The City of Surrey (BC, Canada) required a brand revitalization for its foreign investment arm. As a municipal body aimed at shaping the city’s future through collaboration with business leaders and outside officials, the result needed to feel sophisticated while maintaining its humanity and openness.

The city holds a unique geographic position–situated on the border separating Canada and the United States. The railway and crossing between the two countries means that Surrey is a crucial intersection point for people and goods moving between nations.

We fulfilled the creation of this brand identity in collaboration with Redshift Collective, who led the city’s various stakeholders through a series of interviews and strategy-oriented workshops. 

Through this process, we were able to gain insight into the city’s various local and macro challenges–allowing us to craft a visual direction that worked to overcome objection and move the city’s presence forward in a way that felt proprietary and future-focused. Both the resulting symbol and graphic device, dubbed as ‘Network Lines’, were crafted to showcase the city as the connection point between its resident businesses and the urban environment that helps them to thrive.

On February 15, 2024 Brenda Locke, the mayor of Surrey, held a sold out State of the City conference unveiling the brand and addressing the city’s 10-year economic vision. With the intention of increasing transparency and build public trust, the talk was met by standing ovation.

Wade Ouellet
Tiffany Zhong
Steven Toews

Jim Southcott
Kirsten Soutcott
Christine Nielsen