Saskatchewan (No I didn’t sneeze. It’s a province of Canada. Nice place, actually. Fascinating light.) has unveiled its new brand and marketing scheme.
I thought the brand for Memorial University was pretty bland and uninspired.
I was certain that aliens were landing when the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial logo came out.
Saskatchewan takes the cake, though. Their logo? The word “Saskatchewan” in italics, with an exclamation point:
I mean, okay, it’s not offensive, it definitely screams “Saskatchewan!” and granted, there is more to their advertising scheme than the logo or “wordmark” as it’s called on CBC.ca.
But you still have to wonder, was it worth 1.5 million? What is with this trend of creating logos that are utterly devoid of inspiration? More to the point, who is signing these cheques and can I give you my mailing address?
If you do want more info on Saskatchewan, check out their website. You may wish to turn off your speakers first.
Raising the Bar Strength & Conditioning 
Not exactly inspired is it?
I don’t like the baby blue or the font, which feels out of date, but I am guessing that the colour is a shout-out to the living skies of which Saskatchewan is the land. The exclamation point is presumably an attempt to counteract the common perception that Saskatchewan is boring.
Still, you know what? Put the sheaf back in. I’m proud of it. Use some kind of symbol that connects or represents Saskatchewanites, somehow. They could use the prairie lily, if they are trying to move away from the agrarian image.
For a province that is often overlooked, it sure doesn’t seem to be trying very hard to be catchy.
Sheesh, and I thought “Saskatchewan… naturally!” was bad.
That’s a bad one too SkylarKD, but the ! idea makes more than my eyes roll.