Pointing North Brand Identity for EY Canada

• Creative Director: Sarine Tchilinguirian
• Senior Graphic Designer: Shannon Tierney 

Pointing North is a technology and innovation publication developed following EY’s acquisition of Techopia magazine, with the objective of establishing a strategically distinct brand identity that signals progression and leadership while aligning with EY’s broader editorial ecosystem. The project was executed under significant timeline pressure, with less than two weeks allocated to research, concept development and leadership presentation. 

The design team pursued a narrative-driven approach, deliberately avoiding predictable Canadian iconography in favour of symbolism embedded directly into the wordmark, including a subtle arrow between letterforms pointing to upward progress, a folded detail evoking the turn of a page and the EY spectrum gradient revealed beneath, providing a flexible and recognizable brand system. The EY team responded enthusiastically to the presented concepts, with overwhelming consensus that the work elevated the entire project. It gives Pointing North a distinctive feel, originality and depth that set it apart within a crowded thought leadership landscape.