Opinion BY Armin

The Devil is in the Details

Established in 1997 in Portland, OR, Oni Press is a small-ish independent comic books publisher known and respected for its innovative and out of the mainstream titles, including the popular Scott Pilgrim series as well as more nerdy ventures like bringing to comic book life Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen character. In Japanese folklore Oni refers to demons and devils and their logo originally featured an Oni trinket illustrated by Watchmen’s Dave Gibbons. The new logo was updated in-house and released last week.

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Opinion BY John J Custer

Life OK is Okay

Life OK is the new youth-oriented channel that is joining the STAR India network. It replaces the network’s previous youth channel, STAR One, as of December 2011. The new identity was designed by London-based venturethree.

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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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Opinion BY Armin

Hörst gets Hot

Hörst Dusseldorf, as its name implies, is a German brand — sold and distributed by a Canadian company based in Montréal — of high-end clothing for men that includes shirts, suits, pants, and other accoutrements to make a man feel more man than slob. (Their site seems to have broken down in the last hour or so). This past December, they introduced a whole new look designed by Montréal-based Lg2boutique.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Meebo

Launched in 2005, Meebo is a “consumer internet company that organizes the web around people, and helps build out their interest graph for easy, faster access to relevant info on the web.” They recently relaunched their service and are sporting a new logo.

Thanks to Andrew Watterson for the tip.

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

Paramount Pictures Goes Wide Shot

Established in 1912, Paramount Pictures is the oldest and one of the major, top-grossing film studios in Hollywood. Among thousands of movies some notables are franchises like The Godfather, Indiana Jones, The Naked Gun, and Mission: Impossible. To celebrate their upcoming 100th anniversary in 2012, Paramount Pictures is introducing a revised logo to play at the beginning of its movies, designed by Santa Monica, CA-based Devastudios.

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A B-Side BY Armin

TuneIn

Founded in 2002, TuneIn Radio is a free service that allows you to, well, tune in to more than 50,000 radio stations through your browser or smartphone. “Our new logo combines the ‘t’ and ‘i’ from our name into a shape that conveys a simple form of humanity.” Blog post announcing the new logo here.

Thanks to Erik Botsford for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

The Huntsman Rides Again

Founded in 1822 by Joshua Tetley, Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds in West Yorkshire, England is one of the better known beer brands in the UK. Perhaps not always for the right reasons. Although it enjoyed quite a bit of success before the 2000s, Tetley’s beer has bounced around owners — now owned by Carlsberg — and closed its legendary plant in Leeds. Tetley’s is heavily involved in the sponsorship of Rugby teams and its most recent logo and packaging focused a little too heavily on that. Tetley’s recently reintroduced its iconic huntsman logo and new packaging, designed by Leeds-based WPA Pinfold.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Agero

Established in 1972 and now the merger of Cross Country Automotive Services and ATX Group, Agero (pronounced “Ajeero”) is a provider of roadside assistance, claims management and connected vehicle services for the automotive, insurance and aftermarket industries. Press release here.

Thanks to Heather Memmel for the tip.

A B-Side BY Armin

Turkcell

Established in 1994, Turkcell is Turkey’s largest mobile service provider with more than 34 million customers. A new logo that abstracts its yellow martian was recently introduced.

Thanks to Cuneyt Erkol for the tip.

Opinion BY Clinton Duncan

Sydney’s Endless Love

Since 1978 Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has evolved from an act of protest, into one of the city’s biggest annual parties, with an associated festival program that celebrates the diversity of the Gay and Lesbian community. The event draws tourists from around the world, and is renowned as one of the biggest, brightest, and most fabulous celebrations of all things LGBT. Every year, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, Oxford Street, is taken over by thousands of people who dress up, (or in many cases, dress down), to parade and party all night. After a few ups and downs in previous years, including a bankruptcy and a rename, the festival has revealed a new logo, designed by Sydney-based Moon.

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A B-Side BY Armin

JOBY

Founded in 2005, JOBY produces the very popular GorillaPod line of flexible tripods, among others. A new logo was introduced recently, designed by Indicate Design Groupe.

A B-Side BY Armin

ARCA

Established in 1998 ARCA is a technology company that supplies cash automation solutions for financial institutions, retail merchants and self-service kiosk systems. Customers include banks, retail stores, gaming and park facilities, car washes and companies use that kiosks for self-service checkout and bill payment. New logo was designed by Indicate Design Groupe.

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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Opinion BY Armin

Old Arrow for New Leaders

Established in 2000, New Leaders (formerly New Leaders for New Schools) is a nonprofit organization that “develops transformational leaders for high-need schools and promotes the system-level policies and practices that allows strong leaders to succeed.” New Leaders runs its training programs in 12 urban areas throughout the US. In the last ten years, New Leaders has prepared almost 800 educators through a variety of their programs like the Emerging Leaders Program, Aspiring Principals Program, and the Principal Institute. In September New Leaders introduced a new identity, designed by Chermayeff & Geismar, to reflect their name change. Disclosure for whatever it’s worth: While at Pentagram and later as UnderConsideration I did collateral material work for New Leaders, 6 and 4 years ago respectively.

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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.

Opinion BY Armin

Infinite Mountain

First opened in 1987 in New Zealand, Kathmandu is a specialty retailer and manufacturer of clothing and equipment for the adventuresome, outdoorsy audience. Kathmandu has 116 stores across New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. Their sales are 95% of Kathmandu-branded products, but they also carry popular brands like Keen, Teva, and Salomon. In September Kathmandu introduced a new logo, identity, and packaging system designed by Strategy Design & Advertising.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Dart

Introduced by Google this month, Dart is a new “programming language the company hopes will help Web application programmers overcome shortcomings of JavaScript.” Story here. Of interest: The logo, designed by Michael Nieling of Ocupop, was first sketched while sitting in the audience during the Brand New Conference this past September.

A B-Side BY Armin

Brown Shoe Company

Established in 1875, Brown Shoe Company operates more than 1,300 Famous Footwear and Naturalizer retail stores and designs, sources and markets many well-known wholesale shoe brands, such as Via Spiga, Vera Wang Lavender, Sam Edelman, Franco Sarto, Naturalizer, LifeStride, Avia, and Dr. Scholl’s. Here is an interview with their creative director and a look at some pages from their guidelines.

Thanks to Brad Gutting for the tip.