Asher deGroot and Tracey Mactavish created MOTIV in 2017 committed to their shared belief that thoughtful design connects people and transforms communities. Friends and former colleagues, the pair met in 2008 while working at the same design firm and tackling the renovation of the City of North Vancouver Civic Centre Renovation, a project that went on to receive the Governor Generals Medal and a Lieutenant Governor Award, among others.
MOTIV brings community into everything that they do. The “O” in MOTIV’s logo represents a ripple effect — of people, of projects, of communities. We believe that no person or project exists in isolation and that caring about a place requires acknowledging and leveraging both dependencies and impact on the bigger community. This requires taking the time to understand inherent potential of people and projects and to utilize the kinetic energy specific to a project to effect change.
Our Story
motif noun - a distinctive and recurring form, shape, pattern, etc in a design
motive noun - a reason for doing something, incentive
adjective - (of power or force) causing movement or action, prompting to action
Our name captures our passion for design to have impact. We recognize repeated patterns in our design work that draw us to projects and clients that are seeking positive change within communities.
We are driven by a desire for our designs to be active agents for this change. We do it because we ourselves find satisfaction in meaningful and impactful work and because we want to work with clients who desire the same for their communities.