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.

Old materials.

The new brand mark is an evolution of the previous logo, refined and updated. We retained some defining characteristics — the color and shape — but recast it in a richer shade of blue with custom lettering. The new identity reflects experience and precision.
— Matchstic Case Study

I was almost going to say that the old logo wasn't that bad — in that un-logo-less, inoffensive way — but then I saw that the "T" ate the serifs of the "N" and "M" next to it. I got offended. The old logo could have been for any non-profit whatsoever and didn't reflect any kind of allusion to manufacturing. The new logo looks like it has been manufactured and chiseled with a precision machine and in the full-color application with the shine and shadows it looks like a badge that could go on the grill of a car or the door of a refrigerator. The logo is now much more appropriate and relevant, although it's certainly not the best thing since the Industrial Revolution. On first instinct I want to like it, there is something blunt and industrial about it that catches my attention, but on the details and execution it doesn't quite hold up: What does the diagonal line mean? If the angle of the "N" matches that line, why wouldn't the notches in the "T" and "M" match too? Why is the crossbar in the "A" so short? Why is there so little space after the "A"? One more round of refinement and customization would have yielded a stronger logo.

The logo placement feels unresolved throughout in the rest of the identity but somehow it strikes a good balance of being contemporary and having a blue collar look and feel. The use of OCR-A, always a hard trick to pull off, works well used sparingly. Overall, an improvement for sure, but it just needed a little extra kick to take it to the next level.

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.

The original logo looked quite a lot like an independent comic book publisher should look and even though I don't like the typography one bit nor the way the logo is locked up in that odd holding shape, the thing was appropriate — plus, not everyone can boast of having a Dave Gibbons-designed icon. The new logo is a nice evolution of it, with the Oni redrawn to look more aggressive and less with a "Oh my God, I wonder what lies behind that 'D' sticker in the DC Comics logo?!" look. The extra tight cropping also gives it an air of mystery and creates a lot of tension in the logo. The typography, though, is a bit of a mess. The "ONI" square lettering is a little flimsy, too tightly spaced, and not very imaginative nor representative of indie comics — pairing it with ultra spaced Helvetica below it doesn't help at all. Perhaps a cliché, the logo is held within a speech bubble, but at least the hard-edged execution of it doesn't make it so evident or cloying. Overall, this was a great icon redesign but the typography could use a refinement, or twelve.

Thanks to Matt Rower for first tip.

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.

Identity introduction. Makes good points and is a helpful summary if you can stomach the touchscreen interface metaphor.

Original coat of arms on which the new logo is based.

A summary page on the new identity, explaining the elements of the shield and other things, can be found here.

It baffles me that the old logo was actually the logo of a large and respected university. Whoever filtered that tower in Photoshop should have their graphic designing license revoked — or at least their Adobe serial number canceled. So pretty much anything would have been an improvement. And the new logo is. In a boring, institutional, traditional, coat-of-arms way. I mean, universities are consistently redesigning their way out of shield logos into more contemporary ideas, not adopting them in the second decade of the twenty-first century. As the quote says above, this isn't radical and the intention was clearly to signal tradition and history, and the shield and typography are finely executed but there is nothing here we haven't seen in the last 50 or 75 years of higher education identity design. The redesign is so ho-hum that I wasn't considering posting it at all, but when I get upwards of 15 or 20 tips for any identity I do feel obliged to post for those somehow invested or related… Sorry, folks, ya'll deserved a more interesting identity.

Thanks to Christopher Rouleau for firs tip.

Established in 1987 in New York and now with 17 offices in 10 countries ITG (Investment Technology Group) is "an independent research broker partnering with global portfolio managers and traders throughout the investment process, from investment decision through to settlement." If that's a little unclear — it is to me — they help "clients understand market trends, improve performance, mitigate risk, and navigate increasingly complex markets." To coincide with its 25th anniversary, ITG has dropped its full name and introduced a new identity and "brandline", Decoding Signal from Noise, by Landor.

Brand launch video.

