Shaw Communications Inc. was a Canadian telecommunications company founded in 1966 by JR Shaw, originally as Capital Cable Television Co. Ltd. in Alberta.[1] The company’s visual identity evolved through several distinct phases, most notably a 2012 redesign that introduced a modernized version of its long-standing half-ellipse mark.
Design and History
Shaw’s logo underwent its first update in 14 years in November 2012, when the company introduced a new corporate identity as part of a broader marketing platform.[2] The previous logo had been in use since 1998.[2] The evolved logo was described by the company as a “modern, accessible and friendly” version that retained the iconic Shaw elements, including the familiar half-ellipse shape.[2]
The 2012 redesign was developed in collaboration with Vancouver-based agency Rethink, which also produced the accompanying advertising campaign featuring two robot spokescharacters named Bit and Bud.[2] According to Shaw’s chief marketing officer Jim Little, the company did not initially intend to redesign the logo, but once the animated “bot world” was created for the campaign, the old logo no longer fit the new creative direction.[3]
The redesign aimed to make the corporate identity more accessible by decapitalizing the logo and softening its edges.[4] The half-ellipse shape was tied into the campaign creative, playing off the shape of the network’s “pipe,” a reference to Shaw’s cable infrastructure.[2]
In July 2020, Shaw introduced a refreshed visual identity alongside its “Brighter Together” brand platform, developed again with Rethink.[5] The refresh added fibre imagery to convey connectivity and brightness, and expanded the brand’s colour palette from blue to incorporate light purple.[6] Paul McAleese, then president of Shaw, said the new visual identity put the company’s Fibre+ network at the forefront and reinforced the technology available to customers.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The half-ellipse shape was a defining element of Shaw’s logo for years, described by the company as an “iconic Shaw element” that was retained in the 2012 redesign.[2] The shape was used in campaign creative to evoke the network’s “pipe,” representing Shaw’s cable infrastructure.[2]
Shaw’s blue colour was a recognized part of its brand identity. When Shaw and Rogers Communications jointly launched the streaming service Shomi in 2014, Rogers’ chief brand officer noted that the service’s purple palette brought together the two parent brands’ colours, specifically “Rogers’ red and Shaw’s blue.”[7] The 2020 visual refresh expanded this palette to include light purple alongside the existing blue.[6]
Typography and Design
The 2012 logo update decapitalized the wordmark, changing from an all-caps treatment to a format where only the initial “S” was capitalized.[4] The redesign also softened the edges of the logo’s shapes to create a more approachable appearance.[4] Rethink, the agency responsible for the 2012 identity, continued as Shaw’s agency of record through the 2020 refresh.[5]
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