National Gallery of Canada

The new brand needed to reflect the Gallery’s reconciliation efforts with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and to encompass a more inclusive perspective of Canadian art and culture. 

To achieve this, the Gallery led nation-wide focus groups and worked with an advisory council of Indigenous Elders from the First Nations community of Kitigan Zibi. We supplemented these inputs with hundreds of interviews with museum employees, leadership, and board members; youth artists; Indigenous Elders and artists; and consultants specializing in transformation and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Together we crafted a brand around the concept of Ankosé, an Algonquin word that means “Everything is connected” or “Tout est relié.” We are all connected—to each other, to the land, to the art that surrounds us, to our past, present, and future. Ankosé is a call to action to look beyond the traditional art canon, the physical context of the museum, and Eurocentric narratives to see the limitless connections that exist beyond these frames.

The brand identity is based on an open and ever-changing visual system that expresses the core concept of interconnection and the beauty that is created when a diversity of forms can flourish. 

We shifted the Gallery’s visual presentation from the rigid geometry of a square—associated with the Western worldview and Westminster Parliamentary Tradition—to a permeable circle, representing the Indigenous worldview and Governance system. 

The varying shapes of the logo denote the multitude of voices, ideas, and perspectives that shift, interconnect, and combine to create a larger and richer whole.

Our partnership culminated in the development of a behavioral framework that guides and inspires internal teams to activate the 
brand strategy in their daily work and interactions. 

Building on the Gallery’s broader strategic plan, the framework specifies key shifts and their implications for different areas of work, including communications. Guidelines and “Questions to Ask Yourself” support consistency, sensitivity, and informed decision-making across the museum’s teams.

The National Gallery of Canada brand was named a finalist in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards in 2021 and was recognized by industry and mainstream press for its inclusivity and its successful modernization of an iconic national cultural institution.

It’s Nice That

The—Brand Identity

Museum Next

CBC News — Ottawa

Art Critique