BY Armin

A Logo Made Out of Water, Light and Glass

When one thinks about massive convention centers it’s not rare to visualize an endless maze of soulless corridors, horribly patterned carpeting, and a sense that sunlight has not seeped inside for many, many years. The 2003 AIGA National Design Conference was held in the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC), and while there were hints of its convention centerness, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that welcomed you as you stepped out of each session with views of mountains, sea and birds was literally a breath of fresh air. That was by far one of the best settings for a conference I have been to. Since then, the VCC has expanded and been beautified even more over the past five years. While convention centers wouldn’t be the first industry you would think of of having some serious branding energy devoted to them, VCC has risen the bar for the kind of branding these places need to start thinking about.

Four creative agencies — all part of DDB Canada — are credited in the press release, Karacters Design Group, Tribal DDB, Radar DDB and Rapp Collins; with Karacters leading the actual design end of it. Clearly, VCC was serious about this.

The Vancouver Convention Centre was built using some of the clearest glass in the world, designed to let the outside in and the inside out. Perched directly on Vancouver’s waterfront, delegates are inspired by an uninterrupted view of water and mountains. Instead of the usual literal architectural or place themed logo, Karacters Design Group developed an identity system that is evocative of the unique feeling one experiences whilst in the new facility. With layered images of water, light and glass, the identity reflects both the spacious, modern feel of the building and its spectacular surroundings. The photography-based logo prominently features the word VANCOUVER to emphasize that the brand is much more than just a facility, but reflective of the entire Vancouver experience.
— Press Release

Business cards, letterhead and folder.

For the most part I want to like the logo simply because it dares to be different and step out of the conventions of typical wordmarks. I also understand the desire to translate how glassicious the VCC is and, conceptually, I much prefer this than the old logo that just rendered the architecture of the place. But my gut reaction is that I don’t quite like it, actually. The effect, to me, is a little fragmented and I just have a bad aversion to this kind of techie textured look that was so pervasive in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I do like how the identity is extended to other pieces and can see the textures being more effective there. So, in the end, I’m a little torn as I don’t want my prejudices to force to dislike the logo as I see its value, but I’m not ready to give in yet.

Print advertisements and detail of the logo used in white.

As an aside from the identity aspect, the advertisements are pretty humorous. Here is also a detail of how the logo works (or not quite well works) in white.

\n\nWhen one thinks about massive convention centers it's not rare to visualize an endless maze of soulless corridors, horribly patterned carpeting, and a sense that sunlight has not seeped inside for many, many years. The 2003 AIGA National Design Conference was held in the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC), and while there were hints of its convention centerness, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that welcomed you as you stepped out of each session with views of mountains, sea and birds was literally a breath of fresh air. That was by far one of the best settings for a conference I have been to. Since then, the VCC has expanded and been beautified even more over the past five years. While convention centers wouldn't be the first industry you would think of of having some serious branding energy devoted to them, VCC has risen the bar for the kind of branding these places need to start thinking about.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners