But we’re not just another full-service agency. Our collaborative team of specialists build robust identity systems that provide visual consistency and flexibility to fuel recognition and amplify differentiation.
We Are Brand Guides
Our Story
Adventure is a bold, exciting and sometimes daring undertaking. The same can be said for building a brand’s identity. It takes experience, planning and a keen sense of direction to create lasting identities that survive out in the real world.
Backcountry’s experienced guides supply brands with the strategy and tools to build a memorable identity, because your brand’s survival is based on how it lives in the real world and holds up with each customer experience.
After the adventure, we leave brands with their very own survival guide. It’s designed to ensure you can maintain brand consistency across multiple touchpoints, long after we’re gone.
Our Name
The great outdoors offers limitless exploration, yet so many favour the comfort of subdivisions and highways. Adventure is sometimes uncertain, but it is always rewarding. The adventurer’s spirit has influenced both Backcountry’s aesthetic and approach, and for those who desire something greater than the branding equivalent of subdivisions, our guides will help you navigate the road less travelled while building a meaningful and memorable identity.
Our Core Values
Adventure
We believe in the unending exploration of the next great idea.
Purpose
We believe there should be a reasoning behind every decision. Design is not random, but always purposeful.
No Shortcuts
We believe the journey impacts the results. There are no shortcuts.
Collaboration
We believe great work comes from skilled specialists, not generalists, and that collaborative teams produce the most effective results.
The Backcountry Guides
Backcountry operates as a collaborative branding studio. Founder & Creative Director, Jon Allison, assembles the teams and ensures his Guides have the necessary provisions to make each project a success. This model keeps us nimble and effective.
Jon Allison RGD
Founder & Creative Director
As the only full-time member of Backcountry, I choose to keep things simple, because this strategy gives me the ability to apply only the best resources to the task at hand.
I am an award-winning designer and an outdoor enthusiast, and my approach to design is undoubtedly influenced by the great Canadian landscape. Just as the perfect sunrise can transcend language, so too can smart design when it is the right choice, for the right audience.
Select Collaborators
Kathleen Vollebregt
Brand Strategist & Researcher
Rob Howard
Brand Strategist & Audience Engagement Engineer
Charles Blackwell
Copywriter
Aryn Kalson-Sperandio
Copywriter & Content Strategist
Suzy Lamont
Photographer
Braden Dragomir
Storyteller & Film Director
Start Your Adventure
Communo
Backcountry is part of a global community of marketing experts called Communo. Having access to this vetted group enables us to quickly scale our services to meet clients’ evolving needs. The Communo operating model provides inroads to all the resources of a large-scale agency, at a fraction of the cost and typical red tape.
Recognition
Working with remarkable clients is the most rewarding part of what we do. However, it is also encouraging to receive recognition from others.
Awards
2019
Logo Wave, Wave 10: 3rd Place
2019
Marketing Canada Awards, Event: Open Farms in Frontenac
2019
LogoLounge Book 11: Backcountry
2019
LogoLounge Book 11: Fairmount Home
2019
LogoLounge Book 11: Graphite Bible Camp
2019
LogoLounge Book 11: Oak Ridge Hunt Camp
2018
Applied Arts Community Awards, Logo Design: Settlers Cider Co.
2018
Applied Arts Community Awards, Print Design: Frontenac Greeting Card
2017
LogoLounge Book 10: Youth Diversion
2017
LogoLounge Book 10: Bloom
2017
Applied Arts Community Awards, Brand Identity: Frontenac County
2016
Marketing Canada Awards, Best Brand Identity: Frontenac County
Publications
2019
World Packaging Design (ft. Decoy Lager)
2019
World Packaging Design (ft. Hawaiian Style Pale Ale)
2019
LogoLounge Vol.11
2018
Applied Arts Magazine, Fall Issue
2018
Logo Inspirations, Curated Logo Design
2017
LogoLounge Vol.10
2017
Applied Arts Magazine, Spring Issue
2016
The Canadian Design Resource
2011
Behance, AIGA Gallery