Moving to a new country can be an extremely difficult challenge for those looking to make their lives and the lives of their family better. Arrive is a resource and community that aims to erase some of the challenges facing newcomers by providing seminars, guides, digital tools, personal resources and more to recent immigrants and prospective newcomers.
We worked with the Arrive team to develop a new vision of their brand that positioned them as a welcoming extension of the Canadian national visual identity. We worked with them on their brand position, visual identity as well as direct consumer touchpoints including their website, their ebook resources and the 2021 and 2022 creative campaign “You’re Not Alone”, which featured interviews with a dozen newcomers sharing their immigration stories.
Arrive’s entire focus is on the people in their community. We captured new portraits of newcomers in the Arrive community, and members of the Arrive team to shine a spotlight on real people and their stories. These portraits, alongside lifestyle imagery of newcomers going about their lives were used to create a mosaic of human-centred imagery at heart of the Arrive brand. Portrait
Photography: Sam Johnstone, Lifestyle Photography: AJ Messier
At the national level, the Federal Identity Program is a hallmark for new and existing Canadians in their connection and dialogue with the country. Much of the most influential Canadian graphic design has stemmed from 20th-century Canadian modernism, and we wanted Arrive to connect with that rich history to cultivate a sense of trust and authority for newcomers looking to make Canada their home.
Arrive’s existing identity had unique visual elements that inspired us as we expanded and re-established their brand presence. “The Weave”, the network of colorful lines derived from their logo, was an exciting concept that represented how the Arrive community works together as a net, tying together individuals, and providing a safe structure for newcomers. We expanded the weave into a more extensive, flexible visual symbol, now representing a pathway, showing parallel lines that could be used more expressively as framing devices, as illustrations and as connectors.
Clemence Vallier-Leveaux, Jessica Wong, Dermot O’brien