A B-Side BY Armin

Banelco

About: (Est. 1985) “Banelco is an ATM network in Argentina. Established in 1985, Banelco offers several services related to the cash flow management, including debit cards, electronic transfers, services payments, etc. Operating 4,500 ATMs (one third of the total in the country)[…]. The company also operates Pagomiscuentas, an electronic bill payment service. Banelco, an acronym for Banca Electrónica Compartida, is owned by private banks. Link, in turn, is used primarily by state owned banks.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Design by: DAS Branding.

Ed.’s Notes: Fairly nice, in that South American corporate identity kind of way (rounded, bold sans serif, italicized). A few more images below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: DAS Branding case study.

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Opinion BY Armin

X Marks the Port

Used as far back as the thirteenth century, the Port of Amsterdam is ranked as the number 4 port in Europe, handling almost 93 million metric tons of cargo annually, employing directly (and indirectly through port-related companies) 55,000 people. The Port’s main goal, besides moving stuff, is “stimulating economic activity and employment in the entire Amsterdam port region.” Previously owned and managed by the local government, this April the port was established as an independent, corporate entity with the City of Amsterdam as the main shareholder and a new logo was introduced, designed by Groningen, the Netherlands-based Hole in the Dyke.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Vevo

About: (Est. 2009) “Vevo is a joint venture music video website operated by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The videos on Vevo are syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue.” (Source: Wikipedia).

Design by: Red Antler.

Ed.’s Notes: I like it. Bigger view of the logo, some motion graphics, and a couple applications below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Red Antler case study.

Select quote: “We’ve introduced a streamlined, lowercase logotype, creating a brand that celebrates fans. expressive, in-your-face graphics, rich color, and strong typography reflect an infectious passion for music.”

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A B-Side BY Armin

Ooredoo

About: (Est. 1998 originally as Qtel) “The Ooredoo Group is a leading international communications company, with a significant presence in the MENA region and Southeast Asia, and having a consolidated customer base of 83 million as of December 2011. It operates a portfolio of brands including Ooredoo, Indosat, Asiacell, Wataniya, Nawras, Nedjma and Tunisiana.

The Ooredoo Group’s principle activities are mobile telephone services, broadband solutions, digital futures and fibre technologies, serving both consumer and business markets. Headquartered in Doha, Qatar, the Ooredoo Group is ambitiously growing its global business on the basis of its insights into the needs of customers in emerging markets. Ooredoo Group’s ultimate parent company is Ooredoo Q.S.C. (formerly Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Q.S.C), whose shares are listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.”

Design by: N/A

Ed.’s Notes: Strange-sounding name for global scaling. Lots of circles if that’s your thing. Video of the launch event and alternate square version of the logo below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Ooredoo FAQs. Qtel is now Ooredoo.

Select quote: “The new name is an Arabic word meaning ‘I want’. It conveys the aspirations of our customers and symbolises our commitment to enrich people’s lives.”

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Opinion BY Armin

Activating Schools without Clichés

Launched at the end of February, Let’s Move! Active Schools is a new initiative that will provide “simple steps and tools to help schools create active environments where students get 60 minutes of physical activity before, during and after the school day.” Active Schools is part of Michelle Obama’s larger Let’s Move program and is being powered by Nike, which will invest over the course of five years “$50 million in the U.S. to increase the physical activity of kids in schools and communities as well as target advocacy efforts to inspire kids and draw additional resources to this important effort” as stated in this press release that lists the rest of the program’s partners. Nike worked with Wolff Olins to create a new brand for Let’s Move! Active Schools.

Update: The Nike team that worked with WO was Joe Stitzlein and Michael Malowanczyk. A few more images have been posted at the end, courtesy of Michael.

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Opinion BY Armin

Knock-Knock-Knocking on Hell’s Door

Smack in the middle and covering the south area of Australia, South Australia is one of the eight states and territories of the country, accounting for a small 8% of its population, most of them living in the capital city of Adelaide. Unlike its way more popular neighbors New South Wales and Victoria and their own capital cities, Sydney and Melbourne respectively, we don’t hear much about South Australia. Hoping to change that, the Economic Development Board under the leadership of Jay Weatherill, Premier of South Australia, has just introduced a new identity for the state designed by Cato Partners. Without getting further into the work, and judging from the image above alone, you know that this is not going to end well and the backlash has already started, driven mostly by a Facebook page simply called The new South Australia logo sucks.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Ms. Foundation for Women

About: (Est. 1973) “The Ms. Foundation for Women fights to eliminate barriers for every woman in the U.S. For 40 years, we have worked tirelessly to secure women’s rights and freedoms with a special commitment to building the power of low-income, immigrant and women of color. At our core, we are advocates giving a voice to women to elevate their most pressing issues. We’re continually investing funds, time, expertise and training in more than 100 trailblazing organizations nationwide to secure a better future for ourselves, our families and our communities.”

