In 1972, having recently completed work on the Government of Ontario Trillium Symbol and identity, Norm Hathaway tasked Glenn Fretz (then only 24 years old) to work on a new symbol and collateral material for his firm. As part of this exercise, these bilingual proposal covers were developed. Each cover represents one of the four services offered to its clients: corporate identity, packaging, film production, and AV/display. The sheets were designed on a 5-column grid with the top third dedicated to typographic information (set in Helvetica) and the lower two thirds containing a geometrically-constructed pictogram — colour coded as part of the identity system. In addition, an index page was included in each proposal, outlining the complete range of services and introducing the new NBHA symbol.

Norman B Hathaway Associates was a design studio located on the edge of Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood. The company had an enviable reputation and worked across many disciplines, but most notably in packaging and corporate reports. Clients were primarily large, national and international firms including: Gillette, Rowntree, Welch’s, Ford, General Foods, General Motors and Maybelline.