The process of overturning a wrongful conviction can take up to 10 years of work. Each one is a monumental victory for the wrongly convicted individual and for Innocence Canada. These infrequent victories are the reason the brand exists so we decided to create a brand identity that would celebrate each and every one.

Prison tallies, or hashmarks, are a familiar means of counting time spent in prison. Innocence Canada’s exonerees counted a combined 190 years. Our idea was for them to make one last tally – one that would measure freedom. This would become the logo for the brand and inform a new brand identity system that brings past and future exonerees to the forefront of the brand.

On October 4, 2016, Wrongful Convictions Day, Innocence Canada’s exonerees gathered at the Ontario Court of Appeal. In front legal professionals, friends and family they made what would become Innocence Canada’s new logo. Each exoneree used a personalized paintbrush (2.5”) to add a black acrylic enamel paint stroke to a growing tally.

The 21 stroke tally was photographed, digitally captured, and vectorized to create a logo that will be updated with a new stroke each time an exoneration is achieved.

In addition to updating stationary and mugs with the new logo – we created mugs and striking white umbrellas designed to get attention in and around courthouses on dreary days. A series of guerilla posters in downtown Toronto showed the evolving nature of the logo.

Three months after the logo was created, the Ontario government committed financial backing for the first time ever to Innocence Canada with three years of support and a total of $900,000.

Innocence Canada attributes their newly acquired government support in large part to the public attention they received upon creating the dynamic logo and surrounding brand identity.

There are presently 16 cases where the organization is convinced of innocence. So we now trust that new strokes will be added to Innocence Canada’s new logo soon.