Brand New

Two Triangles are Better than One

2010-09-02T10:56:59Z

The Dutch public broadcasting organization VPRO (an acronym that translates into "Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcasting Company") started its life in 1926 as a religious radio broadcaster. Over the years it became more liberal and less religious until, in the sixties, it planted itself firmly in the avant-garde by being the first television broadcaster showing a nude woman on national television. Since then the VPRO never left its nonconformist role, with slight stubbornness purposefully choosing those programs, topics and formats that the other broadcasting companies passed over. Although not well known outside of the Netherlands, the VPRO is the real deal. It continuously airs intelligent, cultural and quirky programs, the stuff that makes TV interesting.

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So the recent redesign of their 29-year-old logo predictably caused a stir, being one on those projects that every designer in the Netherlands will have an opinion about. Amsterdam based graphic design agency Thonik had the honor and, as far as I am concerned, they did a good job of updating the old logo with a fresh new wordmark.

That the VPRO opted for a visual continuation of the old logo, feels a bit like a missed opportunity however. Their viewers being almost by default an audience that can appreciate ground-breaking new directions. "vpro" is now set in lowercase, but some equity is maintained by keeping the triangle… heck, they even doubled it. The triangles and centers of the "p" and "o" are used to play a formalistic game of shape and color, creating a seemingly unlimited number of possible marks. With inventive use of just these few elements a playful extension of the style is possible.

Show reel with previews on program indents.

I like that the new identity is colorful and vibrant, and has enough "weirdness" to fit with VPRO as a brand. There are some minor points like the circle of the "p" not being the same as the "o," something that is shown in the explanation of the logo, but seems to have been abandoned later.

More pressing is that the idents for the programs (a sneak peak can be seen after 0:24 in the show reel above) do not seem to benefit from the outspoken flatness that works so well for the logo and printed matter. They feel a little too simplistic to do justice to the in-depth and imaginative programming of the VPRO. Although this flatness is somewhat of a statement in a media landscape of flashy, rotating 3d logos, it is not a new one after Max Kisman's iconic, 8-bit like idents for the same broadcaster in the 1990s. That being said, these are sneak peaks so a final judgement might best be saved for the future.

On its own, this new identity definitely passes muster, only question that remains is why the choice was made to update the logo instead of creating something new altogether. If there was ever a client to push the envelope, this would have been the one.

The logo in action on existing program guide covers.

Titles for Dorst, an online youth magazine of VPRO, set in the bespoke typeface created by Bold Monday (sample below).

Images via Fontanel.

Mark Holtmann is a graphic designer working at Koeweiden Postma.

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Quipsologies adds One Column

2010-09-01T10:59:39Z

As part of the re-launch of Quipsologies — the hard-working UnderConsideration blog that chronicles the most curious, creative, and notable projects, stories, and events of the graphic design industry — we have made some changes to the Brand New structure. (If you are reading this in your RSS reader join us in the real web, won't you?). I emphasize structure because the content is not changing. I know how passionate you (and I) all are about what gets posted, and we have strived to keep the Feng shui of Brand New as pleasing as possible.

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The basic aesthetic of the site remains and the width of the content areas has not changed. We just had to tweak some of the layout to make the three-column approach blend together better. We've also taken this opportunity to clean up some of the code, which officially brings us up to standards. Please also do a "hard-refresh" on your browser to reload all the images that might appear out of whack.

Quipsologies
The main reason for the change is to introduce a feed of identity- and brand-related Quips that are manually filtered from Quipsologies. Over the years we have noticed that some of our most popular content on that site, at least the Quips that generate the most links, was about logos or identities so we are now bringing them here as additional content. They will not interfere with the main content of the site and will not be included in the Brand New RSS feed. It's an added bonus that builds on top of what we already have going. If you wish to follow the Brand New-filtered Quips we do have a separate feed for it here that you can subscribe to.

Job Board
Back in February we introduced our Coroflot-powered job board and we admit that we introduced it a little too aggressively at the time, promising to flood you with announcements of new job openings, and the vocal majority let us know how unpleasant it all sounded. We still believe in the value of the job board and feel like we've found a happy medium: On the right sidebar we will highlight the most relevant jobs as we see them come in. In addition, every first and third Saturday of the month we will post, in the main content area, the aggregate findings of the sidebar highlights. This won't affect the content as we don't post on weekends, so you can happily ignore it as you play frisbee outside or whatever it is you do on the weekends to chill out and on Monday you know you can just skip it. I read nearly a dozen blogs that post job announcements as part of their content and I've never been offended, distracted, or turned off, so I have the feeling that those who are vehemently opposed to this will, in the end, survive.

