On June 30, the OAA revealed its new logo. The Association needed a visual identity to ensure it remains accessible and able to speak to bilingual audiences, but also something that could be iconic without being problematic from a design standpoint—the old logo was never really optimized for digital use and its gradient meant it was difficult to reproduce on items, where it would occasionally require highly specialized screen-printing.

After a formal pitch process involving many of Ontario’s top-tier agencies, the OAA chose Leo Burnett Design Canada, based in Toronto. The firm is part of Leo Burnett Worldwide, which operates a global network including advertising agencies in 85 countries. The Leo Burnett team’s goal was to capture and represent the OAA’s values, and tell its story, in the simplest form.

The square represents the OAA building as an architectural space & the circle represents community. Together, the logo shows the OAA as a space to bring together an inclusive community. Circles in design can illustrate equity as all points on its circumference are equidistant to its centre. The closed shape of the circle also represents inclusivity of our members and the square around it represents the protection and regulation of our profession. They also double up as letters ‘O’ and ‘A’. The corners of the square are open to achieve the ‘A’s but also to illustrate an openness to evolution and change

The predominant brand colours are black and white for their contrast and clarity of information, along with an array of greys. Visual accessibility was important for the primary typeface, which is Akkurat. This is a grotesque sans-serif typeface created by Swiss designer Laurenz Brunner and released in 2004 through the Lineto type foundry. It combines the qualities of classic sans-serif craft with appropriate contemporary freshness.

You’ll see the new logo, and examples of this new visual identity, on OAA documents, publications, and the website moving forward.