Announcement BY Armin

Brand New Awards, Early-Bird Pricing Last Day

Quick reminder: Prices go up tomorrow, Saturday, for the Brand New Awards.

Opinion BY Armin

Toolin’ & Machinin’

Established in 1943, the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) aims to “help members of the U.S. precision custom manufacturing industry achieve profitable growth and business success in a global economy through advocacy, advice, education, networking, information, programs and services.” Citing a misunderstanding of American manufacturing as being in trouble, NTMA wants to make sure everyone understands that is not the case and that this community is thriving. With 50 chapters across the U.S., NTMA counts with nearly 2,000 members — “members” are counted as businesses not individuals — covering industries “from aerospace to electronics to nuclear power.” The new identity was designed by Atlanta, GA-based Matchstic.

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Opinion BY Armin

The Little Airship That Could

Established in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1983 and originally known as The Rainbow Society, the newly renamed The Dream Factory is “a charitable organization dedicated to fulfilling the once-in-a-lifetime dreams of Manitoba children suffering from life threatening illnesses.” Focusing its efforts on children from Manitoba, The Dream Factory has helped over 530 children in the past 19 years — Make-A-Wish Foundation, the biggest organization in this category, has helped 212,000 kids since 1980, just as a point of reference. This past November, The Rainbow Society changed its name to The Dream Factory and introduced a new identity designed by Winnipeg-based Cocoon Branding.

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Announcement BY Armin

Self-Promo: The Adventures of You and I

Please excuse this brief identity-reviewing interruption so that we self-promote on our own blog. This has nothing to do with logos, brands, or identities but we figure that with so many readers on Brand New there is a good chance that many of you are moms or dads, aunts or uncles, or even grandpas and grandmas, so… Our latest project at UnderConsideration headquarters is The Adventures of You and I, a one-of-a-kind children book, customized on demand to each kid, printed individually, and hand-bound. Illustrated by my wife and partner Bryony and written with all the silliness of a 5-year-old by me.

Opinion BY Armin

The Devil is in the Details

Established in 1997 in Portland, OR, Oni Press is a small-ish independent comic books publisher known and respected for its innovative and out of the mainstream titles, including the popular Scott Pilgrim series as well as more nerdy ventures like bringing to comic book life Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen character. In Japanese folklore Oni refers to demons and devils and their logo originally featured an Oni trinket illustrated by Watchmen’s Dave Gibbons. The new logo was updated in-house and released last week.

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Announcement BY Armin

Brand New Awards, Early-Bird Pricing Ends this Friday

This Friday, February 3, 2012 is the last day for taking advantage of the early-bird pricing for the Brand New Awards. Prices will go up on Saturday. Drop-dead deadline will be March 2, 2012.

All entries so far have been submitted electronically — looks like this is a popular method and it’s been working nicely. If we made your lives any easier than this we would be picking up your laundry.

Opinion BY Armin

I Tawt I Taw a Panther Tat

Joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1995, the Carolina Panthers have a total record of 131 wins and 150 losses and have even made it to the Super Bowl (XXXVIII in Houston) in which they lost to the New England Patriots. Over the weekend, which happened to be Pro Bowl weekend, the Panthers introduced a new logo designed by the NFL’s creative department.

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In Brief BY Armin

In Brief: 5-year-old Analyzes Logos

Cincinnati, Ohio-based identity designer Adam Ladd asked his 5-year-old daughter her impressions on some popular logos — my favorite is her response to the Republican Party logo. This is both adorable and some of the best and most authentic field research out there.

Opinion BY Armin

Western University: Less Pixelated, More Boring

Established in 1878 in London, Ontario Canada, The University of Western Ontario is one of the largest universities in Canada with over 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students combined and more than 1,300 faculty. Last week they announced a change to their brand name, to Western University, and introduced a new identity designed by Toronto-based Hahn Smith Design and execution of the crest and typography by local type craftsman Ian Brignell.

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Opinion BY Armin

TV Land Flips Out

Launched in 1996 and originally part of a Nickelodeon programming block called Nick at Nite, TV Land is a cable television channel aimed (according to owner MTV Networks) at the 40- to 50-year-old with a blend of original programming, classic and contemporary television series acquisitions, and movies. What originally started as a nostalgia-filled, black-and-white-tinted programming has grown into a Betty White-fueled feel-good programming. This month TV Land introduced a revised logo and a new on-air look both designed by Trollbäck + Company, who also designed their previous on-air package.

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