The Process

As the Gordie Howe International Bridge jointly represents Canada and the United States, our first task was to understand how the bridge embodies unity, transportation, growth, and opportunity. With these considerations, Generator identified three key principles at inception to set the tone and direction for the overall brand identity:

A Uniting of Nations

The bridge will provide critical infrastructure improvements for international travellers as well as foster continued Canada-United States relations.

A Wordmark as Strong as the Symbol

A uniquely-styled font or type treatment that measures up to the visual representation of the bridge.

A Symbol of Opportunity

The bridge will provide many jobs and opportunities for growth in the Windsor-Detroit region.

The Result

Guided by these principles, the Generator team collaborated to explore a variety of concepts that would ultimately evolve into the final product: a logo for the Gordie Howe International Bridge. After thorough exploration, we knew we landed on something truly special with one sketch in particular: clean lines running toward one of the iconic towers of the cable-stayed bridge.

To support the icon we selected the strong, open typeface ‘Gotham’ with modification to the letter ‘H’ in ‘Howe’ to imitate the angle of the bridge. Stacking the wordmark contained and balanced it adjacent to the icon, facilitating readability.

Lastly, we selected three Pantone swatches to create a full-colour version of the logo: 295C, 201C, and Grey 9C; the red and blue paying tribute to both the U.S. and Canadian flags.

We would like to thank the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and the Gordie Howe International Bridge for their guidance and support throughout the design process. We’re looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful opportunities the bridge will provide to our community as well as our neighbours across the border.

The above images are for conceptual purposes only