Rooted in sustainability and measured on success, Fairwind Creative encompasses your entire online marketing universe, from graphic design to web design to website development to green web hosting and digital marketing, drawing upon decades of extensive working knowledge of the digital world.
Some of Our Valued Clients
We work hard to build positive relationships with everyone we work with, and consider every new project an opportunity to build long-lasting friendship and trust. After all, our success depends on the quality solutions we create for you.
Our Creators
Fairwind Creative’s creators draw upon decades of extensive knowledge, covering a broad range of services. We share a deep passion for conservation, sustainability, and ethical business practices, volunteering time each year to help various causes. From startups seeking a new logo, stationery, and business cards, to well-established companies needing a full website refresh, we’ve got you covered!
Julie Melano
Owner & Creative Director
Fairwind’s owner and creative director, Julie Melano, began her design career in the mid-90s while earning her Bachelor’s degree in Art from Southern Oregon University, focusing on graphic design and photography. After moving to Portland, she broadened her skills through customer service and hospitality roles before transitioning into web design, which opened new directions for her creative career. By 2006 she was freelancing under the name Melano Graphics while also gaining experience with design and development firms across California, Oregon, and British Columbia.
Now a dual Canadian and US citizen, Julie has spent nearly three decades helping hundreds of businesses with their creative and technical needs. Her projects span logo and brand design, website development, social media campaigns, e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and database-driven applications. This breadth of work has given her a unique perspective on both design craft and client collaboration, blending visual storytelling with practical solutions.
Julie founded Fairwind Creative to devote her full energy to design and marketing strategies that align with her values. She and her partners focus on rethinking outdated marketing practices, applying green technology, and supporting businesses that share a vision for a healthier planet. Fairwind reflects Julie’s long-standing commitment to creativity with purpose, where design becomes a tool for both communication and positive change.
Julie Melano
Owner & Creative Director
Chad Fontaine
Full Stack Web Developer
Chad is a true-blue Vancouver Island native with over three decades of intense experience in the industries of graphic and web design. A painter and illustrator in his spare time, he’s not happy unless he’s creating. A graphic design graduate from Malaspina College, Chad’s solid history of designing and constructing websites WordPress, Drupal, and other content management systems gives him an edge over his competition. He codes HTML and CSS as easily as he designs intricate logos. An outdoors enthusiast, Chad delights in supporting Vancouver Island’s adventure and tourism brands.
Chad Fontaine
Full-Stack Web Developer
Shardae Lang
SEO and Digital Marketing Expert
Shardae is a digital marketing specialist with a passion for helping businesses thrive in an ever evolving online world. With over ten years’ experience in digital marketing, she specializes in search engine optimization, paid media, and content marketing. She loves helping people grow their business, ideas, or organization, and is always up for a new challenge.
Shardae has worked with clients in a wide range of industries, and is all about tailoring strategies to meet each client’s unique needs. With a strategic mindset and solution-oriented approach, she adds value by boosting clients’ digital presence and helping them achieve their long-term goals.
Shardae lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and two young children. They love spending time outdoors, on the water, or exploring new spots along the coast. She finds inspiration in adventure and comes up with some of her best ideas when she’s away from her desk!
Shardae Lang
SEO and Digital Marketing Expert
Selim Koksal
Full Stack Web Developer
Once a humble digital marketing maverick, Selim kicked off his career at an agency that provides consultancy in SEO, Google Ads, Social Ads, and Google Analytics! He was already a UI-UX wizard – making websites so user-friendly even aliens could navigate them. He then took a detour into the realms of web design, front-end development, WordPress development, and even unleashed his inner Picasso for graphic design.
After a brief freelancing stint (where he learned that PJs are totally acceptable work attire), he found his true calling as a Full Stack Web Developer, now proudly soaring with the Fairwind Creative crew. His secret mission? To be a superman of Full-Stack Dev, armed with code and a cape (well, metaphorical one).
Selim is a challenge enthusiast, whether it involves conquering waves on the ocean or taming the wild jungles of the internet. When he’s not crafting digital wonders, you’ll find him riding the waves or surfing the web – because who says you can’t love both oceans?
Selim Koksal
Full-Stack Web Developer
Ishan Rathore
Full Stack Web Developer
Ishan is a Full Stack Web Developer with a strong interest in creating clean, efficient, and user-friendly web applications. He works with both front-end and back-end technologies, and enjoys bringing ideas to life—from planning and designing to building and deploying complete solutions. He likes solving problems, improving performance, and writing code that is easy to understand and maintain.
Through hands-on experience and various personal projects, Ishan has developed a solid understanding of web development best practices and teamwork. He enjoys exploring new tools, frameworks, and techniques to stay current and continually improve his work.
Outside of coding, Ishan enjoys playing soccer, as it keeps him active, helps clear his mind, and inspires him to stay focused and creative.
Ishan Rathore
Full-Stack Web Developer
Shawna MacKay
Web Developer & Motion Designer
Shawna is a designer who loves bringing ideas to life through motion and thoughtful design. At Fairwind, she helps with front-end web development, animation, and anything else that needs doing!
With a background in web and visual design, she enjoys finding creative ways to guide people through a site, tell a story, or add a little spark to everyday moments online. She’s all about the small details that make things feel just right.
Outside of work, you’ll probably find her sketching ideas, experimenting with animation, or hanging out with family and friends.
Shawna MacKay
Web Developer & Motion Designer
Shawna MacKay
Graphic Designer
Cate resides in the beautiful coastal rainforest of Nanaimo, BC. Her passion for creating is inspired by communicating stories and values. Her love for nature inspires her to create designs for social and environmental sustainability. When not designing, Cate is usually hiking trails, ocean swimming, or reading books.
Cate Arnold
Graphic Designer
We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work on the ancestral land of the Coast Salish, encompassing the traditional territories of the Xwsepsum (Esquimalt), Lkwungen (Songhees), Scia’new (Beecher Bay), T’Sou-ke (Sooke) Nations, and many others. We offer our gratitude to the First Nations for their care for, and teachings about, our earth and our relations. May we honour those teachings.