When John Hotts was a kid, he used to draw the Nike logo all over the margins of his notebooks.
He drew pictures, too, but brand marks were a favourite. Though his teachers may have counted the time he spent sketching as wasteful, it served as good practice for the burgeoning designer.
Hotts, 29, has worked for Blast Radius and FCB, won three Applied Arts awards for his work on Smarties and was shortlisted at Cannes for the Union Hearing Aid Centre. Now at OneMethod, Hotts is responsible for some of Canada’s most buzzed-about branding.
When the CFL wanted a modern makeover, for example, the assignment landed on his desk. Like any new logo, the CFL’s updated look was received with mixed reviews when it was unveiled days before Grey Cup 2015, but it delivered on the ask. The CFL wanted something that could carry it forward as it courts a younger demo and Hotts’ design is exactly that: fresh, clean and super modern.
The brand mark taps into the CFL’s identity including the league’s three down rule (it takes three downs to gain 10 yards for a first down in the CFL, versus four in the NFL), represented by three laces in the logo, and the white stripes on the CFL football; represented by the logo’s shape. (The brand mark cuts off where the lines on the football are.)
“The logo has amplified our efforts to re-introduce the CFL to a whole new generation of fans,” says Christina Litz, senior vice-president of marketing at the CFL. “We wanted the logo to signal to casual and next generation of fans that the League had a whole bunch of new and exciting things happening that maybe they weren’t aware of.”
The goal of the new look, Litz says, was to embrace a youthful “Canadian swagger” with the aim of courting younger fans. Coupled with the rest of the brand’s marketing, Litz says the new look has started to produce the desired outcome. “That next generation of fans are responding positively to this new approach – as is indicated in our increased ratings amongst 18-34 year olds.”
Hotts is also responsible for the branding of Sweet Jesus, the suped-up soft serve ice cream brand that’s become a verified food craze in Toronto. The brief to Hotts was about the most irreverent a creative can receive: My Little Pony meets the metal band Slayer. The resulting branding, a flipped upside-down cross and lightning bolt, dipped in a teal worthy of a cartoon pony’s tail, has helped keep Sweet Jesus’ storefronts among the most-Instagrammed places in Toronto.
He also helped lead the agency’s successful pitch for Delissio and was also key to landing Freshii as a client. The agency’s CCO, Amin Todai, says he chose Hotts over more senior external candidates this summer when an associate art director position because he’s proved himself to both the agency and its clients. The selection proved popular with Hotts’ colleagues – when Todai pressed send on the email announcing Hotts’ promotion, the CCO says he heard an audible cheer from the creative team outside his office door.
“He’s got a great design eye and design sense,” Todai says, adding that Hott’s has shown he’s able both to produce quality design and big advertising ideas; a mix that makes for a powerful creative. “It’s impressive to get all that in one package,” he says.
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