Ontario Hydro
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Year: 1962
Designer: Allan Robb Fleming
Studio: Hathaway-Templeton
Status: Inactive
Industry: Electric Utilities
Additional Information:
In 1999, Ontario Hydro was broken up, and its transmission and distribution operations were transferred to a new company called Hydro One.
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www.hydroone.com
I was six years old when my parents built a new finishing hog barn and Ontario Hydro was there to hook up the underground lines to the barn. For context, a finishing barn is where we’d raise young piglets until they hit market weight—then load them into the back of my father’s bright orange C10 Chevy pickup for the trip to market. Funny… his pickup was the same shade of orange as the Ontario Hydro logo.
Near the barn’s completion, I remember three white utility trucks slowly making their way down our long laneway to connect power from the main transformer underground to the new building. As each one parked, the doors swung open to reveal a bright orange mark. Several men with thick beards stepped out and put on their orange safety helmets—each one marked with that same mark.
That mark was the Ontario Hydro logo—a timeless symbol that worked in all the right ways. It was eye-catching then, and it still impresses me today. The bold colour gave it energy. The forms held it together. And cleverly, the “O” and “H” (for Ontario Hydro) were combined to create a mark that also resembled the universal symbol for a plug or connector. The 45 degree angle added a sense of movement —almost like a bolt of electricity. Perfect for a power company.
Accompanying the mark is the lower case wordmark (using the typeface ‘Standard’) set in the same angle as the mark which emphasizes the feeling of connection.
Interestingly, the mark also reminds me of H₂O, the chemical formula for water. It’s fitting for a company built on hydro power. Hydro refers to electricity generated by moving water, like a river or waterfall in motion… thank you, Niagara Falls.
Sadly, Ontario Hydro let go of that logo in 1999 and swapped it out for the more generic Hydro One identity. ❤
▲ My father’s bright orange C10 Chevy pickup
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1. Ontario Hydro safety helmet - Umit-Yildirim – 2019
2. Ontario Hydro logotype and mark.
3. Photo of Allan Robb Fleming in a Tulip Chair, John Reeves – 1962
4. Allan Fleming’s Ontario Hydro logo launch document, Alliance Graphique Internationale – 1965
5. Annual Report front cover – 1973 / Year Around Comfort Ad Maclean's – 1971 / Meter Reading Billing Post Card – 1971
6. La Centrale nucléaire de Pickering booklet (mock-up of original) – 1970
7. Zap the Safety Bird for children – 1982
8. Ontario Hydro Maintenance Helicopter (Sikorsky S-58T), Caz Caswell – 1973
9. Sikorsky S-58T in use for power line work in Ontario – 1975
10. Rear profile view of a Ontario Hydro electric utility bucket truck (mock-up)
11. Utility worker in an Ontario Hydro bucket truck (mock-up)