Tags
We started tagging our posts only a few months ago and some of the trends that arise from it are pretty entertaining — like the amount of posts tagged with "Sans Serif." The sidebar will display the ten most used tags, but you can see all of the tags listed here. At some point we would love to go back and tag all of our posts but don't hold your breath for that to happen soon.

Mailing List
We are not very active newsletterers or e-mail blasters but we do find it comforting that if we wanted to get in touch with a ton of you we could do it through the mailing list. You can find the subscription form in the right column.

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Orange Tart

2010-08-31T10:36:21Z

QR National is a soon to be listed public company that owns and operates Australia's largest rail freight network. In a country that is the world's largest exporter of coal, it's not surprising that QR National is also the world's largest transporter of the dirty rocks. In a big brown land, with big brown trains, from the state of the big pineapple, big mango, big bottle of rum and the big boofhead, a big new company is about to be created — with a smart new identity courtesy of Cornwall Design, Melbourne.

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Train livery..

The Queensland government has decided to split the publicly owned railroads, selling the freight business by public tender, and retaining ownership of the passenger rail. The first step in this sale process was rebranding the previous QR - QR National as Queensland Rail and, err, QR NATIONAL. It's a big change. But not yet. It's almost a pre-emptive rebrand — before the sale goes ahead and the new owners get the keys to the trains, they're getting a new look — creating the rather ridiculous prospect of the company being rebranded, sold, and rebranded again, in the space of 12 months.

Simplified back into one color, the mark is quite strong, bold and graphic.

There's a common practise when selling your home to give it a "pre sale renovation". You move as much furniture out as possible to make the rooms seem bigger, a fresh, bright coat of paint and do the gardening. Then, on sale day, get some bread roasting in the oven to give the house that "homesy" feel and, lastly, fresh flowers in every room. This rebrand reeks of a pre-sale tart-up, but I must admit, the result is a rather pleasant looking tart.

The semantics of calling something QR, which locates it as based in the state of Queensland, but calling it National, certainly bugs me. On that point, the name is set in the ever dependable Gotham, but probably one of the better uses I've seen — one can't help but like that "Q." Not in black, not in white — but the nice, warm embrace of grey. Personally, I have a particular disdain for grey — it's the color of indecision — but in partnership with the orange, rusty ochre, red and yellow of the symbol — it's an acceptable choice.

Horizontal and stacked logos

On the symbol — hipsters will applaud the subtle integration of the shape de rigéur — triangles — and they've even snuck a couple diamonds in for good measure. A pair of arrows, signifying movement, and also evoking a stylised map of Australia — quite appropriate for a national rail freightc ompany located in Australia. Does this sound familiar? Whilst admittedly different marks, there is indeed a striking list of similarities between this and the Australia Unlimited mark we reviewed earlier. Warm grey sans serif type? Check. Orangey ochre? Check. Map of Australia? Nailed it, but let's make sure to remind everyone we're "on the move," okay? Get some arrows in there!

Moving forward. Or backward. Cool stripes.

It's this sort of orthodoxy that pervades top end corporate identity (particularly in Australia) that I find incredibly annoying — but somehow the precise, crafted nature of this mark, redeems it. In researching this piece I ventured into a dark, dark corner of the internet — forums, Picasa (never Flickr) and YouTube accounts of people who photograph trains — the dreaded Trainspotters. It's not a place I'd recommend for graphic designers — I'd imagine they'll get a particular thrill from the new train livery, which looks very smart indeed. But as a "fresh coat of paint," a "re-arranging the deck chairs," a "change-of-clothes," or however you describe this type of identity re-design, this isn't a bad one at all. As far as pre-sale tart-ups go, this looks to be the most expensive and wide ranging "For Sale" sign I've seen in quite a while.

All images are screen grabs taken from a corporate video here. Requests for images to the designers and QR National were ignored.

Thanks to Luke Martin for the tip.

