Know Canada

It looks like Canada’s birthday present is a makeover! Bruce Mau Design was recently approached to participate in a “Redesigns” series and they’ve decided to tackle the entire country of Canada for an image facelift.

“Canada has an image problem in the US. When Americans think of Canada, stale and often cliché ideas and imagery come to mind. Images like maple syrup, hockey, snow and lots of it. These images don’t pay homage to the intellectual, creative and social contributions that Canada makes as a country on a global scale. These clichés do not accurately depict the 21st Century Canada.

In our redesign, we begin with an assertion that Americans simply don’t understand Canada. Our view is that Canada doesn’t need a redesign; rather, Americans need to be educated.”

I personally have a lot of fun with these silly Canadian stereotypes – I’ve been asked everything from “do you have Halloween in Canada?” to “who is the president of Canada?” – but I’m very interested in this campaign and hope that soon I’ll see a well-designed billboard in Times Square promoting my home country.

Check out Know Canada and view the full Design Presentation/Mission Statement.