Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

Specific demographics can be drilled down to the youth of Oakville as a secondary focus to the design,
as the issue of EAB could be discussed within Oakville schools and eco clubs. Involving the youth was
intended to jumpstart the social media aspect of the Canopy Club with more users being familiar with
Facebook and/or Twitter.
Other audiences also considered were Members of Council and Town of Oakville staff, local forestry
associations, ratepayer/resident associations, local businesses including Oakville Chamber of Commerce
and Business Improvement areas, local media, as well as target all levels of government – municipal,
provincial and federal.
In order to appeal to the proposed audiences, research into colour selection was vital to represent the
emotions of excitement, enthusiasm, trust and involve elements of nature. Examining trends of current
graphic design was also taken into consideration in order for the Canopy Club to appear modern and
exude the qualities previously mentioned. Balancing these qualities with the corporate visual identity
was the real trick in order to develop something that satisfied both sets of requirements.
Goals and Objectives:
The creative objectives for the Oakville Canopy Club was to be of high quality and effective design,
conveying the desired emotional impact of community and pride; all within the brand identifier and
overall look of the campaign.
The artwork needed to inspire and motivate people to take action, to get them in the door where they
will have access to a wide variety of information intended to educate them on what might be a threat to
their town, neighbourhood, and home, both in a visual sense and a financial sense. The design also
needed to be aesthetically pleasing in order to encourage residents to wear merchandise (t‐shirt) with a
sense of pride. Developing a visual solution for all these elements would help support the Canopy Club’s
goal to reach more residents, create media awareness, as well as leverage the town’s reputation as a
leader in urban forestry. All the developed materials for Oakville Canopy Club had to be consistent
across all mediums, including print, merchandise, web and social media.
Key Messages/Theme:
Oakville Canopy Club’s key message is to raise public awareness of the Town of Oakville’s EAB
Management Plan and to encourage Oakville residents and businesses to take an active role in
protecting our tree canopy. This message aligns with Council’s established goals of providing
outstanding service to residents, to continuously improve our programs and services as well as to be the
most livable town in Canada.
Creative Rationale: Creating a brand identifier to represent the Oakville Canopy Club in a single image
was initially difficult. It had to be exciting and fresh, but adhere to the town’s visual identity standards as
well as include elements of nature (in order to be identifiable), without having the cliché of the eco
logos that blanket the market. To marry these ideals, an image of the tree was designed, but with a
creative twist ‐ fingerprints were used as the leaves of the tree. The thought behind the fingerprints was
to represent the different people of Oakville and how they can come together as a community to join
the Canopy Club with the goal of EAB prevention and education.