A B-Side BY Armin

Gala TV

About: (Est. 1968) “Gala TV is a Mexican television network owned by Televisa. Originating at XEQ-TV in Mexico City, the network is distributed throughout Mexico through affiliates. […] The Gala TV schedule features mainly reruns of major Mexican telenovelas, reruns of Televisa series, soccer and lucha libre.” It was formerly called Galavision. (Source: Wikipedia)

Design by: Logo: Ideograma. Motion: Troika

Ed.’s Notes: This is not to be confused with the U.S. version of Galavision, covered here. It is also not to be confused with a subtle, sophisticated logo. Bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Televisa press release (in Spanish). Troika case study (only still frames).

Select quote: (translated with Google from Televisa press release) “This development will also be reflected in the new logo graphic image GalaTV that integrates three key areas: one stylized G comes from Galavision, its former name, a number 9 the channel in which currently airs in several cities, and range of colors representing the color bar television and dynamic and lively spirit of the new proposal, as well as a mosaic of colors that are a reflection of our spirit.”

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Opinion BY Armin

Historic Houses Trust Presses Caps Lock Key

Established in 1980, the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales in Australia protects and cares “for significant historic places, buildings, collections and landscapes with integrity, and enable people to enjoy and learn about them.” Along with twelve of the state’s most important historic houses, the trust also manages landscapes, a library and collections of paintings, furniture and objects. This month the trust announced it would be launching a new, public-facing brand under the name of Sydney Living Museums with the goal of increasing visits and awareness of this cultural institution. It will maintain Historic Houses Trust as the operational name. The new identity has been designed by Sydney-based Frost*.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2013

About: (Est. 1983) “The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Design by: N/A.

Ed.’s Notes: They sure have been on an app-icon-shape kick lately. It’s better than last year’s, but that’s not saying much. Bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: N/A.

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Opinion BY Armin

Acumen’s Manifesto as Logo

Established in 2001, Acumen (previously Acumen Fund) is a non-profit organization that “raises charitable donations to invest in companies, leaders, and ideas that are changing the way the world tackles poverty.” Acumen invests in companies with a focus on operations in East Africa, West Africa, India, Pakistan or Latin America in the sectors of agriculture, energy, education, health, housing, or water and, most importantly, that they make a product or deliver a service that addresses a critical need for the poor. Over the weekend, Acumen shortened its name, introduced a new identity designed by London-based johnson banks, and launched a new website by briteweb.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation

About: (Est. 1923) “The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation is a leading philanthropic organisation and Australia’s largest community foundation. The Foundation applies a combination of grants, research, community education and partnerships with donors and other funders to increase life opportunities and promote social inclusion. In 2012 it provided grants to more than 450 charitable agencies supporting people who are socially and economically disadvantaged. The Foundation has a keen interest in Homelessness, Ageing and Youth, and also funds eligible projects in Health, Arts and Heritage and the Environment.”

Design by: Designworks

Ed.’s Notes: Pretty! Bigger view of the logo and some applications below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Designworks case study. LMCF press release.

Select quote: “Through the use of colour, the vibrant new logo captures the Foundation’s range of programs from philanthropic services to research and grantmaking. Each colour featured in the logo represents an aspect of the Foundation’s business, and at the centre of the logo is the Foundation’s name in a simple, strong grey type face, bordered by a red heart.”

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Opinion BY Armin

Gold Coast 2018 Bursting at the Seams

First celebrated in 1930, the Commnonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event that occurs every four years and hosts athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations — 54 member states originally part of the British Empire — taking place in one of their cities. Certainly not as popular as the Olympics, but it is a significant sporting event for athletes and host cities. In 2018, the XXI Commonwealth Games will be played in the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The emblem for the 2018 games was unveiled earlier this month and was designed by WiteKite (no website available).

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Friday Likes BY Armin

Friday Likes 39

After a two-week hiatus, Friday Likes are back with colorful, somewhat colorful, and almost not colorful at all projects.

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Opinion BY Armin

Boom Goes the Logo

Established in 2010 in Sydney, Boom — originally Vid-id until late 2012 — is a social video advertising company that helps brands position and promote video campaigns so that they reach the most amount of targeted viewers for the longest period of time. With the name change came a new identity by Sydney-based Blow.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Amsterdam Gay Pride

About: (Est. 1996) “Amsterdam Gay Pride is a week to remember where we have been, celebrate how far we have come and take pride in where we are going. It is a captivating festival that salutes the power and beauty of sexual diversity. Bursting with loving energy and colourful creativity the party makes sure no one escapes the provoking and entertaining vibe of giving everyone the right to be who they are and love whoever they choose.”

Design by: VBAT.

Ed.’s Notes: Nice, subtle take on the rainbow color palette. Bigger and single-color versions of the logo below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: N/A.

Provided quote: “AGP has approached VBAT to create this new identity as the former ‘We Are’ logo, also developed by VBAT in 2008, will be used in a broader context as hallmark for all gay events in Amsterdam in the future. Therefore a new dedicated festival identity was wanted.”

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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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Opinion BY Armin

Open Sesame

Established in 1938 in the middle of National Park De Hoge Veluwe, a little over an hour outside of Amsterdam, the Kröller-Müller Museum is home to the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world as well as boasting the biggest sculpture garden in Europe. Looking to attract more visitors and raise its profile the museum has introduced a new identity designed by the Amsterdam office of Edenspiekermann.

