A B-Side BY Armin

Voya Financial

About: (Est. 1975) “Voya Financial, previously ING U.S., is a leading provider of financial products and services, both at the workplace and through an expansive distribution network of financial professionals. Voya’s mission is to guide Americans on their journey to greater retirement readiness and to make a secure financial future possible—one person, one family and one institution at a time.”

Design by: Interbrand.

Ed.’s Notes: The name is described as “an abstract name coined from the word ‘voyage’,” and the same could be said for the typography: an abstract take on what letterforms are supposed to bend like. That’s sort of a dig. The idea seems okay, but the resolution of how the letterforms bend and twist is highly unresolved and inconsistent. Bigger view of the logo and an application below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: ING’s explanation. CoreBrand article. brandchannel article. Advertising Age article.

Select quote: “The selection of a new brand for ING U.S. took months of extensive research and testing. We started with a list of 5,230 potential names. After conducting multiple rounds of creative refinement, 390 legal prescreens and testing it in nearly 60 different languages, we believe the new name best reflects our company’s mission, values and personality – Voya.”

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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

I See Yoo

Just launched by SKY New Zealand and Television New Zealand, IGLOO is a “digital set top box that plugs into your telly and broadcasts through your UHF aerial” giving users in New Zealand access to free-to-air channels and, its main hook, a pre-paid range of premium channels without long-term contracts, going on a month-to-month basis with only the channels you want and not bloated packages with channels no one watches. The name, brand, and roll-out have been created by Interbrand Australia.

Update: I have changed the title of the post (originally “Not your Eskimos’ Igloo” (as a play on “Not your parents’ this or that)) as I was not aware that Eskimo is considered a pejorative term. Apologies to anyone who thought of it as offensive; it wasn’t my intention.

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Opinion BY Armin

It’s a Bookworld After All

Owned by Pearson Australia Group after it purchased the Australian Borders and Angus & Robertson online businesses in 2011, Bookworld is an online book, music, and video retailer with over half a million existing customers and a focus on Australian authors and artists. It also has a very clear target of beating Amazon by offering lower prices and free delivery. Earlier this Fall, Bookworld introduced a new identity designed by Interbrand Australia.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Cancer Research UK

Established in 1902, Cancer Research UK is, as its name implies, a cancer research and awareness charity in the UK. A new identity has been designed by Interbrand, the new logo “and specifically the ‘C’ symbol embodies our role and ambition — lots of smaller parts that make up the bigger picture, all coming together to disintegrate cancer, and deliver a world where cancer is no longer feared.” Info on the redesign here. Story and a few application images here.

Thanks to Alice Ralph for the tip.

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

Qagoma

Established in 1895, The Queensland Art Gallery in Australia is one of the leading visual arts institutions in the country with more than 14,000 Australian and international paintings, sculptures, decorative art objects, multimedia installations, and works on paper. In 2006, the Gallery of Modern Art was opened as a sister institution to focus on contemporary work. For a quick distinction the Gallery offers that “the historical (pre-1970) collections are displayed at the Queensland Art Gallery, while the contemporary collections (1970 onwards) are displayed at the Gallery of Modern Art.” This month the “Queensland Art Gallery|Gallery of Modern Art”, a mouthful, has been rebranded as QAGOMA an abbreviated abbreviation of QAG and GOMA, with a new identity by Interbrand Australia.

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Opinion BY Armin

New Theatre on Rotation

Established in 1932, the New Theatre is a proudly independent theater in Sydney, Australia. “We’re not slick, we’re not refined and we don’t conform,” is only one of many statements it makes, “We believe in artistic and social expression, not just escapism. When we take the stage, we’re for real.” Or “We’re driven by passion, not money.” You get the point. This past January, New Theatre introduced a new visual and verbal identity created by the Sydney office of Interbrand.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Texas Farm Bureau

Established in 1933, the Texas Farm Bureau is a member-controlled and financed organization that provides “a voice for farmers, ranchers, rural citizens and everyone interested in preserving and protecting this way of life” and one of its main functions is grassroots policy development. The new logo has been designed by Interbrand. More images here. Press release here. As far as updates go, this is one of the most remarkable, simply because of how un-designed the old one was.

Thanks to James I. Bowie for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Fight Old Logos, Make New Good Ones

Established in 1989, Alzheimer’s Australia, a federation of State and Territory member associations, is a “charity providing support and advocacy for Australians leaving with dementia.” Earlier this month Alzheimer’s Australia introduced a new identity designed by Interbrand Australia with the goal of making their “first move in a step change towards the way the organisation voices the issues surrounding dementia and the lives it affects.” The identity was launched on October 13 with a march at Parliament House, to demand $500 million over five years to address the dementia epidemic.

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Opinion BY Armin

Color me Colorful

Established in 1993, Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications company, providing mobile, home phone, internet, and cable services, employing more than 39,000 people around the world. As some of our tipsters have noted, Telstra is the Australian equivalent of AT&T. Yesterday, Telstra unveiled a new identity designed by the Sydney office of Interbrand.

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Opinion BY Armin

The Ryder Cup gets a Crest

First played in 1927 and named after English seed merchant Samuel Ryder, the Ryder Cup, organized jointly by Ryder Cup Europe and PGA, is a biennial golf tournament that pits twelve-player teams of Europe and United States against each other — the U.S. counts with 25 wins against Europe’s 8. The venue for the Ryder Cup alternates between European and American cities with the last having been played at Newport, Wales in 2010 and the upcoming one at Medinah, Illinois in 2012. This week the Ryder Cup announced a new logo designed by Interbrand.

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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

Belgium’s Post Loses Horn, Caps

Originally established in 1830 as Les Postes, the postal service of Belgium has grown to be its second largest employer, and since 1992 it has been known as simply De Poste-La Poste (“The Post” in Dutch and French). In 2006, Post Danmark and CVC Capital Partners acquired a minority ownership (at 49.9%) from the state, and beginning in January 2011, the post service will become a private company and be released from control by the state. Last month a new name, the all lowercase bpost, and identity, designed by Interbrand, were introduced.

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