After re-imagining Canada’s national brand identity last year with a spec campaign called Know Canada, Bruce Mau Design actualized its concept for brand Canada with the release of a new photo app Monday.
The app, available exclusively on iOS, gives photos a Canadian flag feel by placing two red columns (like those on the flag) on the sides of the photographs. The app follows the same formula as the original Know Canada campaign, created by the agency after the New York radio show Studio 360 challenged it to “redesign how Canada appears in the world.”
Like the app, the campaign focused on the two columns of Canada’s flag, which it imagined on everything from beer mugs to wild postings of famous Canadians like Justin Bieber and Margaret Atwood.
“This app is our way of finally making Know Canada into something real and tangible,” said Bruce Mau president and CEO Hunter Tura. “We wanted to give people a tool to express their version of Canada and a vision for the future, while also allowing people to share their interpretations.”
Ahead of Canada Day, the agency also redesigned Know Canada’s campaign website to include a gallery of Canadian imagery and created a video showcasing how the app can be used.
Tura said the agency plans to promote the app on Facebook and Twitter, as well as its own channels, and will consider expanding the Know Canada campaign to include other forms of media in 2014.
