Opinion BY Armin

Forward-Looking Phoenix

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.

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Opinion BY Armin

Type is in the Details

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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Opinion BY Armin

National Geometry of Australia

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.

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Opinion BY Armin

Arts United Unites

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.

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Opinion BY Armin

Like a (Crystal) Rock

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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Opinion BY Armin

The Land of Scot gets Creative

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.”

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Opinion BY Armin

A More Royal Royal Opera House

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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Opinion BY Clinton Duncan

The Abu Dhabi Brand: Rich

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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Opinion BY Armin

Can you C me Now?

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.

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Opinion BY Armin

Any way you Slice It

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.

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