Meet your storytellers.
Tara Bryk
Partner & CEO
This place doesn’t tick without Tara. She’s our CEO and has the lofty task of overseeing our client portfolio. Which, for her, is a breeze. Tara brings years of agency experience working with brands like [yellow tail] wines, Cineplex’s The Rec Room and IKEA Canada. She puts out fires before the embers get hot—proactive to her very core.
But here’s the thing about Tara – despite her impressive resume, she’s down-to-earth and approachable. She’s not just about business; she’s all about getting to know people. Whether it’s grabbing a coffee with a team member or chatting about the latest Netflix binge, she knows the importance of building relationships as strong as steel and fostering a community as vibrant as our client’s mural at Queen and Charlton.
Dan Banko
Partner & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Dan is the big cheese around here. Officially, he’s our Creative Director. Unofficially, he’s a super nice guy with a thousand ideas swimming around upstairs and always implements the very right one at the right time for the right client. Naturally, his dad still wonders what he actually does for a living.
He’s a dad and a coach, a photographer and a sculptor, a teacher and a wine and beer drinker (not at the same time). He’s a gutsy leader and a real friend. We like him a lot. (And he didn’t pay us to say that, we swear.)
Lindsay Antoniadis
ACCOUNT Manager
Lindsay is a well-balanced yin and yang of creativity and practicality. She is equal parts logical and innovative. A pretty rare combo, which led her to her role as an Account Manager. Lindsay organizes like a mother, and she’ll know everything about your project from inception to deployment.
She openly admits that she probably spends too much time taking photos of her son (but he’s so cute!) and on Pinterest. Still, she finds time to cook, knit, sew, and dust off the ivories every now and again for a little musicality.
Sarah Bullard
Designer
Sarah’s favourite colour is rainbow. Handy when you’re an illustration-loving graphic designer. She can draw the pictures, design the layout and run the press, thanks to her time working at a large format print shop. She understands design from all angles. If she doesn’t know something, Sarah will figure it out and loves the chance to learn some new skills.
Sarah lives a colourful life. Three cats and a dog mean there’s never a dull moment at her house. If there is any quiet time, she’ll be reading comics, playing video games or listening to music. Sarah feeds her rainbow fix with thrifting for art, stickers, pins, and stationery—the more colourful, the better.
Michelle Hayward
ART DIRECTOR
There’s a little bit (and sometimes a lot) of Michelle in all of our work. She’s a designer first, but really she’s a creative problem solver with an impressively critical eye for detail. She’s a wizard at creating thoughtful, beautiful designs rooted in strategic thinking. We hear a lot of “Wows” from clients when we present work that Michelle drummed up. It never disappoints. Not ever.
Michelle is also a doer of all things. Literally, all things. She sketches, hikes, bikes, drinks a lot of lattes, loves stationery, collects cookbooks, crochets, makes patterns, watches period-piece dramas, and really, really loves cats.
Julia Marchionda
Account Director
In her past life, Julia was probably a juggler. That’s our explanation of how she can handle so many things at once—well, that and her legendary Google Sheets. Seriously organized, always up on social media trends, and great at building relationships, she handles projects, clients and deadlines with ease.
Julia’s personal connections with clients mean that she can tap into their brands, anticipate their needs, and come up with unique strategies. Plus, she’s a tonne of fun (though we haven’t seen her actually juggle yet). She has an encyclopedic knowledge of RuPaul’s Drag Race and makes the best Spotify playlists.
Andrew McDermid
Videographer
With a keen eye for storytelling through visuals and sound, Andrew has a portfolio that’s as diverse as
a streaming binge-watch list. He’s racked up editorial credits on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HGTV, Discovery, and Hallmark, and a staggering 60M+ views on YouTube, thanks to his original music compositions. These days, Andrew channels his talents into boosting various brands and businesses in his role as our videographer.
Off the clock, Andrew enjoys recording music in his home studio and creating pointless items on his 3D printer.
Sandra Mulder
SENIOR photographer
Sandra joined our team in 2003. She’s a talented photographer, works magic in post-production and stands in as a model when we need her. She also styles food and clothing and holds the title of Banko bowling champion. Come to think of it, Sandra is exceptional at pretty much everything. Which we’d find annoying if she wasn’t so darn likeable.
Sandra’s impressiveness continues outside of Banko Creative Studio, too. She once drove across the country with her husband and two kids and captured stunning photos along the way. We’re not jealous. At all.
Ian VanDuzer
Copywriter
Our wordsmith extraordinaire, Ian paid his way through university writing appeal letters for Canadian charities that may have ended up in your mailbox. Now, Ian crafts creative, compelling copy that fits our clients’ every whim, niche, and desire. Adept at writing for platforms big and small, Ian fits compelling stories into whatever space we give him.
Ian spends almost as much time at the local Playhouse Theatre watching indie movies as he does at the office. A self-described movie buff, he gets way too excited about the Oscars.