The platforms change. The fundamentals don't. Twenty years of senior design and development applied directly to your work, with the thinking and the making kept in one place.
The problem is the gap between the strategy and what actually gets built. Between the tools a team has and how they really use them.
I close those gaps. Structure, content, design, and interaction get shaped together rather than treated as separate layers, so the result is clear, cohesive, and still working long after launch.
Anyone can build an online experience now. Wix-like solutions and AI have made that part easier than it has ever been. What's still difficult is building it on a foundation that holds up through the next technology change, the next tool change, the next time the team grows or the brand shifts. My process solves these challenges so you can focus on your core business.
Custom WordPress sites, e-commerce, and campaign sites built on the platform that fits how your team actually works.
Typography, colour, logo usage, visual hierarchy, and real usage examples in one reference that keeps every touchpoint consistent.
The workflows and structures behind the scenes. How the site gets maintained, how content moves, how the thing actually gets operated.
Some work has a clear scope and a predictable path. Some work needs to be understood before it can be priced. Both are available, and the first conversation usually makes it obvious which one fits.
$1,600 / day
From $10,000
From $700 / mo
Hosting and ongoing maintenance is priced separately, from $960 a year. See Managed Hosting & Care → Full detail on how engagements work →
Online course structure, design, and build for a firm training accountants on regulatory change across Canada.
Design Guidelines built for the parent organization, extended cleanly across Signals and DigiBC Careers so each program stays itself without drifting from where it started.
Digital strategy, information architecture, and build for an organization connecting social movements with evidence-based behavioral science.
AI is part of how this work gets done, not a separate service sold to people who did not ask for it.
Design Guidelines with proper tokens, voice rules, and documented components are what an AI workflow needs to produce on-brand output. Without that foundation, the same tools just produce off-brand work faster.
So the foundation comes first. What plugs into it later is up to you.
Tokens, voice rules, and component documentation structured so both your team and your tools apply them the same way.
Prompt systems and guardrails so people who aren't designers can produce on-brand work without breaking anything.
Where AI genuinely helps inside your operations, where it doesn't, and what to do with the difference.
Lara brings seriousness of purpose along with an amazing creative spirit and spark, which fuels and inspires me every day. She is multi-talented, creative, energetic, and able to get a whole lot of things done to very high standards.
Shannon Emmerson
Founder & CEO, Forge & Spark Media
Her balance between technical aspects and creative design talent is perfection. In one day, she brought my website to the next level. I will repeat that — one day.
Kirsten S. Albo
FCPA, FCA, ICD.D
Working with Lara felt like having a creative director, a strategist, and a developer all in one person. She understood what we were trying to say before we could fully articulate it.
Client, Cultural Sector
British Columbia
Lara has a fantastic sense of humor, unbounded creativity, and a can-do entrepreneurial spirit. She’s always looking for ways to push the creative envelope and give her clients the very best work.
Vanessa Warheit
Climate Policy Strategist
Lara’s the best of both worlds: a true professional who delivers high-quality creative work, and also a down-to-earth person who will work with you until your ideal is realized visually.
Jessica Earle-Meadows
Leadership & Organizational Culture
On a short timeline, Lara was able to quickly grasp the scope and goals of our project and translate that into a clear design language.
Neil Middleton
VP Marketing & Sales, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Lara elevated every aspect of this ambitious expo. Her strategic vision and creative execution ensured that Signals stood out as a cutting-edge showcase for interactive and immersive technologies.
Loc Dao
CEO, DigiBC — Co-Founder, NFB Interactive & CBC Radio 3
She went from words on a screen to a complete style guide between lunch and dinner. No back-and-forth emails over several weeks. Lara is my go-to for a cohesive, well-considered visual brand.
LaShae Dorsey
Tech Solution Implementer & Strategist
Lara brought focus and clarity to the creative process of creating my website. Her work blends beautiful design with function.
Dianne Whelan
Award-winning Director & Producer
Lara expertly and seamlessly remade two of our websites, migrating them off outdated platforms to WordPress. She adds creative and programming expertise to make them attractive and user-friendly.
Joan Prowse
Producer / Director / Writer
Lara approaches her work with methodical planning and detail, then injects her creativity into everything she does. I’ve worked with her on three websites and I’m always really pleased.
Adam Greydon Reid
Director, Holiday Films / Nimble Content
Lara’s amazing creativity, knowledge of web technology, and understanding of audience needs are all integral to her approach. I highly recommend Lara if you’re looking for a stunning interactive media product.
Barbara Hager
Metís-Cree Filmmaker & Writer
You took all my “surprise” requests in stride, found ways to make it beautiful and functional, and you’re SO fast! It felt like we were a team, more than client and service provider.
Samantha Reynolds
CEO & Founder, ECHO Storytelling Agency
I have had the pleasure of working with Lara for over 20 years on numerous successful projects. It is a rare person who is highly skilled, creative, and fun to work with. I can’t recommend her highly enough.
David Bircham
Creative Director & Graphic Designer
Lara is a highly skilled guide in the world of WordPress, social media, and web presence in general. Her instruction is well-paced and well-placed. I highly recommend you work with Lara on your next project.
Kele Fleming
Singer-songwriter & Facilitator
Over twenty years designing and building for the web, for public broadcasters, labour organizations, symphony orchestras, filmmakers, and small teams doing meaningful work.
Outside client work I build interactive music installations, and perform as Mel·lif·lu·ous, my other self for music. Years ago I spent a long stretch on two water projects in Tanzania, in the villages of Cheku and Iyoli. Wells, solar pumps, and a slow education in what it takes to build something that lasts.
I like problems with both a craft layer and a systems layer. I'm direct, I'm curious, and I know when to say yes and when to say no.
Available for guest lectures, workshops, and mentoring on design systems and tool-agnostic workflows.
Defined work runs on a transparent day-rate of $1,600/day. A single focused day is $1,600; most builds land in three focused days at $4,800. Larger scoped engagements start at $10,000 and are priced by the problem, not the hours. Ongoing partnership retainers start at $700/month. Hosting is separate, from $960 a year.
A focused day-rate session is one day. A typical online experience build is three to five days. A larger scoped engagement is usually four to eight weeks depending on complexity. I give you a clear timeline in the first conversation.
No, but WordPress is where most client work lives. It has the right balance of editorial control, plugin ecosystem, and long-term maintainability for the kinds of sites I typically build. If a different platform is a better fit, I will say so.
AI is part of the workflow, not a separate offering. Design Guidelines built well, with proper tokens and voice rules, are what make AI tools produce consistent, on-brand output. I build foundations that work with those tools rather than getting bypassed by them.
Yes. I do a quick audit first to understand what is there, what is working, and what needs addressing. Depending on the state of the site, continuation or a focused rebuild are both on the table.
British Columbia, Canada. I work remotely with clients across Canada, the US, and internationally. Time zones are rarely a barrier.
