Opinion BY Armin

TaskRabbit’s Bag Gone Missing

Established in 2008, TaskRabbit is an online service that connects people (TaskPosters) who need something done and either don’t have the time to do it, the desire to do it, or the expertise to do it with people (TaskRabbits) that have the time, desire, and expertise to do it — perhaps, too, the need (or want) for some extra cash. The premise is simple: say you have a wall that needs to be painted and you post it as a task and establish a fee you are willing to pay, then TaskRabbits bid to do the task by submitting their own fee and expertise, you choose and the person comes in and does the job. TaskRabbit is available in few cities at the moment, like New York, San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago and there are over 4,000 vetted TaskRabbits running around doing errands and jobs. This month, TaskRabbit introduced a new logo designed in-house.

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A B-Side BY Armin

O’Charley’s

About: (Est. 1971) “O’Charley’s is a casual dining restaurants chain in the United States, with more than 230+ company-owned locations. O’Charley’s is located in 17 Southern and Midwestern states, including four franchised O’Charley’s restaurants in Michigan, one franchised O’Charley’s in Ohio, three joint venture O’Charley’s restaurants in Louisiana, and one joint venture O’Charley’s restaurant in Wisconsin.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Ed.’s Notes: Had never heard of this place, or, well, these 230 places. The new one isn’t that great but the old one, with the horribly slanted Bookman, was a true horror. Bigger view of the logo and exterior shot of the restaurant below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Restaurant News Article. Enhanced Online News Article.

Select quote: “The new identity derives inspiration from the approach of Charley Watkins, the man who founded O’Charley’s, and will be encapsulated in the following Watkins quote prominently featured at all O’Charley’s entrances: ‘Everyone who walks through this door is a friend of mine.’ The quote’s attitude will be born out in the new visual identity and updated menu as well as in the welcoming layout and openness of new floor plans which feature different rooms named to reflect its southern heritage such as The Piedmont, The Charles, and The Porch.”

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A B-Side BY Armin

Spotify

About: (Est. 2008) “Spotify is an award-winning digital music service that gives you on-demand access to over 20 million tracks. Our dream is to make all the world’s music available instantly to everyone, wherever and whenever they want it. Spotify makes it easier than ever to discover, manage and share music with your friends, while making sure that artists get a fair deal. Spotify is available in 17 countries: USA, UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Luxembourg with more than 15 million active users, and over 4 million paying subscribers.”

Design by: N/A

Ed.’s Notes: From terrible logo to bad logo. A success of sorts, I guess.

Relevant links: N/A.

Thanks to Mark Johnson for first tip.

A B-Side BY Armin

Summit Brewing Company

About: (Est. 1986) “Summit Brewing Company has stayed close to its roots, serving the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. Summit’s beers are currently available in 17 states including Minnesota, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Summit now produces 12 varieties of premium craft beer, including seven year-round, four seasonal beers, and the limited release Unchained Series. Since its inception, the brewery has been a consistent pioneer in the craft beer movement.”

Design by: Duffy & Partners.

Ed.’s Notes: Bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Press release. Star Tribune story.

Provided quote: “Summit’s new look is an evolution of the brand’s past two logos, a brand expression that authentically reflects Summit’s unique craft. Duffy’s goal is to express the Summit name so that it punctuates the pictorial idea of an actual summit. This in-turn leverages the equity of the diamond shape that has been the hallmark of the Summit logo from the beginning. Summit Avenue, a vein running through the heart of St. Paul can be seen in the interpretation of a street sign which honors the local community and the heart of this hometown brand.”

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Opinion BY Armin

National Rugby League Goes Corporate’er

Established in 1997, the National Rugby League (NRL) is the premier league of professional rugby football clubs in Australasia with sixteen teams competing across Australia and New Zealand through a 26-week season culminating in the Grand Final. This week, the NRL introduced a new logo for itself and a broad system that seeps down into all the different leagues, competitions, and initiatives. No design credit given.

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Opinion BY Armin

Energy-infused Logo

Established in 1995, TRUEnergy is one of Australia’s largest energy retailers, servicing over 2.7 million customers. In March of 2011 they announced that they would be purchasing the retail operation of EnergyAustralia, a state-owned company that manages the electricity network assets (poles, wires, and substations) which, in turn, have been transformed into a new company called Ausgrid. In August, EnergyAustralia unveiled a new logo that will serve to transition TRUenergy into the name — for now the only place showing the new logo is here with both companies still operating their own websites, probably doing a slow transition into the change. The logo and national advertising campaign were created by Leo Burnett Sydney.

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A B-Side BY Armin

oDesk

Launched in 2003, oDesk is an online workplace, “enabling businesses and contractors to work together without geographic limits.” In the first quarter of 2012, oDesk posted 399,071 jobs and there 273,844 applicants, making it one of the largest online services of its kind. A new logo was introduced recently, designed by Turner Duckworth. A bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

Old McDonald Had a Logo

Established in 1916 along with the Federal Farm Loan Act that helped establish the Farm Credit System, Farm Credit service of Mid-America (FCSM) is an agricultural cooperative lender — owned and controlled by their customer-members — serving more than 92,500 customer-members throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee through 92 offices and more than 900 employees, backed by $17.4 billion in owned and managed loan assets. In May, FCSM introduced a revised logo and brand relaunch designed by Minneapolis, MN-based Colle + McVoy.