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Discovery Kids Grows Up

2010-08-30T11:42:15Z

Launched in 1996, Discovery Kids is another popular channel of the Discovery Communications empire with an emphasis on — stating the obvious here — programming for kids focusing on science and nature shows. Beyond its programming, Discovery Kids has also grown into a successful product brand, selling everything from little plastic dinosaurs to night goggles. This merchandising extension is important to note as on October of this year, Discovery Kids, the channel, will be replaced by The Hub, a collaboration between Discovery Communications and toy maker Hasbro. We covered that logo in February. So the new identity, created by Irvine, California-based Mattson Creative, is now a consumer product brand and not just a channel identifier.

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Unlike the rest of the Discovery Communications channels, which all have their own unique logos, Discovery Kids has always followed in the footsteps of its grown up Discovery Channel, and this version is no exception. Except that, unlike the last one, this is really well done. Using the same structure as the parent brand and the flagship channel, the Discovery Kids logo does the very simple maneuver of redrawing the globe in chunky-marker-style. Drawing logos as if they were done by kids is an old trick, but they invariably look cloying. This globe rather than following the by-kids-for-kids drawing is by-adults-for-kids, giving it a more professional finish. Probably this is just a long-winded way of saying, I like it. The bold "KIDS" typography is well integrated too. It's big but not too big, it's in the right place and it matches one of the blues in the logo. Simple, obvious things but worth noting as many logos we see here fail to do them.

The simplicity and directness of the logo, though, is lost in the packaging, which reverts to an odd 1990s Nickelodeon look that doesn't have the same kind of sophistication of the logo. Granted a logo doesn't move products, packaging does and, in that regard, this just kind of screams off the shelf. But everything from the halftone screen pattern to the tracked out Cholla screams Been There Done That.

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Surf's Down

2010-08-27T10:51:42Z

Founded in 1984 by a small group of surfers in Malibu, California, Surfrider Foundation (SF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to "the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education." Through more than sixty local chapters, SF counts with over 50,000 members across the United States. Earlier this month, SF introduced a new logo designed by Los Angeles-based 72andSunny.

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Not identity related, but I just love how the chapters dot the coasts. I guess if there was a Pasture Foundation they would have the inverse map.

"We wanted to build from Surfrider's heritage and infuse it with the idea of growth through activism. Both the wordmark and icon swell, becoming bolder over time," said John Boiler, co-founder, 72andSunny.

Surfrider Foundation's new logo maintains many familiar elements from the original mark, including the organization's famous stripped wave, albeit in a more streamlined and contemporary design.
— Press Release

This change is like going from surfing in Hawaii to your grandma's tub: All the energy and dynamism the previous icon had has gone awash in the new one. By being confined in a square, the old wave conveyed a sense of the grandiosity a good wave can reach, completely engulfing you. I am sure someone, somewhere had a hard time reproducing the logo on a t-shirt or wetsuit and said they needed to change to something more simple and Nike-like. The new icon is weak not just in its sloppy execution but also in its depiction of a wave. It has no energy or power. The typography is a bit of a cliché but it could have been saved by better execution and a more interesting choice than all the weights of Helvetica Neue — just as one alternative, take different weights and widths of Titling Gothic and go to town or, to ocean, with it. There was no need to change the old logo so drastically; drawing one or two versions of it with less and more spaced lines for small reproduction and replacing that funky italic would have been sufficient.

Thanks to Elizabeth Macdonald for firs tip.

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Forward-Looking Phoenix

2010-08-26T11:49:41Z

Founded in 1976 to serve working adults seeking higher education who couldn't attend a traditional university environment, the University of Phoenix (UOPX) is currently the largest for-profit university with more than 420,000 undergraduate and 78,000 graduate students. Most students take their courses and complete their curriculum online but can also attend classes at one of the 200 nondescript "campuses" (in quotes, because they are mostly beige buildings that don't trigger notions of idyllic campuses) around the U.S. — in fact, they state that there is a campus "within 10 miles of 87 million Americans." UOPX has long been under scrutiny because of the perceived lower level of education and standards that other universities strive for, and it also receives Federal funding for loans despite being a very profitable enterprise. And some frown upon their athletics program which consists not of teams playing in divisions but of buying the naming rights to the University of Phoenix Stadium where the NFL Cardinals play; they were also a big sponsor in the recent LeBron James spectacle where he announced his move to South Beach. But all this is just baggage lugging around a recent redesign of identity the university has gone through internally.

