Opinion BY Armin

Rescuing the American Red Cross

Established in 1881, the American Red Cross is one of the most well-known emergency response organizations in the world aiding victims of natural disasters and other emergencies. It counts with more than half a million volunteers and 35,000 employees across 700 national chapters. Recently, a new logo and design standards designed by Turner Duckworth have been quietly implemented. The Brand Standards manual can be seen here [PDF] and covers more than is represented in this post, in case you are interested.

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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

Buscapé

Founded in 1990 and known best for their price comparison website, Buscapé is a Brazlian e-commerce company with over 14 service sites. Their new identity was designed by Ana Couto Branding & Design. According to this story, Google Translated: “The concept of the foot (footprint) — which seeks new offers — replaced the arrow on the earlier mark. (…) The shape of the icon is a brand new price tag, a stamp and a foot. In addition to the symbol itself, we have a visual universe language, where the “feet” come to life and run quickly in search of the best bid.” The foot in action below (or after the jump).

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A B-Side BY Armin

IZIBUILD

IZI is a Portuguese home improvement store owned by PreBuild. In 2011 EuroRSCG rebranded IZI, now known as IZIBUILD. Prebuild’s Margarida Calvinho explains (as translated by Google) “the new graphic identity reinforces the strength, experience and credibility that characterized the group Prebuilt.”

Thanks to Rodolfo Foitinho for the tip.

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

Blip goes the Tittle

Established in 2005, Blip (formerly the annoyingly period’d Blip.TV) is a video site specifically designed for web series, as opposed to the one-hit-wonder machine that is YouTube or Vimeo, which is why many have never heard of it. It doesn’t have the inherent shearableness of the other two, which is why your aunt doesn’t send you FWDs of cats falling of a table on Blip. You have to go to it, just like you go to ABC or Showtime. Blip hosts over 300 million video views per month and unlike other video sites, it splits ad revenue 50/50 with the producers of each series. This month Blip introduced a new logo (and name) designed by Chermayeff & Geismar.

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Opinion BY John J Custer

Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm don’t Change Much

Founded in 1922 by retired farmer George J. Mecherle, State Farm originally specialized in auto insurance for farmers. The company has since expanded its services to provide multiple types of insurance, along with banking and financial assistance. Currently ranked 37 on the Fortune 500 list with 65,000 employees, 17,800 agents and about 81 million policies and accounts in force, State Farm generated 63.2 billion in revenue in 2011. With large numbers and witty ad campaigns as a springboard, State Farm turned to Chermayeff & Geismar to help update their brand for the 21st century.

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A B-Side BY Armin

CNET

Established in 1994, CNET is a website dedicated to tech product reviews, news, price comparisons, free software downloads, videos, and podcasts. This redesign marks a return to CNET’s original logo that was replaced from 2008 to 2011 by the before image. Here is our report from 2008. The logo was originally designed by Pentagram.

Thanks to Jeremy Segal for first tip.

Opinion BY Armin

La Presse gets Squared Away

Established in 1884, La Presse is one of the largest newspapers in Montréal, Québec with a circulation of over 200,000 copies and a reported “reach” of over 800,000 a week, and, like all newspapers, La Presse has online and mobile counterparts that further extend its reach. This week, the newspaper introduced a new logo and a unified look and naming across print and online media.

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Opinion BY Armin

Beam me up, Jim

In 1795, Jacob Beam sold his first barrel of whiskey in Kentucky. 216 years later, Beam Inc. is the fourth largest spirits company in the world producing and distributing some of the most well known spirit brands like the eponymous Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Sauza Tequila, Courvoisier, Knob Creek, and Effen Vodka, among a portfolio of 65 brands. Previously part of major holding company Fortune Brands, Beam is now an independent company that began trading on the NYSE earlier this month. Their new logo was introduced in August.

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Opinion BY Armin

Half Wolf, Half Dragon, a Whole Lot of Awesome

Launched in 2001 and originating in Romania, BitDefender is one of the leading software options for anti-virus protection and internet security, available for both home users and large businesses. This week, with the launch of its latest version, BitDefender introduced a new identity designed by Bucharest-based Brandient.

