Canada 150 celebrations are planned for 2017
Winner of logo designing contest was a U of Waterloo student
By
Mark Schadenberg
In
a pinch, your gourmet dinner could be the result of scouring through your
freezer for frozen corn and other quick-serve items.
It's planning a menu on a responsible budget.
It’s also easier to order pizza then it is to find your rolling pin and a bag of flour.
The
Canada 150 celebrations are just around the corner, and some critics are
puzzled why the public relations department for the upcoming festivities
decided to select a free font for its promotional material.
Plus Justin Trudeau, of course
Unless
I’m missing something, I have just six fonts to select from when posting a
blog. The colour selection for headlines is an array of abundance, but not the
font protocol.
Be
sure to read the link below from the front page of yesterday’s Toronto Star as the
debate is described pitting the federal advertising machine against an
association called the Graphic Designers Of Canada.
The
general public talks often about wasted tax dollars or comments on the
absurdity of some levels of government changing their logo to discover 'new' originality or identification, when they are changing a top-of-mind symbol for truly no reason
whatsoever.
How
dare the font be a controversy when planning for Canada 150? The government
will find many methods to spend (waste) our dollars on vignettes, testimonials
from Canuck celibs, and 40-page glossy brochures to plug our nation’s birthday.
I
congratulate Ottawa on choosing its frugal free font, instead of hiring a consultant or a large marketing firm with its in-house focus groups.
Some,
however, would disagree.
“Mesmerize”
is the actual name of the font as created by Canadian Raymond Larabie, and as
mentioned it’s a free font.
You
may recall in 2015 that the winning logo for Canada 150 (pictured below) was selected
through a student contest and the prize was a mere $5,000. The winner was a 19-year-old
University of Waterloo student named Ariana Cuvin. Last April – the kerfuffle
was about the fact the contest was open only to students. It does make sense
that a gigantic marketing firm with a hustling graphic arts department could
have invented a symbol to represent our 150th birthday, but I love
the idea that the modified maple leaf was the creation of an every-day
Canadian.
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How
the Toronto Star described the logo after interviewing Arina Cuvin:
As for the
design itself, she says she went with the maple leaf because it’s the nation’s
most iconic symbol. She added subtle aspects — the base of the leaf has four
diamonds and nine more expanding outwards — to signify the four provinces that
formed Confederation in 1867, eventually growing to 10 provinces and three
territories.
Multi-coloured
aspects of the design are intended to reflect Canada’s diversity, with red
symbolizing pride and unity, she says.
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As
a full-time Realtor I do search through available fonts when designing a
specific feature sheet, brochure or even a promo page about myself. I include
one at the bottom with some of my odd choices for fonts and colours.
One Canadian media company manager described the contest with its $5,000 prize as being akin to hiring unpaid interns to work for you. I look at the opposite angle as Cuvin now has a priceless item for her resume as she explores graphic design as a possible career choice.
One Canadian media company manager described the contest with its $5,000 prize as being akin to hiring unpaid interns to work for you. I look at the opposite angle as Cuvin now has a priceless item for her resume as she explores graphic design as a possible career choice.
It’s
a fun debate, just like the overall discussion of the logo itself and the free
font ‘borrowed’ from Raymond Larabie.
Apparently
– if you read a CBC link below – there were 302 entries, which were whittled
down to 17 from a group of judges, before the Heritage minister in the Stephen
Harper cabinet choose the winner.
LINKS:
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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