I like this rebranding. Actually, it’s the first one this year I like.
Especially the three figures and the missing border are a positive change. This paired with it’s almost 3d-ish transformation opens up the space and gives the whole thing a lot more of a free feeling. The logo implies “fun”, “space”, “friendship” and “nature” throughout it’s design. And this is why I consider it perfectly done. It’s an A+.

By the way: Everyone complaining about the rebranding’s price and timing because of the government’s deficit should read some storys about the rebranding of Germany’s Arbeitsagentur. THAT was a wast of time, energy and money!

While it does look less conservative I think it’s not easy to make the mental step from the old to the new one. The old one has a crest type quality after all, making it easier to connect to a state, while the new one looks like the logo for a holiday resort or maybe a religious meeting place.
I don’t know Ontario so I can’t tell if that’s what they want to look like, but as a design student I would have kept it closer to the original’s former modifications minus the box which would not only be easy to recognize due to a minimum of shapes and a minor change, but also a piece of cake to remember and draw.
It was a quality logo, now it has more of a gimmick.

The best is 1994-1972, i suppose, they are very few different…
Sure i don’t like the last version!

It looks like a “yield” sign that eats souls. but with a jaunty angle.

I see 3 people joinging the rush out of Ontario headed for Alberta….but seriously, isn’t the idea of a distinct logo for a province just a little odd? I never understood why some Canada ‘Brand Cop’ in Ottawa just doesn’t gather all these provincial mini-me’s into a boardroom and say “look, you’re all part of Canada. We’ve got this great flag, beautifully simple red and white colour palette, the maple leaf….those are your brand design elements. Now go play with them, and them alone.” Or maybe, I’m just being a tad too optimistic in believing that design could actually play a minor role in underscoring national unity?

I actually like the 1994 version the best, and if it were me I probably would have played off the swirl the trillium from the old logos more in the new one. I think the new one’s biggest problem is the mega white space and odd shape created in the center. And the critics are right, it does look like holly. But I do like the addition of abstract people in a way, and I do like that this version has energy and doesn’t look like a rubber stamped road sign.

Hard to explain my mixed feelings on spending money on re-design when you’re broke. I mean, not a good idea for Ontario – but the redesign could bring them some nice press and require new marketing materials which could boost their presence in the market. And I’m always one for sending more cash the graphic designers’ way – but I’m bias on that one.

i just think that their really big mistake was the radical change…too radical

Looks like three dudes sitting in a hottub to me.

I also saw three guys in a hottub. I can also see a holly.

When I look at it I think of that new Holiday Inn commercial where the third enters into the hottub a bit too close to one of the other guys.

Yeah, the new logo blows chunks. The old one looked hyper-modern and the new one looks older. What a malaise of culture this signifies!

I liked the old logo because it was clean, simple and bold. There was nothing fancy about it, and in my opinion that is how a good logo should be. It makes it more memorable and identifiable. I’m not a big fan of the abstractness of the “new” logo. Is it a Trillium? Is it Holly? Is it three people with crazy tree-like arms holding hands? Is it a ninja star? There are other more political aspects that bother me about it, but I’m not sure this is the appropriate forum to voice those frustrations. At the end of the day I don’t think that there was anything wrong with the old logo, and I think that there are far more important things that the Province could have spent $219,000 on