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Langenscheidt

About: (Est. 1856) “Langenscheidt is a privately held German publishing company, specialising in language resource literature. As well as producing monolingual dictionaries, Langenscheidt also produces bilingual dictionaries and travel phrase-books, as well as maps and atlases.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Design by: KW43 Branddesign.

Ed.’s Notes: Now that is how you build a logo with structure (below or after the jump). German engineering at its best!

Relevant links: Exclusive images at Corporate Identity Portal.

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Germanwings

About: (Est. 2002) Germanwings is a low-cost airline based in Cologne, Germany, and is wholly owned by Lufthansa. Its fleet includes 32 Airbus A 319 that flies over 7.5 million passengers a year to over 90 destinations.

Design by: N/A.

Ed.’s Notes: Livery shot and video below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Press release.

Select quote: “The key element will be a stylised burgundy and yellow ‘W’, transforming the wings in Germanwings into a succinct icon.”

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Opinion BY Armin

From Barracks with Love

Established in 1992 in the small (pop. 71,000 and counting) town of Brandenburg an der Havel in Germany, Fachhochschule Brandenburg (wherein Fachhochschule translates to University of Applied Sciences) offers degree courses to approximately 3,000 students in engineering, business administration and economics as well as information technology and media. The university is housed in an 1880s building that originally served as barracks for the Prussian army. Last month Fachhochschule Brandenburg introduced a new identity designed by Thomas Manss & Company.

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Mirácoli

About: Mirácoli is a popular line of pasta and sauces in Germany. Previously owned by Kraft Foods and now by Mars (the same company that, yes, makes the chocolates).

Design by: Turner Duckworth.

Ed.’s Notes: Worth noting that when the logo is used on packaging it becomes a plate. Before/After of packaging below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Design Tagebuch (with a few more images).

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Deutschen Tennis Bundes

Established in 1902, Deutschen Tennis Bundes (DTB for short, German Tennis Federation for English) is the governing body of tennis federations and clubs in Germany, with more than 1,800,000 members. A new logo was introduced this month. Not clear if the smile was intentional or if it’s meant to be a tennis ball. More at Das Design Tagebuch, translate if needed.

Thanks to Marc Nijborg for the tip. Via Das Design Tagebuch.

Opinion BY Armin

There is no Gon like a Hexagon

Just launched in March — and, from what I understand, spun off Reproplan, a digital service bureau (a la FedEx Office) with 22 locations in Germany — PIGMENTPOL is a digital printing company with three locations across Germany providing small and large format printing, digital printing on specialty materials, fine art printing, textile printing, as well as all kinds of finishing. Their new identity was designed in collaboration between Dresden-based ATMO Design Studio and Berlin-based FELD. While the opening image above looks anything but interesting, the rest of the identity makes up for it.

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Unitymedia

Established in 2005, Unitymedia is one of Germany’s largest telecommunications companies, offering cable, internet, and land and mobile phone service. This March, it adopted the artichoke-shaped logo of its parent company, UPC Group. Bigger and single-color view below (or after the jump). A bit more info here.

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Berlin & Beyond

Founded in 1996 by the Goethe-Institut, Berlin & Beyond is an annual film festival in San Francisco, CA devoted to new cinema from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The latest festival’s identity has been designed by MetaDesign.

A B-Side BY Armin

Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains)

Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) sit at the border of Germany and the Czech Republic. As their name implies, the mountains were rich in ores, including silver, tin, and copper. It became an important mining area. A new logo for Tourismusverband Erzgebirge has been designed by Sandstein.

Via The Branding Source.

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Nationaltheater Mannheim

Established in 1957, in its current form and building, Nationaltheater Mannheim (National Theatre Mannheim) is a performance center for opera, ballet, and theater in Mannheim, Germany. A new identity has been designed by Munich-based Anzinger Wüschner Rasp. Not a lot of story. A cover featuring the new identity shown below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

Deutsche Eishockey Liga

Established in 1994, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League in English, DEL for short), is the professional Hockey league in Germany, featuring 14 teams and, apparently, the highest number of American and Canadian players outside the NHL. The new logo has been designed by buergerclever.

Thanks to Simon Vatareck for the tip.

A B-Side BY Armin

Frankfurt Book Fair

The Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse in German), running since 1949, is the world’s largest book fair in the world, attracting publishers from all countries representing every single book genre and industry imaginable — it is a great launching pad for new titles as well as for wheelings and dealings for securing international rights licenses and partnerships. Their logo has been redesigned for the upcoming fair this October.

Thanks to Sriparna Ghosh for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Viva gets Sharper

First aired in 1993, Viva is a music and entertainment channel on German television — with programming that ranges from Friends to America’s Next Top Model to Jackass to its own Top 10, Top 50, and Top 100 videos. Originally owned privately, Viva was purchased by MTV Europe in 2004 and since 2000 the channel has been exported to Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and the UK. In January Viva launched a new on-air package and identity developed by the internal creative team of MTV Networks Germany.

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Opinion BY Armin

Guten Tag 7up

There isn’t much to be introduced about 7up, the lemon-lime concoction offered by Pepsi that competes against Coca-Cola’s Sprite. I don’t like soda to begin with and lemon-lime sodas just taste like fermented bubbled water, so my connoisseurship in the realm of lemon-lime-soda-branding is limited. What I will say is that, in trying to look for a “before” image, 7up has one of the most voluble logos with at least five or six different variations coming up as “7up logo” in Google Images — for that reason, please note the above image is not “Before/After” but “American/German.” Anyway… In Germany, a new logo and packaging for 7up was introduced to the market late last year. There is no information to go from, other than the German 7up website.

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