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Opinion BY Armin

Raising the Bars

Established in 2007, NYSE Euronext is the holding company of some of the most important and influential securities exchanges in the world, including the doubly eponymous New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Euronext, trading equities, futures, options, fixed-income, and exchange-traded products. With 2,993 employees and 8,000 listed issues NYSE Euronext represents “one-third of the world’s equities trading and the most liquidity of any global exchange group.” Yesterday, NYSE Euronext introduced a new identity designed by Interbrand.

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Opinion BY Armin

A Smile from L to L

Established in 1905, Carulla is a chain of grocery stores across Colombia with 76 locations and 6,000 employees. This past Friday, it introduced a revised identity designed by Bogotá, Colombia-based SmartBrands that will roll out in a dozen stores first.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Kiwibank

Established in 2002, Kiwibank is a New Zealand-based bank with more than 800,000 customers competing against the bigger (and Australia-based) banks like ANZ, ASB, BNZ, National Bank, and Westpac. A new logo (on a very nice new website) was introduced recently. To celebrate becoming a 10-year-old, Kiwibank also released a new TV spot by Ogilvy Auckland, shown below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

Beer for the People

First brewed in 1893 and originally named Cerveza Cuauhtémoc after the sixteenth-century Mexican emperor, Indio, as it quickly became called by consumers and renamed as such in 1905, is a dark (and super tasty) beer produced by Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, part of global brewery Heineken. This week Indio introduced a new logo and packaging designed by Mexico City-based Olabuenaga Chemistri London-based Bulletproof.

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A B-Side BY Armin

California Tortilla

Established in 1995 in Bethesda, MD, California Tortilla is a chain of fast casual Tex-Mex restaurants with 36 locations on the East Coast in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and DC. A new avocado-based logo was introduced earlier this year. Story here. Logo detail below (or after the jump).

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A B-Side BY Armin

Groen

Founded in 1982, Groen (“Green” in English) is the Flemish green political party in Belgium. After eight years with a bright green logo with an exclamation point at the end, Groen is aiming for a more modest logo. Press release here (in Dutch).

Thanks to Geert De Deckere for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Meet Mr. PIP

Established in 1983, Belkin designs and produces a broad range of consumer electronic products, from routers, to mobile accessories, to a perplexing but always life-saving range of USB and cables — or, as they so eloquently and on-brand put it, “Belkin products connect the dots between people and technology.” To coincide with, CES, the biggest electronic show — and with the return of Belkin founder, Chet Pipkin (pay attention to the name) — Belkin has introduced a new identity designed by Wolff Olins.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Golden Boy Foods

Established in 1979, Golden Boy Foods is a manufacturer of private label foods like peanut butter, trail mixes, snacking nuts, and more. The new identity was designed by TAXI Vancouver. Some applications below (or after the jump).

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A B-Side BY Armin

Home Forward

Established in 1941, Home Forward (formerly known as Housing Authority of Portland) is the largest provider of affordable housing in the state of Oregon. On the new logo: “Vivid blue, green and featuring a ‘flourishing home’ symbol that combines the two colors, the new identity tells current and future residents, business partners, and community members that Home Forward is a progressive, positive enterprise committed to a better tomorrow, for the organization and especially for its residents”. Full press release here [PDF]. The new identity has been designed by Bend, OR-based Brand Navigation. A detail of the logo below (or after the jump) and a full case study here. This is one of my favorite icons of the year: simple, smart, and hopeful.

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A B-Side BY Armin

TreeHouse

Opened last week in Austin, TX, TreeHouse is a 25,000-square-foot store dedicated to sustainable and healthy-living products for home improvement. Home Depot with an environmental conscience if you will. The new logo was designed by Austin-based McGarrah Jessee. Press release of the opening here and a video with an inside look at the store here.

Thanks to Cole Baldwin for the tip.

A B-Side BY Armin

Educating Tomorrow

Educating Tomorrow is a “teacher-based coalition that believes our schools must take the lead in moving toward a greener future by providing our children and future leaders with an environmental education and exemplary environmental programs, such as school-wide recycling.” Their new identity, designed by New York-based Language Dept., is one of the 2011 projects of the fabulous desigNYC, a “group of designers and design advocates with the mission of helping nonprofit and community groups in need of design services connect with professional, pro bono design resources.” A few application images below (or after the jump).

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A B-Side BY Armin

Zaatar w Zeit

Established in 1999, Zaatar w Zeit — or “Thyme and Olive Oil Mix” — is a fast food chain in Lebanon, Kuwait and the Emirates. New logo has been designed by Pearlfisher, with this to say about it: “The new logo is a distinctive, modern marque that provides a more literal and graphic expression by creating a simple link between the thyme and the oil, the leaf and the droplet, and forms a distinctive ‘Z’ within the negative space.”