse representation of public sector workers, the activity book shows CUPE Manitoba workers from each of their sectors and CUPE Manitoba Sector Leads reviewed the book for accuracy. The book also shows the diversity in CUPE Manitoba by portraying workers of different identities.
The language in the activity book is aimed at kids and communicated in an accessible way. The final result is a resource that is educational, engaging for young readers, and able to extend CUPE Manitoba’s brand in a fresh, multi-platform way — all while celebrating the workers who keep our public services running. We had a great time testing the book with real kids who completed the workbook and gave us feedback that was incorporated into the final design.
The Winnipeg Free Press covered the activity book launch with a piece entitled “CUPE book teaches kids about public-sector workers in community”.
Animated Video
The animated video brings the campaign to life and highlights the important work of public sector workers across Manitoba. The voiceover was recorded by CUPE Manitoba President Gina McKay, grounding the message in a personal and powerful touch to the final product. We recorded the voiceover in Winnipeg's main public library, which was a great time to use a public service.
