As the creative hub of Canada’s capital city, our brand strategy and brand identity is built around the neighbourhood’s artistic soul.

Background and challenge

Through a successful RFP process, we worked with the Queen Street West Business Improvement Area (BIA) to create a new brand strategy, visual identity, and website for the Queen West neighbourhood.

The brief here was to develop a brand strategy and identity to help preserve and grow Toronto’s most iconic neighbourhood.

This work needed to align to the BIA’s 5-year strategic plan, respect the history and cultural significance of the neighbourhood, reflect the diversity of people and places, and look to the future.

Queen Street West has been the creative heart of Toronto for generations. Originally laid out in 1793, the street has long been home to independent businesses, artists, musicians, and communities who built their lives in its low-rise heritage buildings and storefronts.

It houses more live music venues than any other single corridor in the city, and Graffiti Alley is one of Toronto’s most recognised landmarks.

As one of the busiest and most iconic streets in the city, it was hugely important that our work reflected the diversity and character of the Queen West community – a place that means so much to so many.

The Queen Street West BIA exists to protect and promote this character, and ensure that what makes the street irreplaceable doesn’t quietly disappear.

By 2025, that work had become urgent. We heard of fears that Queen West’s reputation was eroding, with a real risk of Queen West losing its “effortlessly cool” character.

So, our brief was comprehensive: a full brand strategy and rebrand, a new website, and a suite of marketing assets with our work becoming an integral part of nurturing the soul of Queen West for generations to come.

Process and solution

Strategy

We began our work with in-depth research across a broad range of stakeholders to get a clear picture of what Queen West means to people. We surveyed the public, designing and distributing a survey to get the views of people who live in, work in, and move through the area.

We also interviewed business owners, City of Toronto employees, and BIA board members to hear first hand experiences of Queen West, but also the challenges being faced.

Simultaneously, we conducted extensive audits of other BIAs around the world to find best practices, and case studies that might inspire our direction.

We then presented our findings and preliminary conclusions to the Board, to get early buy-in on where our research was leading us in terms of strategy. This work was incredibly well received, and we were immediately aligned around a direction that put art and creativity at the centre.

With this early alignment, we then used these insights to develop the first draft of the brand strategy. The surveys, interviews, audits, and existing research already undertaken by the BIA gave us a thorough insights-based foundation for our brand strategy.

We shaped the mission, vision, promise, purpose, personality, key messaging pillars, and plans for how to grow the Queen West identity both internally and externally. Our positioning for Queen West was about using art as the anchor for every decision we make.

“Our street as a canvas” became the organising idea – a simple and clear concept, that would be the anchor point for both our work, but also the future work of the BIA.

After consultation and feedback, we were aligned on the brand strategy and so had our foundations for beginning the visual identity work. By building the visual identity from the strategy, we ensured that the end result would be a cohesive path forward for the BIA.

Creative

We created 2 visual identity concepts. One which was a development of their existing identity system, and another which we built from the ground up to be completely aligned with our brand strategy.

Our recommended approach was the 2nd concept. With the positioning that art is our anchor, we needed a brand identity that would let the community’s creativity come to the fore. We decided it was not the job of the identity to carry the creativity of Queen West – the job of the identity was simply to frame it.

An identity that tried to capture every facet of Queen West’s eclectic character would lack clarity and direction.

We didn’t want the identity to be the art, nor to compete with the neighbourhood’s vibrancy. Art, vibrancy, and music in Queen West has always, and will always, come from the community.

And so this was our guiding principle. Create a platform and canvas for the community to add colour and life, rather than trying to impose what Queen West is. Allow the neighbourhood to take centre stage, supported with a strong, clear, and consistent visual foundation.

To do this, we set the logo in American Grotesk Heavy. Inspired by the design of traditional street signage, “West” was subscripted and underlined, with the shorthand logo following the same simple idea.

This blue bar – featuring the blue that the BIA has used in its identity for over a decade – is then an ownable and adaptable visual tool for Queen West. That bar can carry different colours or patterns for events, partnerships, or celebrations, giving a consistent visual structure while allowing it to reflect the diversity and change that define the street.

The logo can also form a translucent frame when we are featuring artists or art, literally allowing the community to be front and centre while the branding takes a back seat.

The main colour blue is supported by the other primary colours – green, red, and yellow – chosen because they are the main tools of a visual artist in creating their work.

Ultimately, this second visual identity concept was the one we moved forward with. And this direction was a significant change for the BIA. It took time and diligent work to bring people around to our way of thinking, and build confidence that a substantial change was the only way forward.

But with the brand strategy and brand identity approved, we rolled out this new direction for the website, streetscape assets, photography, and other print and digital marketing assets.

The website includes a business directory, events calendar, community news feed, and an interactive economic dashboard. Alongside it are street pole wraps, banners, signage, posters, and social assets — all drawn from the same visual system, all designed to work together.

Result

Since completing our work, the brand strategy and identity have been presented to the public, the membership, and key City of Toronto members including the Deputy Mayor, with the brand launch at the start of 2026. At each turn, it has been received with enthusiasm and excitement, both in how it looks but also in the clear focus it provides for the efforts of the BIA and the future of the neighbourhood.

And throughout the project, we were meticulous in listening to feedback and ensuring that our key stakeholders were completely confident in our direction. In our presentations to the public and others, we always told a compelling story of the process behind the work, keeping everyone excited for the brand we were creating together.

The brand strategy, organised around the idea of “our street as a canvas”, has refocused the BIA on driving a creative culture that can keep Queen West vibrant and bustling. Our work mapped out external efforts to be made to reinvigorate a creative reputation that drives people to the neighbourhood – benefitting businesses and people alike.

We also mapped out recommendations on internal efforts for the BIA to support membership businesses by playing a visible and active role.

The result of our work is a holistic rebranding, with an internal and external brand strategy, brand identity, website, and full suite of digital and print marketing assets to launch Queen West into this new direction.

We built a visual system that is simple, focused, memorable, and ownable. It adapts as Queen West evolves and changes over time with an identity that will remain relevant, timeless, flexible, and inclusive. It brings balance to the visual landscape, with the grit and unvarnished character of the street being balanced with something cleaner and clearer.

It acts as a platform and canvas for the community to add colour and creativity, rather than trying to impose what Queen West is and compete with its vibrancy. Yet it still carries the strength to give a clear and consistent visual foundation.

All while, importantly, giving the BIA (as an organisation) a distinctive, professional, and appropriate look and feel.

This identity is now showing up in new streetscape assets – from street pole wraps, to banners, to construction hoardings.

In terms of strategy, “our street as a canvas” is being used by the BIA both internally and externally. It’s a line repeated in interviews, it’s an idea that is defining new relationships between the BIA and local institutions, and it’s a strategy that is giving focus to where the BIA diverts its efforts and resources. It also that positions the organisation as the confident, visible presence its members have always needed.

It is a clear idea that gives focus to the work the BIA will do in the future. From partnerships, to events, to use of vacant retail spaces, this artistic anchor will drive decision-making and reinvigorate what Queen West has always been known and loved for.

Our work has given Queen West a clear, simple, and ownable brand direction, and a platform that allows for the community to continue to define what Queen West is. Rather than try to impose something new, our brand strategy and identity simply reveal what the neighbourhood has always been, and create the space for it to express itself.