A B-Side BY Armin

Brooklyn Public Library

About: (Est. 1896) “As an independent system, separate from the New York City and Queens libraries, Brooklyn Public Library serves the borough’s 2.5 million residents, offering thousands of public programs, millions of books and use of more than 1,100 free Internet-accessible computers.”

Design by: Eight and a Half.

Ed.’s Notes: I’m not usually the correct-English-police but there is something odd about the library using the slang-ish abbreviation of the borough. It’s far more readable at smaller sizes, that’s for sure.

Relevant links: BPL blog post with historical logos.

Select quote: “Gone is the sad little black box that for so long meekly defined our presence in the digital realm. There’s something invigorating about the facelift that comes with rebranding — it seems to signify a fresh start, a new direction.”

Thanks to Ricardo Cordoba for the tip.

In Brief BY Armin

In Brief: Brooklyn Nets Open

By now pretty much everyone knows I’m not the biggest fan of the Brooklyn Nets logo. I’ll admit that, despite my regard for the execution of the logo(s), the approach and strategy are right on cue, if a little too hip-hop for its own good — feelings captured ever so by this “Open” that plays across the arena during player introductions at home games. Created by Los Angeles, CA-based TheFamousGroup with an original song, called “Brooklyn” (what else?), by ex-Fugee John Forté, “The film adheres to the Nets’ iconic black & white branding, shot entirely in b&w and featuring players dressed in white shirts and black suits and ties.” Kinda catchy and cool, although at points it’s hard to remember if you are watching an ad for an NBA team or a men’s fashion line. You can see a full-screen optimized version here.

Opinion BY Armin

The Brooklyn Nets: I Call Technical Foul

Last week was the final game of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, who finished with a 22-44 record to end the season at the bottom of its Atlantic division in the Eastern conference — a far cry from its more successful days in the early 2000s when it reached the finals two seasons in a row or its two ABA championships in the 1970s. For the 2012 – 13 season the team will move to a new home while retaining its name, the Brooklyn Nets. A press conference yesterday where the team logo and merchandise were unveiled at a local sports in front of the billion-dollar Barclays Center was the culmination of almost eight years of ownership negotiations, urban planning, and pissing off Brooklyn residents when developer and part owner Bruce Ratner scurried away people from their homes in order to make room for the ambitious Atlantic Yards project. With a terribly sad team — the Nets most well-known player is probably Kris Humphries, aka Kim Kardashian’s ex husband — the Brooklyn Nets have an uphill battle to win the hearts of the proud and skeptical local crowd which they are doing with a very minimalist, almost anti-NBA new look reportedly designed by Nets part owner Jay Z.

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