Statistical Society Of Canada Revitalizing the visual identity of a Canadian institution.

The SSC promotes the development and application of statistics in Canadian public life. The organization’s leadership wanted to revitalize its visual identity and website with a contemporary, and lasting aesthetic. The new design expresses the SSC’s vibrant, active, and engaged role in the field of statistics in Canada.

Website

The SSC facilitates connection among academic and professional statisticians through its conferences, and other in-person gatherings. It so happens that a group of SSC members are capable photographers who devote a great deal of effort on high-quality photography of SSC events. Since they are consistently available, and depict a primary mission of the organization, the home page is built around these images of the SSC’s national and international gatherings.

Visual Identity

The SSC’s most recent visual identity was based on its coat of arms, which had been serving as its logo. The SSC’s mandate includes bringing a statistical perspective to public policy, and to encourage statistical thinking for all Canadians. The leadership hoped for a new logo that would resonate in those outreach activities. They also wanted to bring forward two elements of its coat of arms: the imagery of the snowy owl, and the colour red.

OWL IMAGE Incorporating the owl image was a tricky proposition. While a coat of arms is understood to be full of metaphorical images, a literal depiction of an owl would inevitably prompt the question: “why the owl”? The solution was the most impressionistic rendering possible while still being recognizable. With vibrant colour, and a more energetic flying profile, the first experience of the logo is sensorial, and the literal question recedes.

COLOUR In print, perhaps surprisingly, red is produced by mixing magenta and yellow inks. This is mimicked digitally with a “multiply” transparency. This is the basis for the three colours of the logo, which, perhaps also surprisingly, work well together.

STYLE GUIDE

Mica produced a style guide outlining technical specifications, and guidelines for the application of the brand. It also included design explorations to inspire future designs.