Opinion BY Armin

The Future of Fox is Now

Hinted to as early as July of 2012 and officially announced this past December, Rupert Mudorch’s News Corporation is splitting into two separate businesses. The first, to remain named News Corporation will handle all the publishing properties — newspapers and magazines — like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, with the former’s managing editor, Robert Thompson, as CEO. The second, to be renamed 21st Century Fox will handle the entertainment properties — cable and television channels, filmed entertainment, and direct satellite broadcasting businesses — including the FOX network, 20th Century FOX, FX, among dozens of other channels with Rupert Murdoch as CEO. Absolutely every single property will retain its existing name and logo. The name, 21st Century Fox, will serve as the parent company only and the logo — announced this past Thursday via an e-mail to employees — will only be a business-to-business mark. It was designed by Pentagram partners Michael Gericke and Emily Oberman.

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A B-Side BY Armin

League of American Bicyclists

About: (Est. 1880) “The League of American Bicyclists promotes bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation, and works through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America. The League represents the interests of America’s 57 million bicyclists, including its 300,000 members and affiliates.”

Design by: Language Dept.

Ed.’s Notes: Some additional uses of the logo below (or after the jump) and some application images at the case study link.

Relevant links: Language Dept case study. League press release.

Select quote: “Our new look may seem a bit familiar: It draws on our unique history and depth of knowledge, using elements of the original winged wheel logo of the League of American Wheelmen. But, with a modern edge and forward motion, it also showcases our commitment to propel the new, diverse and growing ranks of bicyclists in the United States, recognizing and representing the current and future face of the cycling movement.”

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Opinion BY Armin

Lucky Strike/s Out

First chewed and later puffed in 1871, Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarettes originally produced by the R.A. Patterson Tobacco Company and now owned by British American Tobacco. At one point in 1930, Lucky Strike was the leading cigarette brand, selling 40 billion of the little suckers. A success in part attributed to Lucky Strike’s aggressive targeting towards women in the 1920s and later when Raymond Loewy turned the package from green to white to make it more female friendly. Today, well, you can barely find Lucky Strike anywhere except online, in specialty smoking stores, and, apparently, in Germany, where a redesigned logo and packaging designed by G2 has appeared online. There is not much information available, in part because the German website is only accessible to computers in Germany and it’s not clear whether this change will apply to Lucky Strike in all countries or just Germany; all images are taken from Design Tagebuch.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Canberra 100

About: (Est. 1913) “Celebrating Canberra’s Centenary. In 2013, we mark 100 years since the naming of Canberra, our national capital and home of the Australian story. The Centenary of Canberra offers an opportunity for Australians to revisit and re-imagine their national capital — the city that tells the story of our country’s freedom, spirit, achievements and aspirations. Visit www.canberra100.com.au for the year-long program of celebrations.

Ed.’s Notes: As strange as this is, there is something appealing about it. Doesn’t mean I like it, but it does mean I don’t hate it. A few more applications below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Canberra 100 site, Canberra 100 Logo Style Guide.

Select quote: “It has a contemporary feel which we believe will appeal to all Australians. It makes central use of a triangle, which references the triangles and circles at the heart of the Burley Griffin design, best displayed in Marion Mahony Griffin’s beautifully rendered ‘City and Environs’. It is also inspired by the iconic nature of new Parliament House which celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2013. The font is New Johnston evolved from a popular sans-serif typeface from 1913. The logo is strong and clear with a simple message — Canberra and 100 years.”

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A B-Side BY Armin

Ooredoo

About: (Est. 1998 originally as Qtel) “The Ooredoo Group is a leading international communications company, with a significant presence in the MENA region and Southeast Asia, and having a consolidated customer base of 83 million as of December 2011. It operates a portfolio of brands including Ooredoo, Indosat, Asiacell, Wataniya, Nawras, Nedjma and Tunisiana.

The Ooredoo Group’s principle activities are mobile telephone services, broadband solutions, digital futures and fibre technologies, serving both consumer and business markets. Headquartered in Doha, Qatar, the Ooredoo Group is ambitiously growing its global business on the basis of its insights into the needs of customers in emerging markets. Ooredoo Group’s ultimate parent company is Ooredoo Q.S.C. (formerly Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Q.S.C), whose shares are listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.”

Design by: N/A

Ed.’s Notes: Strange-sounding name for global scaling. Lots of circles if that’s your thing. Video of the launch event and alternate square version of the logo below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Ooredoo FAQs. Qtel is now Ooredoo.

Select quote: “The new name is an Arabic word meaning ‘I want’. It conveys the aspirations of our customers and symbolises our commitment to enrich people’s lives.”

