Celebrating our creativity with a new brand image

Memorable brands occupy a space in the collective mind and memory. They’re both a form of inspiration and aspiration, and our new brand image is no exception to the rule.

After more than a year of reflection, consultation and collaboration with our employees, clients and partners, we are launching a new brand image. This refreshed identity is reflective of the firm’s creativity and uniqueness while evoking its Montreal roots and bright future.

Telling our story

Inspired by our unique origins as a Montreal firm that’s grown to be the pan-Canadian leader in the design of built environments it is today, our new brand image is an invitation to as many of our employees, clients, and partners as it is to broader communities to be a part of something bigger. It’s a hand extended to the future generations that will inherit today’s world, and a nod to those that came before us who have shaped the present.

A brand “can only play an authentic role in our lives if it is transparent, open and honest”, says Lemay’s Chief Marketing Officer Robert Fiorino. Today, he explains, brands are expected to be “sensitive to the broader context beyond their respective domains, and to be more transparent than ever in their ethical values.”

A new image

Our branding and graphic design team have worked tirelessly to create a new image that is strong yet fluid, and agile yet solidly established. Featuring a renewed colour palette and a series of icons representative of the firm’s creative culture, the visual identity also includes fonts selected speak to Lemay’s rich history and presence on the international stage. Above all, this new brand identity and voice are designed to adapt and evolve in the years to come.

“We wanted to light a fire under the Lemay brand by rediscovering what we are passionate about and revisiting our origins. Through this exercise, we realized that Lemay is not simply red, black or white. We are proud, creative, colourful and full of emotions,” says Maryline Bédard, Practice Leader for Branding and Graphic Design. “The graphics team drew inspiration from Montreal, where the firm began over 60 years ago, seeking to embody the city’s culture, richness, diversity, energy and vibrancy.”

Our values

It’s this collection of graphical elements developed by our branding and graphic design team which allows the firm to visually tell the story of its mission, values, and long-term vision, while the consultative and inclusive process behind its development reflects the firm’s goals of equity, inclusion and diversity. Its details speak volumes, like how the new visual identity’s colourful spectrum is reflective of Lemay’s present-day international team of diverse creatives.

All told, this new brand image is the articulation of a firm that places the human experience at the heart of its practice, and an expression of how the transformative power of design can be a tool for creating spaces that improve people’s lives.

We believe in our power to create spaces for communities today that will go on and give to those of tomorrow—we believe in spaces to grow.

Find out more about how design gives us the opportunity to create spaces to grow by watching our manifesto.