VANCOUVER—Twenty years of history had to be reflected in the new Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival Society logo created by Vancouver–based design agency Monolab Design. The festival has evolved from a two-day event to a paddling centre with year-round programs.
 

Monolab's new logo design (right) for B.C.'s Dragon Boat Festival

“The biggest challenge the Society faced was communicating to the public the full range of their activities,” says Monica Martinez, creative director of Monolab Design. “Over the years, a variety of marks were introduced to brand the different entities.”

The festival is referred to as Dragon Boat, so a master mark with the shortened name was created to act as an umbrella entity for the festival, the non-profit group that manages it and the offered programs.

The original idea for the rebrand revolved around literal representations of the dragon but moved on to a more subtle reference, says Adam Rogers, a Vancouver–based illustrator who created the new look. The logo is a nod to the dragon scales painted on the sides of the boats as well as a representation of boats crossing each other in the water.

The red and black palette remains from the previous design as the red is associated with Chinese culture and dragon boating, with the bold black playing off that, says Martinez. Fedra Sans was chosen for its strength and its sense of playfulness as shown in the ‘R’ in dragon.