New look, new ideas: The story behind our fresh visual identity

The communications landscape is constantly evolving, and GCI Canada needs to evolve along with it.

So, our creative team was sent on a mission: renewing and rejuvenating the brand—breathing new life into that vibrant orange GCI is known for.

Brands are important for the organizations that wear them. We understand that instinctively, but it can’t be understated. Energetic visual identities offer recognition for their agencies while creating pride on the part of their team members.

Recreating an agency’s look is no small task, and the design work fell to GCI Canada’s senior art director, Christine Cater. The process began with a brand and competitor analysis—and a picture quickly emerged.

“Many agencies in Canada cluster in one of two sets of colours: black and white shading, or red,” says Christine.

“It’s just one reason why we decided to keep orange. It’s not just different. It’s bold, it’s creative—and our team loves orange. It’s who we are.”

As she put pencil to paper in sketching and reshaping GCI Canada’s logo, Christine had a few big goals top-of-mind.

“I wanted to modernize the logo—make it more balanced. I also wanted to create a customized typeface treatment to help differentiate GCI Canada and make our identity ownable .”

The new logo was inspired by a collective brainstorming process exploring the agency’s narrative and history. GCIers thought about what the company represents, who we are, and what we do. The team was instantly inspired by a singular concept: idea architecture, which Christine threaded throughout every aspect of our new visual identity.

“We’re architects of communication, fundamentally—and I wanted the underlying theme of the design to be communications,” she says.

“Modern, clean lines in the logo and supporting design elements speak to that architectural inspiration. We eventually landed on a sans serif typeface, which is described as bespoke. That term stuck with me. Quotation marks inspired me as well, given how essential it is for communication.”

In the end, the new design gives a happy salute to its heritage by maintaining GCI Canada’s characteristic orange. Yet the orange is now downplayed, playing a new role as accent to a fresh and sleek grey. Grey adds sophistication intentionally evocative of architecture.

“Grey is a wonderful complementary colour,” adds Christine, “because it is modern and timeless—which nicely compliments the boldness and creativity of the orange.”

The new look allows GCI Canada to push forward and seize the momentum as the agency grows. It’s also a great moment for Christine. After all, it’s not often an art director gets to remake their own company’s visual identity.

“It was a proud moment when I got to update the logo. It was a real team effort. A lot of thought went into this and as an art director, a little piece of you is in it too.”