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2020 ADC Awards - Brand / Communication Design

CN100 - A Moving Celebration

Agency Sid Lee / Montreal

Client CN
BACK TO RESULTS

Annual ID

ADC_BCD20_004S

About the Work

Since 1919, Canadian National Railway has run alongside North Americans on the roads, in the continent’s culture, and in the popular imagination. Like a good neighbor connecting with its community, North America’s largest railway wanted to use its centennial to launch a “hearts and minds” operation to start conversations and build CN brand awareness. In collaboration with internal CN teams, the railway’s brand was updated to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The springboard for the rebrand was the visual landscape of the company and North American rail transport. Rail signage, safety symbols, and the physical shapes of rail technology and the landscapes surrounding it were inspirations. The updated identity travelled the continent by train as an experiential exhibition. Visitors heard the voices of the people who built CN, spun the wheels of time to learn about 100 years of CN history, took a bird’s eye trip across breathtaking network landscapes, built holograms of their visions of the future of rail transport, and read custom children’s books about rail safety and the material brought to them by train. A website and social media campaign proliferated the story further still and a commemorative book celebrating CN’s rich heritage was specially commissioned and produced.