Canada Water

How we brought new energy and flexibility to the Canada Water brand.

Brand Identity, Creative Campaign, Film, Hoardings, OOH Advertising, Storytelling

Canada Water hoarding with a row of colourful brand patterns, photography and the Canada Water logo along a construction fence

The Problem:

Canada Water is a new, 53 acre sustainable district in London, blending modern workspaces, retail, and green public spaces created by British Land. Their existing brand, although fit for community and public consultation launch, was struggling to flex to a wider corporate audience, for commercial pitches, retail lettings and as a placemaking too to attract a younger, style-savvy audience.

The Story:

Chocolate were asked to create a new brand, keeping established elements like the logo, but evolving the graphic pack to adapt to different conversations from corporate, B2B, B2C and placemaking.

We know this place well. So, we delivered way more than just a brand. We gave at the place a story with depth and gravity: ‘Here you CAN’ describes the infinite opportunities made real to businesses, residents and visitors alike. It’s so very flexible, an answer to every question, and even contains the word that starts the place.

Canada Water brand artwork: an Instagram post on a phone between a “here you CAN” poster and an orange Canada Water poster

And for the brand… new assets, fonts, patterns, styling, colour ways and photographic options. We even made them a couple of short films to help communicate the reality of completing the initial phase to the market place.

The Result:

A new brand with the ability to flex and change with the audience it needs to communicate with, whilst maintaining a recognisable underlying style and image.

Canada Water black lanyard with a green clip and a pass reading “here you CAN”
Canada Water summer posters on a concrete wall with “Music, Food, Sport, Events” and “This is summer”, from 1 July 2025
Laptop showing a green Canada Water “Dock Shed” page beside a tablet with “Food, Retail, Drink”, on a pink geometric surface
Karelia Outakes typeface specimen showing the full alphabet and numbers in cream on a dark background, for the Canada Water brand

The new brand has the ability to dial down for grown up conversations with potential corporate tenants and planning consultations, then dial up with colours, patterns and heavily stylised photography and film to attract young workers and visitors to choose Canada Water as a place to live or visit. The resulting brand leverages all the raw grit of London’s docklands and captures the energy and promise of what is yet to come.

Canada Water brand pattern of black triangles, circles and bars on an orange background
Graphic of a Canada Water dock building in black on blue, with a green wave line across it
Canada Water social post on green reading “Here you CAN. Make this your moment”
Canada Water brand pattern of black interlocking blocks on a blue background
“Make better possible” in cream on a dark background with sharp triangle patterns, from the Canada Water brand
Canada Water brochure with a black cover and an open spread titled “Connecting your people” listing journey timesCanada Water brochure with a cover reading “Make better possible” and an open “Here you can” spread with a cyclist by the waterCanada Water brochure with a green “Here you CAN” cover and an open spread with a red bridge and tower, titled “Make better possible”

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