Logos Stories

The NFB Logo: Georges Beaupré’s Human Eye Symbol

Created in 1968, the National Film Board of Canada symbol brings a person and an eye into one concise form. A look at its history and applications.

Deslove editorial team 3 min read 14 October 2026

Updated 14 October 2026

White NFB symbol combining a human figure and an eye on a dark background

The symbol holds two images at once. Its central circle reads as a human head and as a pupil, while the raised arms and upper curve form an eye. The lower section brings the composition back to a standing figure. With very few shapes, the design connects a person, an act of looking and the moving image.

According to the NFB’s published history, an internal competition attracted 53 entries, assessed anonymously by number. Entry 52, by publicity department creative director Georges Beaupré, won. Proposals from two outside design firms had previously been rejected. The institution found its enduring symbol among its own staff.

These images make a useful study of scale. On a building, the mark reads as a bold silhouette. On a green badge, it anchors a circular composition. On a warning label, it sits quietly beside practical bilingual information. Each application gives the same compact shape a different role without asking it to carry every part of the message.

Black-and-white photograph of a National Film Board of Canada sign with the NFB symbol — The symbol paired with the organization’s name on a building. Symbol design: Georges Beaupré.

Green circular badge bearing the white National Film Board of Canada symbol and name — A circular badge featuring the NFB symbol. Symbol design: Georges Beaupré.

Bilingual red NFB label carrying a warning about magnetic tape — A warning label featuring the NFB symbol. The label designer is unidentified. Symbol design: Georges Beaupré.

Canada Post issued its NFB 75th-anniversary stamps on May 2, 2014, with design by Paprika. The pictured stamps offer another reading of the eye motif: a frame for film imagery. The shape provides a recognizable structure while the scenes inside bring different characters, colours and moods into the composition.

NFB 75th-anniversary stamps, 2014. Design: Paprika for Canada Post.

The identity has not remained completely unchanged. The NFB records updates in 1993, 2002 and 2015, involving its framing, typography and colour. Continuity of the central idea is a more accurate description than an untouched identity.

White composition with ONF and NFB initials and the eye symbol on a dark background — A bilingual composition using the ONF and NFB initials. Symbol design: Georges Beaupré.

For designers, the interest lies in the balance between simplicity and personality. Symmetry gives the composition stability, while the figure keeps it from feeling purely geometric. It remains legible as a standalone symbol and can also sit within a bilingual signature. Looking across these examples, the distinction becomes clear: a strong mark provides a point of recognition, while its surrounding layout can respond to a particular object, message or setting.