The previous logo looked like a generic financial firm, or a healthcare provider, or manufacturer of dentist tools — featuring two interlocked swooshes, probably meaning commitment or partnership or whocares. The new logo follows in similar footsteps to last year's XL Group identity not in the sense that they copied or emulated it but in that it is not afraid to look like a bold, risk-taking, and aggressive company. I have the sense that a lot of people are going to hate this logo, and probably with good reasons, but there is, again like with XL Group, something refreshing about the jarring and unexpected layout of the three letters. They ain't pretty per se, but they make a statement and it stands out.

The rest of the identity relies on similar uncomfortable layouts and staggering as well as breaking words in the wrong places and foregoing necessary things like spaces between words. It starts to veer a little into the campy kind of trendy and edgy but it's something that can be reigned in as the identity evolves. Overall, another welcome addition to the "Don't Mess With Me" or "I'm Not Here to Make Friends" identity category.

Launched in 2005 by British broadcaster Channel 4, More4 is a digital television channel popular for its range of documentaries, U.S. imports like The Daily Show, reruns from its parent company, and some original programming. Announced back in November and effective this week, More4 will start "focusing more fully on popular factual and features — life enhancing content, helping viewers to get the most out of their everyday lives." In other words, downers like "documentaries, arts and current affairs" are out and "programming which offers insight and inspiration to the way they live, including homes, property, food, health and fashion" is in. The new identity and on-air look has been designed by London-based ManvsMachine.

The More4 re-brand is centred around a bold flexible logo, created from multiple triangles that flip, fold, attract and repel each other into position. The re-brand extends to a whole new on-screen look, that includes five truly stunning new idents.
— Channel 4 Press Release

The previous logo was a very nice and well liked execution by Spin that was perfectly in line with the more "abstract" branding of its parent channel. Amazingly, this new logo and identity manage to not necessarily improve but move to a kind of parallel graphic dimension where it is equally attractive and effective. At first glance the static logo looks too decorative and busy but once put into motion, the way it's supposed to be, the effect is quite fantastic.

Live-action idents see the brand break out into the real world in the form of mechanical 'flippers'. The installations inhabit environments from a domestic staircase to an abandoned fishing boat in Dungeness. To achieve this ManvsMachine teamed up with installation design pioneers, Jason Bruges Studio, to help design and build a flexible system consisting of over 400 individual flipper units.
— ManvsMachine Case Study

Live-action idents. NOT computer-generated. Check out the making-of at ManvsMachine's site.

On-air graphics.

My favorite part is how the flippers blend into the background (either white or dark gray) and make it seem as if it's embedded there like a space-age train schedule flipboard. The live-action flippers are also a great way of bringing the logo to life in a very unexpected way. Overall, More4 has gone from a moodier and more solemn vibe to something livelier and more colorful.

Established in 2006, Coyote Logistics is a third party logistics and transportation, meaning that they accommodate shipments with a variety of carriers, finding trucks that have available space in trips they are already making. According to Inc. magazine, which listed Coyote as the No. 1 company in Logistics and Transportation, it has had a 13,846.8% three-year growth. Coyote counts with over 300 employees and an aggressive (in a friendly way) attitude. This past Fall they introduced a new identity designed by Moving Brands.

Identity creation video.

The old logo had all the makings of a start-up logo: literal interpretation, gradients, and bad typography (unless Eurostile is your thing). The new logo hits and misses at the same time. I really like the extreme abstraction and that it moves into an old-school train/freight aesthetic with the aggressive angles and unapologetic arrow but if it weren't for the name I would never have guessed it's meant to be a coyote. The name is Coyote, so my point is almost moot, but I think it would have been a little more relevant if they had pulled back two or three levels of abstraction. The wordmark is a tad clunky; the selected sans serif looks almost like a default font, the stenciling is too shy to really matter, and the weight is just slightly less heavy than the mark creating a noticeable difference but not enough to be evident. Nonetheless, the new identity and overall tone of voice is a vast improvement over the old one.

Thanks to Najwat Rehman for the tip.