13. Canadian National (1960)

Allan Fleming

cn_logo_black

Marshall McLuhan called it “an icon” and it remains virtually unchanged after over four decades in use: Allan Fleming’s 1960 ‘worm’ logo for the Canadian National Railway Company was the overwhelming favourite among our design experts when we polled them for their favourite logos. Fleming had just turned 30 and was working at typographic firm Cooper and Beatty when the opportunity arose. CN had carried out a survey in 1959 revealing that people thought it an “old-fashioned”, “backward” organisation, hostile to innovation. Dick Wright, CN’s head of public relations commissioned New York designer James Valkus to study the problem. Valkus proposed a complete overhaul of CN’s visual image with a new logo (replacing its staid maple-leaf based design). He gave the job to Fleming.

One of Fleming’s sketches for the Canada national logo - Carrying a note from art director Jim Valkus: “Allan, make thinner &; we’ve got it, Jim” (image: National Archives of Canada)
One of Fleming’s sketches for the Canada national logo – Carrying a note from art director Jim Valkus: “Allan, make thinner &; we’ve got it, Jim” (image: National Archives of Canada)

 

The Canada National logo’s proportions explained - From the current CN corporate identity guidelines
The logo’s proportions explained – From the current CN corporate identity guidelines

As happens so often, the idea came to Fleming when he was on a flight from New York and he sketched his idea quickly on a napkin. With Valkus, he then worked it up into the future classic we know today (there’s a wonderful image in Fleming’s archive of an early version with the following note from Valkus: “Make it thinner & we’ve got it.”)

The canada national logo in use
A present-day CN loco in New Orleans – (image: CN)

The continuous flowing line symbolised “the movement of people, materials, and messages from one point to another,” Fleming said. “The single thickness stroke is what makes the symbol live. Anything else would lack the immediacy and vigour.” Abolishing the R for Railways also made the logo bilingual (‘Canadien National’ as well as ‘Canadian National’), an important plus-point in Canada, and made it more suitable for the many non-rail businesses CN ran at the time such as hotels, telecommunications, and ferry services.

the canada national logo on a train

“I think this symbol will last for 50 years at least,” said Fleming of his work. “It don’t think it will need any revision because it is designed with the future in mind.” Fifty-one years on, it’s still going.

More articles on Creative Review’s Top 20 logos

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  • James Valkus 15/12/2016 at 8:58 pm

    As the design director who hired Fleming may I say several other designers were involved in the CN logo and its application. Fleming was just a part of it all.