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A B-Side BY Armin

Biodiversity Observatory of the Rhône-Alpes

About: “Biodiversity Observatory of the Rhône-Alpes is a center for knowledge and a management tool for the natural habitats and species of France’s Rhône-Alpes. The observatory is structured around three fields: flora, fauna, and managing natural environments.”

Design by: graphéine design graphique.

Ed.’s Notes: That’s a lot of stuff to put into one logo but, hey, it works. A few logo variations and applications below (or after the jump) and a few more pieces at the case study link.

Relevant links: graphéine case study.

Provided quote: “This visual identity takes its starting point in the form of an ellipse. Indeed, this simple geometric shape suggests all the components of biodiversity … in turn, alone or multiplied, the ellipse becomes an eye, a flower, a leaf, a school of fish, a deer track … Using the ellipse as the basic element of this identity avoids any form of figurative representation of biodiversity. The composition and color of these ellipses simply suggest biodiversity.”

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A B-Side BY Armin

Space Channel

About: (Est. 1997) “Space is a Canadian Category A specialty channel owned and operated by Bell Media. It features science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming including films, documentaries, scripted television series and more. SPACE originally used the subtitle The Imagination Station following its name; it is still sometimes used informally by fans today.” (Source: Wikipedia).

Design by: Bell Media Agency.

Ed.’s Notes: I don’t think the old logo was good (it wasn’t) but this new version is as dry as certain parts of earth. A brief montage of new shows shown below (or after the jump) hints at some potential though. A few more clips are available here

Relevant links: Long story on Marketing Magazine. Bell Media press release.

Select quote: “Space’s new logo reflects the channel’s more earthly focus, losing the previous galactic swirl in favour of all lowercase letters inside a sphere. In promo spots, the logo is placed on real-life items that relate to specific shows. For example, for Being Human, there’s a blood splatter with the Space logo on it.”

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Opinion BY Armin

Nivea Gets Rid of its Own Wrinkles

First produced in 1882 in Germany by pharmacist Carl Paul Beiersdorf, Nivea is today one of the leading skincare products in the world owned by Beiersdorf AG (which also owns Elastoplast, Eucerin, Labello, and La prairie). Nivea’s most well-known product is its original Nivea Crème which was first packaged in the iconic blue tin in 1925 and now serves as the basis for the “new global design language” introduced by Nivea this week, designed by San Francisco-based fuseproject.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Portland Thorns FC

About: As part of the new, 8-team professional women’s soccer league organized by U.S. Soccer, set to being play in Spring 2013, “Peregrine Sports, LLC — parent company of the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer — today announced that its new professional women’s soccer club will be named Portland Thorns FC.”

Design by: Brent Diskin.

Ed.’s Notes: The logo has been designed by a Portland Timbers’ superfan and, although it’s not the greatest logo on earth, with the premise of being a fan-designed logo it surprisingly doesn’t suck.

Relevant links: Q&A with the designer. Press release.

Select quote: “The circular badge features team colors of red, green and black with a protective wreath of thorns surrounding a familiar, stylized rose in the center. Further, city-inspired details are presented in the form of a pair of four-pointed stars, or hypocycloids, that house the letters ‘F’ and ‘C’ and anchor the sides of the badge, a callout to the left-centered, directional star prominent on Portland’s official city flag that also flies in the stands and high atop JELD-WEN Field in downtown Portland.”

Thanks to Chris Campbell for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Good Lookin’ Parasites, Bacteria, and Viruses

Established in 2011, The Bloomsbury Institute for Pathogen Research is a joint initiative between University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to “form a centre for excellence in experimental medicine” by bringing together cutting-edge pathogen research, experimental medicine and clinical development; translating research on bacteria, parasites and viruses into new modes of detection, treatment and control. A new identity was introduced earlier this month, designed by London-based Igloo.

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A B-Side BY Armin

TDS

About: (Est. 1989, Dublin) “TDS (Time Data Security) Ltd are leading specialists in the areas of integrated Security Systems and Smart Card deployments.”

Design by: RichardsDee.

Ed.’s Notes: Really liking the icon for this; Big Brother-ish but cool. Sample application image below (or after the jump) and a few more at the links below.

Relevant links: RichardsDee case study. TDS press release (PDF).