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Opinion BY Armin

ForeSeeing Arrows

Established in 2001, ForeSee Results “measures satisfaction across customer touch points and delivers critical insights on where to prioritize improvements for maximum impact.” With 200 employees and 58 million completed surveys ForeSee Results has become one of the most reliable tools for measuring customer satisfaction and is quoted regularly in the media. In August, the company announced it would be shortening its name to ForeSee and introduced a new logo designed by Lippincott.

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Opinion BY Armin

Swiss Air Lines, Literally

Established in 2002, Swiss International Air Lines (or just SWISS for short) is the main carrier in and out of Switzerland serving 72 destinations in 39 countries with a small fleet of 89 aircrafts — compared to, say, the 200-plus destinations and 700-plus aircrafts of Delta. Last week, SWISS announced a new identity design, and ad campaign, to be rolled out in October that will take over the identity created by Winkreative, dubbed the “cube”. Reportedly, the new work has been done by Publicis and Nose. A comprehensive press kit is available here.

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Opinion BY Armin

Budweiser Rocks the Bowtie

First brewed in 1876, Budweiser is one of the best-selling beers in the United States and probably one of the most recognized beers here and abroad. Budweiser is the flagship brand of Anheuser-Busch, that reportedly holds a 48.3 percent share of U.S. beer sales to retailers. This past Wednesday, Budweiser announced a new can design — the 12th redesign since 1936 when it began using them — focused on the “Budweiser bowtie” which, according to this explanatory diagram was created as a symbol to encourage people to order the beer by its full name, instead of just by “Bud”. The new packaging was designed by London-based JKR. (So much for the “All-American” beer).

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Opinion BY Armin

Attack of the Red Gradients

Established in 1976, EDP (Energias de Portugal) is not just the largest electricity and energy company in Portugal but also a major player globally with presence in Spain, Brazil, and the U.S. with more than 12,000 employees worldwide. It’s also the third largest wind operator in the world. Last week EDP unveiled a new identity designed by Sagmeister Inc.

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Opinion BY Armin

SeedSeed for QiaQia

Established in 2001 and located in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone in China, QiaQia produces what looks like delicious snacks of roasted sunflower, pumpkin, and watermelon seeds as well as pistachios, almonds, cashews, pecans and peanuts. With a broader consumer base around the world QiaQia has introduced a new identity designed by Alan Chan Design, one of the most well-known identity design firms in China.

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Opinion BY Rietje Gieskes

Hammer Time, is Over

If you live in the Netherlands and are in need of a new set of tools or paint supplies, you may find yourself heading to a newly rebranded Praxis. The popular hardware store chain consists of 136 stores, including some smaller franchises and 26 megastores. The new design has quietly appeared with little explanation or fanfare.

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Opinion BY Armin

Moscow Embraces Emoticons

This introduction might be a little choppy because my Russian goes as far as Google Translate will take me. As a personal initiative architect Nicholas Pereslegina and designer Alexander Pershikova have launched their very own brand for the city of Moscow without any government involvement (or maybe even approval). And this is not just some proposal on a Behance page, this is a full-on brand with merchandise and souvenirs already hitting the streets of Moscow. The concept of the new logo is Surprise + Smile = Wow.

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Opinion BY Armin

Office Doodles

Originally established in 1960 in Los Angeles, Viking Direct, supplier of office products to small and medium businesses, first appeared in the UK in 1990 and Australia in 1993 establishing a strong mail order presence overseas. It was purchased by Office Depot in 1998 and by 2002 had expanded its catalog and web delivery service to Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal. This month Viking Direct changed its name to just Viking and introduced a new identity designed by Lippincott (who also have a spiffy new website) that premiered with the mailing of over 30 million catalogues to customers in the UK and Ireland.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Mom’s Best Naturals

Mom’s Best Naturals is a line of breakfast cereals made from all natural ingredients. A new logo and packaging have been making it to market recently.

Thanks to Josh Crain for the tip.