Simple Design

Hans did.

At 16 Hans had barely survived World War 2. Rummaging around in the basement of a burned out building in Berlin … Hans unexpectedly came across a pile of design magazines … flipping through the pages he was amazed and intrigued at the simple and elegant designs … and right there knew exactly what he was going to do … so he enrolled in art school as soon as he could.

A few years later, with just a bag and a few dollars in his jeans, Hans emigrated to Canada with a hope to do simple, interesting design work.

Getting involved with a small ad agency in Toronto, Hans started out doing logos for companies … within a few years he was doing signature logos for everyone from one-off little stores in Hamilton to large national corporations … in 1960, Hans created the iconic logo for INCO, the Sudbury-based nickel producer .. with its logo incorporating the look of the 5 cent coin. Soon everyone wanted and valued a Hans logo …

Today, over 70 years after finding those magazines in that burned out Berlin basement and making a fateful trip to a new country, Canadians are surrounded by Hans Kleefeld’s simple and elegant work … you see it every day everywhere you go … and you just can’t avoid it … the logos for The Bank of Montreal, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Air Canada, The Metro Toronto Zoo … and countless more … they were all created by Hans … plus that signature one for the owner of that one-off Hamilton shop .. Tim Horton’s

Tim Horton’s and all these incredible logos are great ideas … because simple clever design works and lasts!