ALLAN FLEMING

Designer Allan Fleming is often referred to as the person who branded Canada because of his pivotal role in shaping the visual identities of major Canadian institutions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. 

He joined the Ontario College of Art (OCA) in 1955 as a part-time typography instructor. While at OCA, Fleming was commissioned to create a new logo for Canadian National Railway (CN). He sketched his idea for the CN logo on the back of a cocktail napkin while on a flight. The letters C and N formed a continuous line symbolizing a railway. The logo was unveiled in 1960 and remains largely unchanged today. 

Two years after his successful rebrand of CN, Fleming developed a new identity for Ontario Hydro, unveiled in 1965. The new design featured an overlapping O and H, creating a stylized electrical connection. Variations on Fleming’s design would remain in use until 1999, when Ontario Hydro was dissolved and its operations were transferred to Hydro One. It would not be the only major Canadian company to recognize Fleming’s design prowess. 

In 1961, the Bank of Nova Scotia began using its better-known moniker, Scotiabank, and hired Fleming to design a graphical treatment for the name. He responded to the challenge by combining two different typefaces to emphasize both the traditional, secure nature of the bank and the modern, youthful side of the business.

Fleming was also prolific in publishing design. He joined Maclean’s briefly as an art director, radically redesigning the look of the magazine. In the final decade of his life, he joined the University of Toronto Press (UTP) as the chief of design. Fleming revolutionized the appearance of scholarly publications during his tenure by leveraging the interdisciplinary skills of UTP's editors, designers and marketing staff, fostering collaboration and innovation. ¹
 

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¹Allan Fleming: The man who branded a nation, eye, Spring 2011