Winnipeg, Manitoba

The North West Company (NWC) kicked off its 20th anniversary year yesterday with the launch of a new corporate identity designed by Circle. Formerly a division of the Hudson’s Bay Company, North West has grown to become one of Canada’s most successful independent retailers, with over 200 stores across northern and western Canada and Alaska. The new identity was unveiled at an annual recognition event attended by hundreds of the Company’s 6,600 employees.

In a NWC press release, President and CEO Edward Kennedy stated the following: “Our new identity, pictured here, is a strong, vivid symbol of today’s North West Company. It demonstrates our teamwork, our energy, and our purpose. Yes, the voyageur canoe and the paddlers speak to our heritage, but it is a heritage that is much more than a memory of historic events. Indeed, we are the living, thriving successors to a continuous line of enterprising merchants that began in 1668! Very few organizations in the world can make that statement, and we are one of them!”

Circle’s Robert L. Peters and Susan McWatt FitzGerald worked closely with Kennedy and Phil Marriott, NWC’s Marketing Director, in shaping the new identity and developing corporate identity guidelines that delineate correct usage and application of the identity. In addition to the primary corporate signature (featuring paddling voyageurs and a distinctive logotype), Circle also developed identifier variations including a monogram and a motto to reflect NWC’s history and enterprising spirit. A carefully considered visual palette of corporate colours and typefaces helps ensure consistency and cohesiveness in the identity roll-out and maintenance of the Company’s corporate image.

For more information about this project, please contact Robert L. Peters.