]]> It may look similar to our old one, but subtle changes make it quite different. The logo has been refreshed so that now the Phoenix itself is turned upward and outward. It's future facing--just like the University of Phoenix.

The New Phoenix features a future-facing head, a wing now folds forward and a more torch-like flame comprises the tail feathers.
— Brand Guidelines

As an evolution, the new Phoenix is a great improvement in all aspects. The head turning outward and front makes more sense — I have yet to find a corporation or organization that prefers anything in their logo looking or moving backward — and is more dynamic. The thicks and thins are better proportioned. The wings are less stubby and more embracing. And the tail is the biggest improvement, because it doesn't look like the Phoenix is pooping, it actually looks like flamed feathers. The change from that 1970s, tightly spaced serif to a better spaced FF Milo is a very welcome change too.

Animated logo at the end.

The identity application is fairly straightforward, nothing to get too excited about but very clean and simple. UOPX has also introduced what they call Light Paths, that "abstractly represent pace of life, the Internet, and the exchange of ideas." While the images below (and above) are prototypes and not final executions I am hesitant to pass final judgment but there is something a little corny about it; nonetheless, as a way to liven up a broad range of communication materials it's not the worst idea.

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Type is in the Details

2010-08-25T11:32:58Z

An aspect of identity design that goes unexplored to a certain degree is that for religious organizations, but as everyone becomes more brand aware these spaces and communities must communicate and attract with as much urgency as any major consumer brand or corporation. In this specific case being reviewed today, we are also veering a little off from the typical redesign in that there is no big logo change, rather it's an identity overhaul through typography for International House of Prayer (IHOP – KC) in Kansas City. Established in 1999, IHOP – KC is a young adult Christian organization that combines 24/7 prayers for justice with 24/7 works of justice, with many outreach programs for different causes. Ten years later the organization has grown to include more than 50 different departments, and with growth and little control comes graphic havoc.

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Complex organization brand.

Relying on Perpetua and Gill Sans, with cameo appearances by Helvetica, Snell Roundhand, Zapfino and numerous other unwanted typefaces, the identity for the whole organization had become confusing and incohesive. So the internal team took it upon themselves to rethink their identity from the typography up. If you think just choosing new typefaces and implementing is a walk in the park, you probably haven't done it for a big organization with board members who don't know their serifs from their sans serifs, much less their Gill Sans from their P22 Underground Pro. The research took 18 months and the team explored "200 typefaces: 100 at minimal depth; 65 at medium; 35 at intense" to make a final set of recommendations. Yes, perhaps a little overkill.

New type families.

The choices were Sebastian Lester's Soho Gothic (all weights), Nick Cooke's Olicana (all three weights), TypeTogether's Karmina serif (all weights), and a custom-made version of Karmina for display.

Custom display version of Karmina.

All good, versatile choices, and as you can see below and on their website, the typefaces can generate a lot of different looks and flavors but retain a unified identity throughout. This is far from the sexiest identity project we've shown here on Brand New, but in identity it's not all about home runs, sometimes you just want to fill those bases and start piling up those runs. I'm not sure how I went from religious organizations to baseball metaphors but there you have it.

Sample of old catalog cover.

And its new version.

Samples of new identity in application.

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National Geometry of Australia

2010-08-24T11:09:52Z

Established in 1967 by the Australian Government, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in the capital city of Canberra, houses over 100,000 works across four points of national interest: Australian art, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander art, Asian art and International art. In 2006 NGA announced plans for a comprehensive expansion of their building after receiving a $92.9 million funding from the government that will help it accommodate the now 140,000 works in the collection. Slated for completion this winter, the NGA has taken the opportunity to introduce a new logo as well, designed by Naked Communications.

]]> The old logo was anything but memorable or distinct, just some lowercase Helvetica in a box. The new one tries to be thoroughly memorable and distinct. It succeeds and fails. The new acronym, set in abstract geometric forms, is fairly attractive and interesting, with the potential for a great identity system, but it feels much more appropriate to a museum or gallery of contemporary art than one dealing in more traditional artifacts. Perhaps contemporary additions to the collection will change this. The new typography, spelling out the name of the institution, is quite irritating with the missing crossbars of the "A"s. Sure it mimics the "A" in the acronym, but it does so quite clumsily, especially in contrast with the neither-Humanist-neither-Geometric sans serif they have chosen (I think it might be even be Helvetica with its "O"s replaced for perfect circles). So it succeeds in signifying something new and distinct but fails in doing it properly and contextually.

