Photographic Style
Our imagery should feel authentic and grounded in the world we work in every day. Select photographs that reflect the scale and precision of international logistics — working ports and harbors, rail yards, long-haul trucking, and the wood products industry that has defined our business for over 35 years. Favor imagery with strong, cool-toned blues that complement our brand palette.
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Candid photography of the TMX team is encouraged — capture genuine moments of collaboration, problem-solving, and expertise rather than posed or overly formal setups.
Avoid imagery that feels staged, generic, or disconnected from the freight forwarding industry. Never use photography that misrepresents TMX's role in the supply chain — including images that suggest TMX owns or operates vessels, containers, or carrier equipment. We are a freight forwarder, not a shipping line, and our imagery should reflect that distinction.
Image Treatment
For communications that pair photography with text or graphic overlays, we offer an optional image treatment that ensures legibility and visual consistency. This treatment is achieved by fully desaturating the source image to grayscale, then applying a TMX Navy (#024176) color overlay set to Multiply blend mode.
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This treatment is particularly useful when working with busy or colorful source images — such as a photograph of stacked shipping containers or a crowded port facility — that might otherwise compete with overlaid text or graphics. The result is a rich, navy-toned image that recedes appropriately behind white or gold typography while remaining visually compelling.
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Full color photography is equally valid and will be the right choice in many contexts. Use this treatment selectively, where a strong, unified background is needed to support the content above it.
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Treatment Applied
Brand Patterns
Our brand patterns are graphic extensions of our visual identity, rooted in the TMX mark and the maritime world we operate in every day. Used thoughtfully, they add depth, texture, and visual richness to our communications without overpowering the content they support.
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The X-Pattern
Our X-Pattern is derived from the x in our logo mark — the most distinctive letterform in our identity. When the modified x is tiled in an alternating repeat, it creates a dynamic interlocking texture that evokes both the weave of a rope and the wake left by a vessel cutting through open water. This dual reading is intentional: it connects our brand to the physical materials and movements of the maritime industry in a way that is abstract enough to be versatile and specific enough to be ours alone.
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The X-pattern is most effective as a large-scale background element or as a bold graphic band. It performs particularly well alongside maritime photography, where the wake-like quality of the repeat reinforces the subject matter.
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The Bathymetric & Route Patterns
Our secondary pattern is inspired by the depth contour maps used in nautical navigation — the charts that reveal what lies beneath the surface of the ocean. The pattern uses a deep navy field (#023158) with subtly lighter contour lines (#024176) that recede quietly into the background, creating a sense of depth and topographic richness without demanding attention.
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A TMX Gold dashed line overlaid on the contour pattern represents a navigational route — a device that can be used in marketing communications to direct the viewer's eye, connect elements across a layout, or simply reinforce our role as the company that plots the course for our clients' cargo.
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The bathymetric pattern is best used at a scale where the contour lines read as texture rather than detail — as a hero background, a section divider, or a subtle surface treatment on print collateral.
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