The Museum of Toronto’s summer initiative, The T.O. You Don’t Know, is a little different to your typical museum experience – mainly due to the fact it doesn’t take place in the museum at all. The project spans the entire city, signposting significant landmarks relating to less widely known stories and events in Toronto’s history.

Part exhibition, part campaign, the initiative was developed in collaboration with Canadian creative agency Berners Bowie Lee, and involved spending a year on researching, fact-checking and honing each execution.

Hundreds of potential options were whittled down to a final collection of 25 locations and events, ranging from the basketball court used by Canada’s first NBA team to a buried bridge that remains fully intact. There are sites of raids, riots and duels, as well as cultural landmarks such as filming locations and establishments that hosted musicians (including some infamous altercations, as you might expect).

The displays are eye-catching in their simplicity. While a lot of museum campaigns these days revolve around a splashy visual identity, the signposts simply combine a bright arrow and long-form copy, letting the obscurity of the stories do the talking. Some of the headlines are particularly attention-grabbing, with mentions of ‘patty wars’, ‘circus riots’, and ‘wobble zone’ sure to spark curiosity among passers-by.

The initiative is “a reminder that the places you pass by every day have surprising tales to tell,” according to the museum.

bernersbowielee.com