Canada 150 has spurred many people into a Canadian pride frenzy – with the recent Canada Day celebration said and done, the festivities still continue as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday with all of us who share this beautiful country. With a huge year like Canada’s 150th hovering over proud Canadians, there was a need for a symbol to celebrate the iconic year and how far we’ve come as a country.
Canadian’s are stereotypically easy to get along with, brushing conflict off with a “sorry eh,” however, the selection of the Canada 150 logo caused great debate amongst fired up Canadians. The government announced a post-secondary contest for students with a $5,000 prize going to the selected designer. Unfortunately, the prize was deemed measly amongst young graphic designers who felt their efforts were being exploited.
Still, thousands of graphic designers submitted logos for Canada’s big year. The winner, Ariana Cuvin, is a global business and digital art Student at the University of Waterloo, and the reviews were both enthusiastic and controversial. Although many loved the design, The Association of Registered Graphic Designers noted that they were disappointed the government chose to exploit students in this fashion despite their efforts to help the government understand the value of design and the creative process.
That said, the RGD put out logo creative from their designers to show professionally crafted and designed Canada 150 logos:
Working in a creative environment daily, we know how lucrative the creative design process can be. We feed off of the ideas of our peers and in turn, build powerful campaigns that would otherwise be obsolete if we neglected the creative process.
Although we understand the RGD’s stance on value of design, we think by giving students the opportunity to submit their logos gives them a chance to embrace their roots, and engage with a brand that will give them national and international visibility. We’re all for giving the power to the youth – and we believe that the logo design perfectly encompasses Canadian pride. In the end, Cuvin told the GDC that she did not feel exploited by the process.
Whether you love or hate it, the logo celebrates something we can all agree on; the pride and proudness we have for our country. It’s also plastered on mugs, shirts, flags and more – so if you aren’t in favour of the new logo, you’re still bound to see it wherever you go. Check out some of the brands and products that have leveraged Canada 150:
Our favourite one is the Tim Horton’s Poutine doughnut – only available in the United States. Although we’re not entirely sure how this concept got approved, we’re all curious to know what the doughnut tastes like. Tim Horton’s, alongside other brands, also did an exceptional job at capturing what it means to be Canadian with some well-executed commercials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDuA9OPyp6I
Heartfelt commercials like these are sometimes all that’s needed to remind us of where we’ve come from, and why we should be proud to be Canadian.