Thanks to John Beohm for first tip.

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Arts United Unites

2010-08-23T11:06:44Z

Originally named the Fine Arts Foundation when it began in 1955, Arts United, as it was renamed twenty years ago, is one of the oldest non-profit art funds in the United States, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Its mission is "to provide support to arts and cultural organizations and to unite and coordinate arts efforts in northeast Indiana." Arts United also manages the Arts United Center, built in 1973 by Louis Kahn and serves as the main performing space for the Civic Theatre, the Youtheatre, Fort Wayne Ballet, Fort Wayne Dance Collective and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. This month, Arts United introduced a new logo designed by local Fort Wayne agency One Lucky Guitar.

]]> "You might say we're getting out of the box and moving in a new direction. We want our logo to demonstrate the collaborative nature of our mission to enrich the community by making arts and culture a vital part of our lifestyle. We're excited about our new look."
— Press Release (PDF)

As corny as it sounds to say that the new logo gets out of the box, it indeed does so literally as well as attitudinally. The old logo was very serious and artsy, with that Avatar-meets-Roman-inscription lettering in the 1980s blue box motif. The new one breaks away nicely from those limited constraints and creates a lively shape that speaks to collaboration and integration. The monogram is simple, easy to read, and has a very nice dimensionality that does not rely on shading to convey its volume. The loosely spaced Neutraface type gives it a little mid-century artistic flavor that contrasts well with the rounded monogram above. The logo works very well too in inverse, as the business cards above show and it's also surprising how good it looks against the bright orange background in the image below. Overall, a very strong and fresh update.

Thanks to Jon Swerens for the tip.

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Like a (Crystal) Rock

2010-08-20T10:24:20Z

Outside of the few well-known, national bottled water brands like Evian, Dasani, or Aquafina, the United States is awash in smaller brands that are sold only in specific regions or states. A couple of them are produced by Crystal Rock LLC, which distributes the eponymous Crystal Rock water and Vermont Pure throughout the Northeast. Crystal Rock LLC also distributes coffee of their own brand, Cool Beans, and over 40,000 office products through Crystal Rock Office. All these different products allow Crystal Rock to claim being "the largest independent home and office distributor of its kind in the United States." Over the Summer, a new corporate mark as well as some brand extensions were created by Prospect, CT-based Worx Branding & Advertising.

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The biggest contribution that this new logo makes to the world of identity design is that it will rid the visual landscape of a logo that was set in Times New Roman, scaled at 75% width. Trust me, I looked into it. The old logo was bad to the last drop. The new one, by contrast, is fairly refreshing and dynamic. The three-mountain (or three-rock) icon is engaging and pretty to look at with its asymmetry and overlapping colors. The typography is a tad boring and the tapered "y" seems unnecessary, but it's not scaled 75%, so that makes me if not happy, content.

Old packaging.

New packaging.

For the water bottle brand, unfortunately, the rock icon didn't make it to the packaging. Instead, there is a very unflattering merger of the new wordmark with the old water ripple. Whatever was unique and refreshing about the new logo is completely lost in the new packaging. But things get a little better in other applications, like the uniform and the Crystal Rock Office ads. It would have been nicer to see some better integration of the identity elements across the system.

Brand manifesto.

Ads for Crystal Rock Office.

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The Land of Scot gets Creative

2010-08-19T11:10:57Z

Established on July 1, 2010, Creative Scotland is the new representative body for the "arts, screen and creative industries" in Scotland. "We think," states the website, "Scotland's arts, culture and creative industries are worth shouting about. We'll lead the shouting." Creative Scotland replaces two institutions that previously represented the arts, Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council. (The latter might sound familiar to some as it was, supposedly, the logo that Quark ripped off back in 2005). The identity was designed by Edinburgh-based Leith who were paid between £25,000 and £35,000 depending on the source and because the money came from public funds, the public is entitled to their opinion. Nuggets of criticism include "rubbish," "wretched," and "ugly."

]]> With the logo, we intend to shine a spotlight on creativity in Scotland and we encourage our arts, screen and creative industries to show off their work using the logo.

At the heart of our identity is the idea of 'people, place and ideas' and we wanted a way of writing the name that would embody this, 'Creative Scot' and 'Creative land' — something that was inventive and surprising. That's why the words are split. Also, by placing the words where we have, a subtle 'C' and 'S' abbreviation for the organization is formed. Some people will notice it straight away others may not.