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Opinion BY Armin

USA TODAY for Tomorrow

Founded in 1982, USA TODAY is the second largest newspaper (behind The Wall Street Journal and its 2.1 million copies) in the United States with 1.8 million copies circulating every weekday — reportedly “one in every seven Americans interacts with USA TODAY on a weekly basis.” — and is best known for its concise and visual approach to delivering news. Its online counterpart, USATODAY.com receives 6.6 million readers daily and mobile apps complete the picture for this “multi-platform news and information media company” owned by Gannett. Late last week, USA TODAY announced a complete redesign of all its platforms, including the ubiquitous print edition and its identity, both designed by Wolff Olins — all digital applications were done by Fantasy Interactive covering their strategy, user experience, design, and development. The beta version with the new look can be seen here.

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Opinion BY Armin

New York City Circles

Established in 1943, New York City Center (NYCC) is a performing arts venue, focusing on dance and musical theater, located in Midtown Manhattan, and “dedicated to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience.” NYCC is home to the renown Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and American Ballet Theatre as well as popular events like Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert series and the Fall for Dance festival. After a $75-million-restoration to its historic theatre and façade that re-opened in October 2011, NYCC needed a new identity that was introduced recently and designed by Futurebrand.

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Opinion BY Armin

Polycom Phone Home (and Office)

Established in 1990, Polycom, with 3,800 employees in 80 offices in 36 countries, specializes in “open standards-based unified communications (UC) solutions for telepresence, video, and voice.” If that means not much to you, they make those triangle, UFO-shaped phones that people scream at during conference calls — they are as much a staple of corporate America offices as the cubicle. Simplification aside, Polycom does have quite the stronghold and edge on all kinds of conferencing platforms that go beyond the phone, offering video and mobile solutions — they have more than 800 issued or pending patents too. Last week, Polycom introduced a new logo and identity designed by San Jose, CA-based John McNeil Studio that signals a commitment to continuing its transformation to a software-led company.

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Opinion BY Armin

It’s Mama Logo Time

Launched in 1984, Lifetime Television is a channel generally devoted and targeted to women. Its most current positioning is being “committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families.” Long an outlet for bad, made for TV movies, Lifetime has gathered a little bit of steam in the last year or so with shows like Project Runway, Army Wives, and Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Cleavage The Client List, which have yielded actual viewership growth. Lifetime last redesigned their logo in 2008, covered here, which replaced a short-lived logo designed in 2006, so it’s evident that they haven’t landed in a place worth staying a long time for. Last week, Lifetime introduced a completely new look led by Tim Nolan, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Lifetime Networks in collaboration with New York, NY-based Leroy + Clarkson.

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Opinion BY Armin

Brewing one for the Homies

Established in 1978 in Boulder, CO, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) is “dedicated to promoting the community of homebrewers and empowering homebrewers to make the best beer in the world.” It counts with 27,000 members. The AHA also publishes a bimonthly magazine, Zymurgy, and holds both a national-level homebrewers conference and competition. In turn, the AHA is a division of the Brewers Association, a “not-for-profit trade association dedicated to promoting and protecting amateur and professional craft brewers.” So: small, beer, awesome. Earlier this month the AHA introduced a new logo designed in-house.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Bicycle Transportation Alliance

Established in 1990, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a “non-profit membership organization working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and SW Washington”, most popularly in the bike-loving city of Portland. New logo designed by local firm North. More story here.

Thanks to John Lascurettes for the tip.

Follow-Up BY Armin

Follow-up: Sonae

This past April we reported on the redesign of Sonae, one of Portugal’s biggest corporations running a number of consumer products and services. The redesign, executed by Lisboa-based Ivity, was met with plenty of negative criticism from myself (I called it “annoying and unpleasant”) and our readers (racking up an impressive 88% of 1,603 votes in the “Bad” category). With a little time it seems the Sonae website has transformed into something more palatable and Ivity has provided us with a movie that explains the genesis, execution, and application of the new identity. Take a look and see if your opinion changes.

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Opinion BY Armin

D-emocrats

With the upcoming election to the United States Senate this November it’s every political party for itself as 37 seats are up for grabs. We won’t go into nomination strategies on Brand New, but we can certainly get into the logo that the Democratic National Committee has nominated as its best candidate to carry the party and its cadre of politicos gunning for the seats in the upcoming primaries and beyond. The logo was unveiled yesterday and was designed by New York-based SS+K.

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Opinion BY Armin

How do I Circle Thee? Let me Circle the Ways…

What started as a company producing “decorative laminates” in 1959 in Portugal, Sonae is now one of the countries largest corporations with almost 40,000 employees that work in a mind-numbing range of sectors across various Sonae-owned customer-facing operations: from food retail, to pharmacies, to clothing, to consumer electronics, to managing shopping centers, to telecommunications, to real estate. Basically, it’s hard to throw a stone in Portugal and not hit something owned or operated by Sonae. This past February it launched a new identity created by Lisboa-based Ivity Brand Corp.

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