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Canada's Getting Older (and So Is Their Graphic Design Game)

By erika - December 19, 2013

in Branding & Identity

We've covered Canadian design before—the good and the bad... and, with the government's recent foray into visual identity, the ugly. Our neighbors to the north are looking forward to celebrating their sesquicentennial in 2017—to spare you a Google search, that means they're celebrating a 150-year anniversary—and the government has already begun designing a logo to commemorate the event. Unfortunately, their attempts are a bit off the mark—just take a look at the designs above. Not a single one of them is remotely worthy of, say, this charming Canadian couple who made web rounds a few weeks back.

After reading an article on a Canadian news site featuring the designs-in-progress, one designer took it upon himself to redeem his homeland and up their design cred. Ibraheem Youssef designed a logo of his own and reached out to a few other well-known Canadian designers to ask them to come up with their own versions. The response was astounding (and much better looking).

He documented all of the submissions online with descriptions giving more information about the designer behind each submission and what it represents.

Designs by Jason Niles (left) and Lee Wilson (right)

Designs by Jason Niles (left) and Lee Wilson (right)

There's no doubt that the guest designs are levels above the government's first few stabs. We can only hope that they'll catch on to the press and choose to hire on one of these designers for the job. Here are some more of our favorites from the bunch:

Designs by Andrew Passas (left) and Michael L'Ecuyer & Ruth Ann Pearce (right)

Designs by Jonathan Mutch (left), Kammy Singh (middle) and Jason Fung (right)

Designs by Melissa Agostino and Theo Gibson (right)

All is not lost—they might be able to find a home for the government's proposed designs on a throwback sports jersey; you can see them all at The150logo.ca. It's a tough call, but do you have a favorite design?

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Josten Dooley

10 years ago

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The logos that Ibraheem and other canadian designers made are soo much better then anything else at the beginning of the article. The C with the leaves and others are so wonderfully put together and clearly thought out.
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Rob

10 years ago

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I think it is also worth noting that Canada's Association of Registered Graphic Designers along with other national Design Associations have publicly responded to the initial batch of logos by launching a letter of protest and media campaign promoting Professional Design. The goal is to encourage the Canadian government to set up a steering committee to engage the services of a professional design firm or individual to ensure that the new logo is developed with the necessary research, design process, and care to best ensure success.
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