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A B-Side BY Armin

EVS

About: (Est. 1994) “EVS provides its customers with reliable and innovative technology to enable the production of live, enriched video programming, allowing them to work more efficiently and boost their revenue streams. Its industry-leading broadcast and media production systems are used by broadcasters, production companies, post-production facilities, film studios, content owners and archive libraries around the globe. It spans four key markets — Sports, Entertainment, News and Media. The company is headquartered in Belgium and has offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and North and Latin America. Approximately 475 EVS professionals from 20 offices are selling its branded products in over 100 countries, and provide customer support globally.”

Design by: N/A.

Ed.’s Notes: Not terribly exciting but way better than the previous vampire logo. Bigger view and needlessly long video below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Semi press release.

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Opinion BY Armin

Credit Dos and Don’ts

Launched in 2010, Credit Do is a non-profit organization that aims to give youngsters a good grasp of what it takes to be financially responsible and independent while at the same time doing social good. Participants enroll in a project like, say, a food drive and they earn credit towards purchasing food, clothes, supplies, etc. from the local supermarket involved and then for every credit they earn ($10 an hour) another company will match that amount and place it in the participant’s saving account. A cycle of goodwill and small amounts of money earned! All the while, Credit Do provides simple lessons on finances. This month, they launched their first comprehensive website and new identity by New York, NY-based Mucca.

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Opinion BY Armin

Demanding More

Established in 2006, Demand Media is a “leading digital media company that informs and entertains one of the Internet’s largest audiences, helps advertisers find innovative ways to engage with their customers and enables publishers to expand their online presence.” They manage the immensely popular sites eHow and Cracked as well as livestrong.com and indieclick.com, among other smaller sites and services. This month Demand Media introduced a new identity designed by San Francisco, CA-based Manual.

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Opinion BY Armin

Bulgaria’s Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Approach Sinks

I always have a hard time introducing destinations so let’s just go with a few, simple facts about Bulgaria: located in Southeastern Europe it is the continent’s 14th-largest country with more than 7 million habitants and, apropos to this review, welcomes more than 8 million tourists per year. Last week, the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism introduced a new tourism logo designed by Sofia-based Publicis MARC Group that will begin to be used in September 2013.

Update: This new logo system does NOT replace the painted rose logo. This is NOT a country brand (for which the painted rose logo is used) but a tourism brand — the challenge being “To create a globally competitive integrated brand system for the first time in the history of the Bulgarian travel industry”. Publicis MARC Group has also provided some text. Apologies for any confusion.

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Opinion BY Armin

Qapital Charts a New Look

Started in 2011, Qapital is Swedish start-up that provides an online service to manage and get an overview of users’ personal finances. It’s not a bank nor a financial advise company, it simply connects to your existing bank accounts and generates charts and summaries of how, where, and when you spent your money. And it does it in a very pretty way. This month, Qapital has released its private Beta site and along with it a new identity designed by Stockholm-based Bedow.

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Opinion BY Armin

Tazo Drops the Gothic Act

Established in 1994 as an independent company and purchased by Starbucks in 1999, Tazo makes tea products and markets them as if tea were a higher calling. (I’m not knocking it, that’s just the way they do it — example of copywriting: “We experience the goodness of the leaves with all our senses, but most of all with our imaginations.”) Back in November new packaging started to appear in grocery stores and Starbucks and with the opening of the first Tazo store at University Village in Seattle a whole new identity has been introduced. No press release issue or design credit given. My guess is that it was internal, since Starbucks has such a strong in-house team. All the images below have been cobbled together from around the internet so it’s a little hodgepodge in terms of presentation, but you’ll get the point.

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Opinion BY Armin

Kangaroo Makeover

Tourism Australia is a Government-owned agency that is responsible for “attracting international visitors to Australia and encouraging Australians to travel domestically, both for leisure and business events.” In 2003, the agency received a big boost — as in $AU350 million over four years — to promote the country’s brand and in 2004 they introduced a logo designed by Futurebrand — see PDF case study — that introduced the image of the hopping kangaroo with the sun behind it. After eight years, this image appears to still hold value and has been redesigned by Interbrand Australia.

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Opinion BY Armin

Gradient Watchers

Established in 1963, Weight Watchers is the world’s leading provider of weight management services through a points system that assigns a number to each different food and caps your intake at a certain amount of points — so, say, you can eat 10 points a day, you can spend them on steamed chicken, broccoli, and wheat rice, or you could just eat a fucking doughnut. It’s more complex than that (and you can read a great article on Wired about how their point system has evolved). There are approximately 1.3 million members around the world who attend a whopping 45,000 combined meetings each week through a network of company-owned and franchise operations. Additionally, Weight Watchers produces its own branded food products, consumed at a rate of $5 billion last year. Earlier this month, Weight Watchers launched a new program called Weight Watchers 360° and with it came a new identity designed by Pentagram partner Paula Scher.

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Opinion BY Armin

Follow-up: Windows 8

Back in February we reported on the new Windows 8 logo designed by Pentagram partner Paula Scher — a release that got its thunder stolen by the leaking of the logo (not by us) ahead of time (not our fault). Officially, the Windows 8 logo is this and eight months after it was “unveiled,” the actual software behind the new, non-flag-anymore-logo was launched this past Friday to much hoopla around the world. See launch video later in this post. As part of the OS re-launch, which is a major departure from past Windowses, Microsoft is taking this opportunity to kickstart its new branding — after all, Windows is only the most used operating system in the world, so a lot of people are paying attention. The branding effort which now covers Windows but will spread into other Microsoft products has been lead by Wolff Olins, who describe their role to be “to curate all of the components and contributions into one clear, creative brand experience for consumers.” In the case of Windows these contributions include new packaging with structural construction by IDEO, illustrations conceived in collaboration with and created by Colors and The Kids, and brand imagery and video by Todd Selby.

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