Fairfield & Dubois was a Toronto-based modernist architecture firm active from 1963 to 1975, formed by partners Robert Fairfield and Macy DuBois. The firm was responsible for significant projects in Toronto and southern Ontario, including New College at the University of Toronto and the Central Technical School Art Centre. [1]
Design and History
The Fairfield & Dubois logo was designed in 1971 by Hans Kleefeld, a Canadian identity designer known for corporate identity programs for Air Canada, Bank of Montreal, Inco, and Toronto-Dominion Bank. [2] Kleefeld worked at Stewart & Morrison, one of Canada’s leading brand consultancies, where he served as creative director and designed identity programs for some of the country’s largest corporations. [3]
Kleefeld’s portfolio at Stewart & Morrison included the Air Canada rondelle (1963), the Metro Toronto Zoo logo (1972), and the Ontario Pavilion identity for Expo 67 (1967). The Fairfield & Dubois mark was one of several architectural and institutional identities he produced during this period. [4] [5]
The firm itself was formed in 1963 when Macy DuBois, who had worked in the offices of John B. Parkin and Rounthwaite & Fairfield, partnered with Robert Fairfield. The partnership lasted until 1975, when DuBois founded DuBois, Plumb and Associates with his second wife, Helga Plumb. [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The mark was created during a period when Kleefeld’s work at Stewart & Morrison was characterized by reductive, minimal qualities, as seen in his contemporaneous designs such as the Brewers Retail logo (1964), which was described as “a pure example of modernism, one of reductive, minimal qualities.” [6]
Kleefeld’s design approach at the time often drew directly from the client’s context. For the Ontario Pavilion at Expo 67, for example, the identity was inspired by the pavilion’s structure itself, with the number of exhibition points reflected in the identity’s combined internal and external points. [5]
Typography and Design
No specific typography, color specifications, or construction details for the Fairfield & Dubois logo are documented in the available research. The mark is known only through Kleefeld’s attributed portfolio listing, which dates it to 1971. [2]
Kleefeld, who was born in Berlin in 1929 and immigrated to Canada in 1952, brought German design and typography training to his work at Stewart & Morrison. He later taught at the Ontario College of Art and Design and Sheridan College. [7] His broader body of work is recognized for its enduring influence on Canadian corporate identity, with logos for institutions including Tim Hortons and TD Bank. [8]
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