The geometric shapes of the circle and square represent the building blocks of visual form, they are familiar, but placed in this context become contemporary symbols working in partnership. They can also function on their own, outside of the marque and this will be revealed as the identity is brought to life.
— About Our Brand on their website

It's hard to disagree completely with the public. The logo is not good. The problem, unfortunately, lies in its execution. The visual concept, of forming the "C" and "S" from a circle and square, is actually fairly clever but the way it's done is not convincing at all. A few more rounds of refinement and exploration would have arrived at a better solution. The typography should have been a little bolder to amplify that white space inside the shapes, and the shapes themselves are too far apart to be read as an acronym, they just feel like separate things that happen to be next to each other, rather being integrated. They have also pulled the ol' Put Images in the Logo trick, which is always tempting and in this case they have the shapes for it but it just doesn't add up to anything exciting or innovative. So I wouldn't go as far as calling it wretched or rubbish, but I also wouldn't categorize as creative.

Thanks to Jason McDowell for the tip.

Update: New images and description in from design firm Leith. Images previously shown were not officially sanctioned.

Creative Scotland is a reflection of every piece of creativity produced in Scotland, so our intention with the identity and its applications is to allow Creative Scotland to tell the stories of creativity that exist. The identity will act as a platform for Scottish culture.

At the heart of the identity is the idea of 'people, place and ideas' and we wanted a way of writing the name that would reflect this. What we also did by placing the words where we have is to create a subtle 'C' and 'S' abbreviation for the organization. Some people will notice it straight away others may not.

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A More Royal Royal Opera House

2010-08-18T11:43:08Z

Nestled in bustling Covent Garden, the Royal Opera House is home to The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. In its third structural incarnation since 1732 — two previous buildings were burned in fires in 1808 and 1856 — the Royal Opera House is a preeminent international performing arts venue but, unfortunately, the same couldn't be said of its crest, which looks like it has survived its own set of fires.

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Old crest.

New crest.

The new identity has been designed by London-based SomeOne, who worked with master engraver Christopher Wormell to update the crest. Simon Manchipp, founder of SomeOne explains the challenges of the project:

1) The old royal crest was not digitally adept, it struggled to be clear at smaller sizes and wasn't elegant when employed on large scale applications.

2) The word mark typography only reflected the more classical side of the organization.

3) There were no firm rules for coherent design systems across the multiple messages given to their audiences.

We solved their issues with a re-cut royal crest designed to be equally elegant on both small and large applications. A new typographic approach based in the typeface 'Gotham' that updated the feel of the communications. Finally a series of design principles, grids and systems ensured that all the print, pixel and press applications join up in coherent and flexible branded applications.

The bottom-right image, if you are wondering (as I was), is the woodblock itself with ink and ready to print.

It goes without saying that the new crest is simply fantastic and I'm not one to easily compliment crests. The previous lion and unicorn looked as if Bambi had eaten their families and had nothing but droopy, sad eyes to show for it. The updated versions are proud and strong. And probably ate Bambi. My favorite aspect of it is that they created two versions, positive and negative, to use on light and dark backgrounds — instead of just inverting the positive version, as the old one did.

As striking as the new crest is, it would have been easy to screw it up with bad typography or poor use, but SomeOne has created a really sophisticated and contemporary identity that gives more prominence to the name of the venue and provides solid ground to build on the striking imagery of the performers. Set in one of the lighter versions of Gotham this is one of those instances where you forget you are looking at Gotham, because its use is subtle in the role of supporting actor, giving a new-fashioned twist to the old-fashioned crest. As whole, the identity is a very successful evolution of a centuries-old institution. Plus, the Queen agrees:

Naturally "The Palace" was consulted before anything went out, they very kindly granted the branding with Royal approval on the first proposal.

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The Abu Dhabi Brand: Rich

2010-08-17T11:00:54Z

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However you may be more familiar with the world's-tallest-tower-building, 7-star-hotel-opening, artificial-islands-in-the shape-of-a-world-map-making, or palm-creating lunacy of Dubai, the more famous of the two UAE cities. But Abu Dhabi is the capital of the intricately intertwined Emirate states — the Sacramento to Los Angeles, the Albany to Manhattan. The UAE has the good fortune of sitting atop the world's seventh largest oil reserves, and it's with these rather handsome profits they have decided to brand themselves and turned to the Sydney office of global ad agency M&C Saatchi and their internal brand consultancy, Re.

