Don Watt, founder of DW+ Partners, passed away suddenly on Dec. 22, leaving behind an indelible mark on design in Canada.
Watt’s career took him through the animation studios at Warner Brothers, the ad agency world and even the political realm when, in 1965, his design for the Canadian flag was backed by then-prime minister Lester B. Pearson. (Watt’s red maple leaf between two fields of blue was tweaked to an all-red design for its final iteration.)
At DW+ Partners and its predecessor companies, Watt helped shape some of Canada’s biggest brands. He designed Home Depot‘s orange logo and created the President’s Choice and No Name in-house brands for Loblaw after redesigning its retail store layout.
DW+ Partners recently helped with the rebranding of Metro‘s wordmark as the grocery brand began replacing Dominion-branded stores in 2008. The firm also developed Metro’s two in-house brands: Irresistibles and Selection.
"He was a great man," said Ed Shikatani, former founding partner of Shikatani Lacroix who now runs his own design studio Shikatani Creative in Toronto. Shikatani worked for Watt for about five years in the early ’80s.
"He certainly changed the way people thought about design," he said.
People wanted to work with him and a lot of the industry’s leaders today got their start working for Watt and revered his accomplishments and his talent.
"He was like Yoda; the old master, the old Jedi Knight who taught so many people," said Shikatani.
Watt, who was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Legends in 2006, was 73 years old.
