A B-Side BY Armin

New York Road Runners

Established in 1958, the New York Road Runners (NYRR) is “dedicated to promoting the sport of distance running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and responding to community needs” and counts with over 40,000 members NYRR is the organizer of the ING New York City Marathon (which happened yesterday). The new logo was designed by New York-based Doublespace. Press release here.

Thanks to Hannah Ratzlaff for first tip.

Guest Opinion by Joshua Levi Posted BY Brand New

Forward-Looking Image

When I was a kid, my family and I would see shows at our town’s golden era movie house. It was a small, second-run theater. Its rich decor and the perpetual smell of popcorn oozed of the past in this kind of magical way. My favorite visit was to see Back to the Future. I can remember the juxtaposition of an art deco theater and a time-traveling Delorean like it was yesterday. I was taken back to that moment earlier this year, and again last week, walking around the Museum of Moving Image (MoMI) in New York with a new expansion designed by Leeser Architecture and new identity and signage designed by karlssonwilker. While this project is a few months old, there is not much information out there about it, so I decided to do some digging and gather some of the loose images on this project, most found on this Flickr set by Archidose and this Facebook album from karlssonwilker.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Newsday

Founded in 1940, Newsday is a local newspaper primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, and it is a staple of the New York visual landscape. In March Newsday introduced a new logo, here is how it looks on the paper.

Thanks to Geoffrey Sorensen for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

FAO Schwarz’s New Hire: Wit

Established in 1862 in Baltimore, Maryland by Frederick August Otto Schwarz, FAO Schwarz is today the mecca of toy stores with a flagship store in New York as famous as the Statue of Liberty, except with more foot traffic, more profitable, and the dream for kids and adults to play “Chopsticks” on the giant piano made famous by Tom Hanks in Big, released in 1988, two years after FAO moved to its famed location. In 2009, Toys “R” Us acquired FAO with the intent of keeping the same magical formula that has made it so attractive over the years. If you ever went to FAO as a kid you know that feeling. It is quite incomparable. As an adult it simply holds nostalgia, which dissipates as soon as you enter the overcrowded, visually and aurally saturated store. In any event, FAO has redesigned its identity and packaging of house products to welcome the 2010 holiday shopping season, and has introduced a new character, Wit.

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Opinion BY Joe Marianek

Papaya King: Regally Good

Since 1932, Papaya King has delivered sweet/savory subsistence in New York City. Somehow, after 68 years, the brand has resisted gentrification. While it feels like this institution has been franchised onto every block, in reality there are only several official locations which are in ferocious competition with other namesake brands who all aim to corner the hot dog culinary category including Gray’s Papaya and Nathan’s, (not to mention street vendors or the Shake Shack.) In this update, designer Joe Guzman at Skaggs Design has embraced the existing vernacular of “organized chaos” and built a system to deliver a consistent experience on packaging, signage, and online.

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Opinion BY Armin

Walk this Way

Established in 1973 Transportation Alternatives (TA) is a New York non-profit organization whose mission is to “reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.” If you ride your bike in New York and feel a little safer with every passing day, it’s probably thanks to TA, who is also responsible for campaigns to free Central Park and Prospect Part in Brooklyn from cars, as well as championing the controversial congestion pricing initiative that would charge cars for the priviledge of driving around certain parts of the city. This week, TA introduced a new identity created by Doyle Partners — fitting since it’s not rare to spot Mr. Stephen Doyle bicycling around town in a suit.

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Opinion BY Armin

Crystal Ball Says What?

Around the world, the adage applies that all roads lead to Rome, but in the state of New York, all roads lead to a SUNY (State University of New York) campus. With over 460,000 enrolled students across 64 campuses, SUNY is the biggest conglomerate of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, if not the world. Keeping the organization unified and focused must be a massive effort and sometimes it requires bold and far-reaching initiatives to keep things moving, so this month SUNY presented “The Power of SUNY,” a strategic plan for 2010 and beyond that establishes the scope of what SUNY wants to achieve. Along with it, came a new logo.

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