Trace Toronto

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Overview

We Make Progress Visible.

Trace Toronto is a campaign under the City of Toronto, designed to help residents stay informed about the city’s progress on public initiatives and infrastructure projects. By making government data more transparent and accessible, the campaign aims to strengthen trust between the city and its residents while offering a clearer understanding of ongoing developments across Toronto.

Year

December 2025

Duration

10 Weeks

Type

Brand Identity

Role

Branding Designer

Tools Used

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign

The government works hard for citizens; however, it can be difficult for the public to clearly see the progress being made. Recognizing the importance of public trust, a campaign under the City of Toronto was developed to allow citizens to easily track government execution, processes, and project progress.

Challenges

The government has initiated many projects to improve citizens’ quality of life and support urban development. While citizens assume that multiple initiatives are underway, it is sometimes difficult to see what projects have been initiated and how far they have progressed.

According to Evidence for Democracy’s 2023 survey, nearly 49% of Canadians reported dissatisfaction with government transparency. This highlights the need to reconnect the gap between the government and citizens through clearer communication and accessible information. The challenge was to develop either a memorable campaign or a practical platform that could effectively communicate progress in a real-world context.

Approach & Key Process

01 Context Discover

Research on Civic Transparency

Explored how Torontonians access and understand information related to government projects, identifying gaps in clarity, accessibility, and trust.

Comparative Research

Reviewed how other cities communicate public initiatives and present data to residents, examining best practices in transparency and public engagement.

Understanding the City’s Identity

Analyzed Toronto’s existing visual language and branding systems to ensure consistency and respect for established civic identity.

Target Audience

Identified key user groups, their expectations, and levels of civic engagement to better understand how different audiences interact with public information.

02 Direction Frame

Synthesizing

Experience Strategy

Established how users would navigate and interact with the system, prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and trust.

User Flow Design

Mapped user journeys to structure information logically and reduce cognitive friction throughout the experience.

Persona Development

Developed representative user profiles to ground design decisions in realistic behaviors and needs.

03 Design Develop

Concept Development

Translated insights into a cohesive concept that balances transparency, clarity, and civic tone.

System Design

Built a consistent design system including layout structures, typography, colour usage, and interaction patterns to support scalable information delivery.

04 Outcome Showcase

Mockup Creation

Iteration & Refinement

Final Outcome

Solution

We Make Progress Visible.

The campaign is first titled Trace Toronto, a straightforward name that reflects the idea of tracing what has changed and what is currently changing in the city. It also encourages citizens to take a more active role in following government projects and engaging with their city.

To strengthen transparency and rebuild public trust, a dashboard-based platform was introduced, following the design language of the City of Toronto. This platform extends the campaign by providing a clear and accessible way to track progress, helping citizens feel more connected to the city while improving communication between the government and the public.