Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada recently unveiled a rebranding of the organization, including a new look for the website and company logo. The new design coincides with the launch of the 2024/25 season.
The new look was created in a partnership with Bruce Mau Design of Toronto, and is intended as a contemporary update of the company’s brand. It’s worth noting that it will be the first visual update for the NBOC in about two decades.
“The brand isn’t just a logo,” said Muir. “It’s a philosophy that has to represent our company and culture, our value system and how we want to move forward as an organization. The new look is bold and brave and sets the stage for dialogue. We’re providing access and we’re providing a diverse repertoire. It’s an exciting moment to be here.”
The focal point of the design will be ‘The Storyteller’, a wordmark, or creative use of text and typography, with taglines intended to connect directly with audiences, and importantly, potential audience members.
Laura Stein, BMD’s Chief Creative Officer, noted, “with The Storyteller, the entire company becomes a protagonist. The logo is followed by a story, an invitation, an action that draws you into the National Ballet.” Stein led the project with BMD.
Bruce Mau Design
Born in Pembroke, Ontario, Bruce Mau began his career in graphic design after a high school art teacher advised him to get into the field. He went on to study at the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto, but left before graduating to join a professional firm in 1980.
Bruce Mau became notable not only for his work, but his design philosophy and the ways in which he’s applied it to a variety of functions from architecture, art, museums, film, eco-environmental design, to education. Active as a professor and educator, he authored and co-authored influential works on design.
While Mau himself has gone on from the Toronto company to work in Chicago, BMD carries on his innovative spirit.
“We were tasked to create something that would invite more people in,” BMD Chief Creative Officer Laura Stein recalls. “We created a new wordmark that acts as an invitational narrative. This helps to position them differently — more open, more creative.”
Vibrant jewel tones replace the darker palette of the older design. The studio’s Director of Design Strategy, Kar Yan Cheung, comments, [“We had to create] a brand for both old and new audiences, ensuring we honor the tradition of classical ballet while also paving the way for the future of ballet and more contemporary ballets and stories.”
It’s a way of visually breaking through the kind of elitism that is often associated with ballet, and reaching out to the audience.
A Contemporary Company
“It has been nearly 20 years since the National Ballet last rebranded and it was the right time to revisit our visual identity,” said Belinda Bale, Director of Marketing and Communications.
“We wanted to create a brand that reflects who the company is today, but also where we want to go in the future. The new brand is an opportunity for the company to share our stories and invite audiences, both existing and new, to engage with us in a more meaningful way.”
NB: This article has been modified to include updated information about the Bruce Mau Design firm.
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