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Re, as I've previously described them, is "a small group of brand designers valiantly operating out of M&C Saatchi's Sydney office" and have a bit of form on Brand New, having been reviewed for their ANZ Bank and Australia Unlimited work. One can imagine the difficulty thrown up when a brief or request for changes from a client begins with "His Excellency requests," but the challenge it might create for designers, is a strength for the various Emirs in their larger ambitions. What's taking place in the UAE rivals the central planning of the Chinese Communist Party, sans the pesky problems of managing billions of people. Creating a destination brand is but one piece of the puzzle, Abu Dhabi has also been busy re-developing their airport, which also makes use of the Abu Dhabi brandmark, as a lucrative hub for long haul flights, as well as pushing their national carrier, Etihad. Close neighbors Bahrain have enticed a Formula 1 grand prix, and Abu Dhabi have plans to build a Ferrari Museum, as well as talk of an Abu Dhabi Louvre, in the model of the McGuggenheim franchise.

It's all about creating a post-oil economy. The tradition and history that underpins this brand, is rather lovely — a tradition of falconry, cultivating figs and fishing or trading from the graceful Dhow sailing vessels — but there's little enthusiasm from the populace to return to those ways. They rather like their modern, consumer culture with all the trimmings, thank you very much! But with issues like climate change, energy independence, sustainability and renewables taking centre change, many of the oil based economies have seen the writing on the wall and have set about creating other industries, rather hurriedly, to equip themselves for a future where the shiny black stuff can't foot the bill anymore.

Horizontal and vertical lockups.

On the subject of writing on the wall, typography plays a rather important part of this identity. Much work has been invested in taking the traditional calligraphy of the arabic script, but tweak it just enough to repurpose it for use as a logo device. The designers have also attempted to create a roman typeface that sits in harmony with an Arabic typeface, as many situations will require the use of both languages. Leaving photography to the side for one moment, without this very distinctive, bespoke typography, this brand would seem very international, almost British or even Australian. Curiously the brand was indeed created by an agency from Abu Dhabi's former colonial masters, the British, in the office of another former British colony, Australia (oh that globalization, it just doesn't stop). It has a clean, corporate feel, but the perfect amount of curve and swirl from the traditional calligraphy to locate it as an internationally facing, Middle Eastern based, destination brand.

Travellers Welcome???

Supporting the type is a beautiful photography library by New York-based, William Hüber. It's easy to become cynical of the hackneyed travel photography genre, but the calm and welcoming tone of Hüber's imagery captures the exotic, undiscovered nature of the brand — but with a very palpable sense of calm and stillness in many of the shots. In one shot, it accomplishes the uncommon feat of making an un-smiling Middle Easterner with a big dagger in his belt seem almost friendly.

Destination branding 101: justify color selections by pairing them with similarly hued images from the destination.

The color palette re-inforces the exotic yet non-threatening feel with a desert-like beige and dark red based on the nation's flag, plus an extended palette in every color of the rainbow, albeit in rather muted hues. Another important brand asset is a photo-frame-like bordering device, based on an outer robe worn at formal occasions called a Bisht. At first I found it annoying and chalked it up to "they were forced to put that bit in" but on reading up on the Bisht, and closer inspection of the intricate, yet elegantly rendered, graphic device, it grows on you. It also helps that it is, quote "reserved for special occasions", and thus only appears in limited uses.

If you like boats… you'll love Abu Dhabi.

It's a difficult position, being a westerner, evaluating such culturally sensitive work. Obviously much thought and care has been invested into ensuring the brand is respectful of the traditions and culture of Abu Dhabi, whilst also being enticing and relevant for an international audience. That balance has been kept, in my view, remarkably well. The vast distances travelled by this brand in its creation, from being briefed, tendered, pitched, developed and delivered, across multiple continents, is mind boggling. Often globalization is cast as the culprit of the international homogenization of visual culture — but it makes sense that a destination hoping to offer "something different" for early-adopting, new-seeking travelers, would be the brand to buck the trend, and take what's best from contemporary international style, but still retain its cultural identity.

All images are from this comprehensive brand site.

