Vanderbrand translates Burnaby Lake’s natural beauty into a bold and adaptable geometric identity

When Create Properties enlisted Toronto-based creative office Vanderbrand to develop the identity for Burnaby Lake, a 14-acre master-planned community, the challenge was clear: how do you visually reintroduce an area already known for its natural beauty as a vibrant new neighbourhood? The solution: a brand identity that transforms the surrounding landscape into a sophisticated geometric language that feels both grounded in place and ready for the future. “The visual language was inspired by the land,” Senior Designer Melanie Hong explains. “Burnaby Lake is a place people already associate with nature. We wanted to honour those associations and expand on them, and visually reintroduce the area as a new, vibrant community that offers nature at your doorstep.” This approach led Vanderbrand to develop what Hong describes as a visual system “built on simplicity, flexible enough to grow as the neighbourhood comes to life.” Central to the identity is a system of geometric iconography that distils the essence of Burnaby Lake’s landscape into simplified forms. Each icon represents key characteristics of the area – innovation, homes, community, resources, lake, terrain, nature and progress. Rather than literal representations, they form what Hong calls “a kind of modern pictograph system, a flexible, expandable set that can tell stories in sequence or stand-alone.”