Opinion BY Armin

jcpenney Nails the American Look

As you might remember, jcpenney landed in the top three of my 2011 Worst list for its bake-off approach to designing the last iteration of their logo, so it was with both high and low expectations that I approached a highly public company reimagining announced yesterday. If you don’t mind, I’ll repeat the same introduction from last year: First opened as a dry-goods store named the “Golden Rule” in Kemmerer, Wyoming by James Cash Penney in 1902, JCPenney today is a publicly-traded company with 1,100 department stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, mostly in shopping malls. Providing fairly decent middle-of-the-road merchandise, JCPenney is an extremely popular destination for finding affordable items without the top brand names attached — they develop many of their own brands. / End recycled intro. / “Every initiative we pursue,” starting February 1, reads the press release, “will be guided by our core value to treat customers as we would like to be treated — fair and square.” New store designs, new brand names, new spokesperson partner in Ellen DeGeneres, and — yay — new logo and identity will be rolled out. No design firm is credited (leads anyone?).

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Opinion BY Armin

Pull Here

Founded in 1989 and 1986 respectively, Nara Bank and Center Bank have provided financial services to the Korean-American community across the United States. This past November they announced a merger to create BBCN Bank, creating the largest financial institution for this community in the country, with 44 full-service branches in California, New York, New Jersey, Washington and Illinois. I couldn’t find out who designed the logo, nor are there any explanations of what it means but, for some reason, I thought it was an interesting logo to point out.

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Opinion BY Armin

Simple Banking, an Oxymoron Realized

Launched this Fall, Simple (formerly BankSimple) is a new alternative to banking with big ass banks that are pain in the ass. If you’ve ever called your bank’s customer support or tried to decode the online statements and wished that instead you were sitting naked in an igloo then you know what I’m talking about. Simple is not a bank, they are an intermediary between you and a bank. As they put it, “We take care of you, our bank partners take care of your money.” They provide a Visa card and you can then track your account and expenses through an amazingly designed and intuitive online and mobile interface. After being in Beta for a few months, Simple has launched to the public with a new name and new identity designed in-house by Ian Collins.

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Opinion BY Armin

Floating Soap

First sold in 1879, Ivory soap is one of the flagship brands of giant Procter & Gamble as it was one of its first products. While originally just a manufacturer of candles, P&G sought to create an American soap that would compete with the more luxurious soaps imported from Europe. This led to the formulation of a silky, ultra white soap that was embedded with air bubbles, making it float on water. Over the last 132 years the Ivory packaging and logo have changed numerous times, going from ornamental logos to serifs to sans serifs to the latest version which looks like everything else you can buy at your national chain pharmacy. With the launch of a national ad campaign by Wieden + Kennedy, Ivory has introduced a new logo and packaging.

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Opinion BY Armin

I’ll Toast to That. Not.

Established in 1924, Toastmasters International (TI) is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. TI currently has more than 270,000 members in over 13,000 clubs in 116 countries. Among its notable alumni are actors Leonard Nimoy and Tim Allen, but it helps people in any profession and walk of life to gain competence in communication that, in turn, gives them the confidence to lead others. In August TI introduced a new identity, the first change in 70 years.

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Opinion BY Armin

Oily Wave

Founded as the Ohio Oil Company in 1887, the Marathon Oil Company, known as such since 1930, is an oil an energy company that has recently divided its two main businesses: 1) The “upstream” business, which is responsible for the exploration and mining of oil and 2) The “downstream” business, which is about the refining, marketing, and transportation of the oil. In broad terms. The upstream business has been spun-off into its own company called Marathon Petroleum Corporation and is keeping the old logo. The downstream business has kept the Marathon Oil Company name and adopted a new logo, designed by Houston, TX-based BrandExtract.

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Opinion BY Clinton Duncan

Like a Virgin

Virgin Blue is (was) an Australian budget airline and yet another in the huge range of Virgin businesses around the world. Following the appointment of John Borghetti as Virgin Blue’s new CEO, Hans Hulsbosch, of the eponymous Hulsbosch Design, was named Creative Director for the airline. Thus began a 12-month transformation process away from budget and towards a “full-service” airline, culminating in new branding and the rename to Virgin Australia.

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Opinion BY Armin

OCAD U, All New

Founded in 1876, OCAD University is Canada’s largest art and design institution, located in Toronto, Ontario. Formerly known as Ontario College of Art and Design, the school changed its name in 2007 to OCAD University when it received degree-granting status. Despite the “C” in the name still standing for “College” the acronym was kept as it had substantial equity and recognition. In 2004, OCAD University moved into its new campus, a radical structure designed by Alsop Architects that looks like a cross between a crossword puzzle and those super tall robots from War of the Worlds, with some color sprinkled for good measure. It may sound like a jab at the building, but the thing is truly jaw-dropping when you are standing below it. Anyway. Last night, at the 96th Annual Graduate Exhibition, the school unveiled a new identity, created by Toronto-based Bruce Mau Design (BMD), as well as another slight name change, to OCAD U.

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Opinion BY Armin

For Immediate Release: The Transformer

Founded in 1972 by William D. Novelli and Jack Porter in Washington DC, Porter Novelli was started to “apply marketing to social and health issues.” Today, with 90 offices in 60 countries, Porter Novelli is one of the leading public relations firms in the world balancing its original scope of clients as well as working with consumer brands. They are responsible for projects like the Truth anti-smoking campaign and the original and new food pyramids. Earlier this month, Porter Novelli introduced a new identity designed by Interbrand.

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Opinion BY Armin

OnStar gets OnGotham

First developed in 1995 by General Motors in collaboration with Electronic Data Systems and Hughes Electronics Corporation, OnStar is a “provider of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services” integrated with all contemporary GM models. Some of its main functions include monitoring the car through GPS in the event of a stolen vehicle, it can deploy medical assistance at the touch of a button, hands-free calling, and, perhaps, most popularly, it has the ability to unlock the cars to your door as you slap your forehead when you see the keys dangling from the ignition. OnStar is a subscription based service, and more than 6 million users pay between $18 and $28 for it. In mid-September OnStar announced new services — like the ability to, OMG, update your Facebook status via voice control — a new brand message, “Responsible Connectivity”; new tagline, “Live On”; new ad campaign; and a new logo. The advertising was done by Warren, MI-based Campbell-Ewald, and I am not sure if they also carried out the identity redesign.

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Opinion BY Armin

The World, Underlined

Founded in 1987, Conservation International (CI) is an organization with 900-plus employees across more than thirty global offices. Its mission is to build “upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, [to empower] societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the well-being of humanity.” CI has partnered with companies like Starbucks, Patagonia and Walmart and works with government bodies to achieve its mission. Earlier this month, as CI announced plans to expand its scope and scale of work, it introduced a new identity designed by Chermayeff & Geismar.

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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 Clinton Duncan

Orange Tart

QR National is a soon to be listed public company that owns and operates Australia’s largest rail freight network. In a country that is the world’s largest exporter of coal, it’s not surprising that QR National is also the world’s largest transporter of the dirty rocks. In a big brown land, with big brown trains, from the state of the big pineapple, big mango, big bottle of rum and the big boofhead, a big new company is about to be created — with a smart new identity courtesy of Cornwall Design, Melbourne.

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