Thanks to Cristian Rus for the tip.

[Ed.'s Note: I would like to welcome Clinton Duncan as a regular contributor for Brand New]

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Can you C me Now?

2010-08-16T12:16:36Z

Launched in 2001, Cell C is the third — both in terms of introduction date and market share — cellular service provider in South Africa behind Vodacom and MTN. No one likes to be in third place, so Cell C is pushing forward to gain some momentum with a new identity and a feisty new spokesman.

]]> The new corporate identity, according to Cell C CEO, Lars P Reichelt, reflects the company's vision of understanding its customers' way of life better than anybody else and tailoring solutions around them to enhance lifestyles and improve livelihoods.

The new brand identity also consists of a six-colour bar which represents the colours of the South African flag as a symbol that Cell C cares about South Africa, and South Africa only. Cell C intends to cater to all customers and not just those within specific LSMs.

"We are not just flying the flag on specific occasions — we make it part of our everyday life. It is a reminder that this is the land of incredible possibilities and Cell C wants to be the 'possibilities provider' for all South Africans," said Reichelt.
— Facebook news item

The old logo wasn't too bad or too dated, so this is a clear case of the company being proactive more than reactive and using the identity redesign as part of their bigger goal to signal change. The new logo could be described the same way. It's not too bad. Bold and simple. But the problem is that there are a few too many bold and simple ideas going on at the same time. There is the typography, which is fine and doesn't distract. Then there is the "C" in a circle — which, yes, looks like the ubiquitous copyright symbol — that can be used in conjunction with "CELL" or on its own (with a ™ above it… interesting). Then there is the bar with the colors of the South African flag, that feels very disconnected from the main elements, but there it is, nonetheless, underlining the whole thing.

Some kind of super logo lock-up.

Cell C CEO Lars P. Reichelt and comedian Trevor Noah. Image source.

So, as I said, not too bad. It looks good on the website and it stands out. Now, about that spokesman…

At the end of July, the (pretty funny) clip above by comedian Trevor Noah going off on cell phone service in South Africa (with a specific jab at Cell C) was uploaded to YouTube. Shortly thereafter, Cell C purchased full page ads in the Sunday Times and Rapport newspapers, issuing an apology to Noah for having crappy service. Shortly thereafterafter, Cell C convened a press conference in which they announced their big plans for the future, the new identity, and the hiring of Noah as their spokesperson. Well, as their CEO (Chief Experience Officer). He has his own Cell C page now too. Both Cell C and Noah claim the newspaper stunt was coincidence, although they also agree that both parties have had a "long-standing commercial relationship." Regardless, the point was to get people talking, and it worked. Now it's just a matter of getting people talking through Cell C's network.

Full-page ad in the Sunday Times of South Africa. Image source.

Thanks to Andre Redelinghuys for the tip.

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Any way you Slice It

2010-08-13T10:06:18Z

Did you know that a ceramic called zirconium oxide is the most durable substance on earth after diamonds? Not only that, but that it kicks metal's ass in terms how sharp, hard and durable it can be. That's why Slice makes it slicing and dicing products out of ceramic. Offering a small range of products designed by design celebrities like Karim Rashid, Michael Graves and Yves Behar, the Slice brand is all about simplicity, playfulness and sharpness. A new logo and packaging design by San Francisco-based Manual reinforces that.

]]> It's amazing how much can be achieved with a little angling. Where the old logo felt flat, static and not too excitingly sliced, the new one takes that same and obvious visual concept but executes it much more efficiently and dynamically. The shift away from Helvetica also helps make it feel less like a school exercise and the more contemporary sans, especially the "l" with the booty (yes, that's the professional term, ain't it?), turns it into a fresh consumer brand that is better aligned with the friendly, trendy shapes of the products.

Previous packaging.

The new packaging is remarkably better. While the old packaging looked like it belonged in an office supply store next to some Post-Its, the new one could easily sit at the Conran Shop. Granted, I am guessing the old packaging, which was created in the initial offering of the product, was done in a more budget-conscious way to see if the product sold, and this new iteration benefits from a little more confidence.

In the applications so far I enjoy the commitment to the angle. It's relentless! And pretty amazing in how many ways it can be exploited: as a line that cuts off text, as a diecut on the packaging, as a framing device for the photography, as the shape of the furniture. Eventually the angle might get tiring but, for now, it cuts just the right way.

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