A Barrie company was chosen as the branding provider for the Grey Cup being hosted in Hamilton on Sunday, Nov. 19.
The Look Company is an organization that creates branding and signage for sporting events, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 NHL Heritage Classic in Edmonton on their resume. Their main location is in Barrie, but they have offices in Qatar and Europe.
Production from The Look Company for the 110th Grey Cup includes the graphics at Tim Hortons Field, as well as dressings for the city, fan village, and entertainment zones.
"We've produced all the field-to-play branding, all the field walls, all the grandstands," Taylor Price, operations and production manager for The Look Company, told Barrie 360. "Anything that you're going to see on the broadcast of the Grey Cup was produced locally here in Barrie."
Over 51,000 square feet of branded elements were printed and installed at Tim Hortons Field, the fan central area on St. James Street, and the Hamilton Convention Centre.
The Look Company provides end-to-end in-house design, hardware manufacturing, printing, kitting, project management, and even installation.
Price says a challenging aspect of a project like this is the logistics.
"We're producing something this morning and it's in a truck on its way down to Hamilton and will be installed a couple of hours after it comes off the printer," said Price. "That's kind of the nature of these events ... we have to do what we can to get it produced and down to the venue and installed in time."
He added that the planning process was conducted in August/September, with a lot of detail and time going into scoping.
"In terms of actual production, we started the last week of October and really heated up in the beginning of November," Price said. "And then this week has been full on ... printers running around the clock."
So, what will it feel like to watch the Grey Cup on TV and see all the hard work completed?
"When we're in the middle of delivering the event and it's crunch time - it's not easy - but it's great to see it at the end ... it's rewarding for the whole team.," Price said.
"Everyone involved in the project [can] sit back and relax and watch the game with their family and can say that they had a part in delivering the event. It's one of my favourite parts of doing these events."
Tune in on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. to see the Winnipeg Blue Bombers line up against the Montreal Alouettes, and to check out The Look Company's final product.
For more information about The Look Company, click here.
Images via The Look Company