Design by: Sullivan.

Ed.’s Notes: Nice double use of the “M” as “W”. Bigger view of the logo and sample applications below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: N/A.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Ef-Sharp

About: F# (or Ef-Sharp) “connects brands to consumers through the power of music in purposeful ads on social media platforms such as Spotify and Facebook. F# has worked with leading Fortune 500 brands to deliver some of the highest engagement rates in the industry. Brands and agencies choose F# because we design ads differently. We think banner ads suck. And, that the consumer is entitled to rewarding, content-enriched experiences from brands. Our platform provides brand-supported experiences that reward consumers.”

Design by: SquatDesign.

Ed.’s Notes: Never thought I would see a ligature involving the # symbol, and I like it! Sample applications below (or after the jump) and more images at the link.

Relevant links: SquatDesign project page.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Nebraska Huskers (Secondary Logo)

About: (Est. 2013) “The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 21 varsity teams in 15 sports.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Design by: Design department at The Collegiate Licensing Company.

Ed.’s Notes: This is ONLY for the secondary logo, not the main Nebraska university logo nor the main Huskers logo.

Relevant links: In-depth article from the Huskers about the change.

Thanks to Jim Kosmicki for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Harvard University Press Ditches Veritas

Established in 1913, Harvard University Press is a “leading publisher of convergent works in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences” and, as its name implies, it is the imprint of Harvard University. Facing challenges with making the transition to apps, digital reading devices, and web browsers using its previous identity — an honorable and traditional shield — Harvard University Press has introduced a new logo designed by New York, NY-based Chermayeff & Geismar.

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A B-Side BY Armin

HOP!

About: (Est. 2013) “HOP stems from the alliance between 3 regional airline companies (Airlinair, Brit Air and Regional) within the Air France group. Thanks to its powerful network combined with the efficiency of its over 3,000-employee staff, the company is THE new transport solution for inter-regional flights, in France and Europe.”

Design by: Brandimage.

Ed.’s Notes: Between Joe on the main side and this, the French are stealing all our words. Nice, simple logo. Tail fin is kind of crazy and hard to read. Bigger view of the logo and livery sample below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: HOP press release. HOP press images (more liveries and ads). HOP media kit (PDF).

Select quote (from media kit): “The name “HOP!” evokes rapidity and the ease with which travellers can get from point A to B. Synonymous with agility, HOP! illustrates its capacity to bounce back and adapt to customers’ needs. The simple typography and red colouring featured in the HOP! logo illustrates the Company’s flexibility in a creative and playful manner. Positioned alongside a slanted exclamation mark, symbolizing an aircraft’s take-off, HOP! illustrates an ambition for reactivity and mobility.”

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Opinion by Mark Kingsley Posted BY Brand New

My Kind of American Exceptionalism

Flying used to mean something.

And before People Express Airlines remade air travel into the equivalent of a bus ride, before the mediascape overinformed us about every possible destination, before the security theater of X-rayed shoes, and before the global financial crisis, the experience of flying actually delivered on that promise.

But now, air travel can be a miserable experience. Especially if you fly coach. And especially if you fly American Airlines.

[Ed.’s Note: This is the first time I hand over a “large” review to anyone. Mark Kingsley, a good friend and annoyingly astute observer, asked if he could do it, saying he was “totally excited” about the work. His point of view on this is likely the last thing you expected to hear from Brand New. Enjoy. — Armin Vit]

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Opinion BY Armin

Pork Served Three Ways

Established in 1961 and based in Ange-Gardien, Canada, F. Menard (in summary) produces pork and poultry products. (In length) it has three distinct operations within the industry: (1) F. Ménard proper, dedicated to the breeding of hogs; (2) Agromex, the “processing” unit (i.e., slaughtering, to the tune of 21,500 pigs per week); and (3) Boucherie 235, a retail butcher shop for consumers in Ange-Gardien. Tying all three operations together, F. Ménard recently introduced a new identity designed by Montréal-based lg2.

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A B-Side BY Armin

LOV/CON

About: (Est. 2012) LOV/CON is a conference about love, passion and relationships. […] Caroline and Daniel Pieracci had the idea to put on LOV/CON as a fun way to celebrate their marriage with their friends and family. It quickly outgrew itself, and became a little love movement.”

Design by: Johannes Widmer.

Ed.’s Notes: I love this logo. That is all.

Relevant links: N/A.

A B-Side BY Armin

Air Canada Rouge

About: (Est. 2012) Rouge is “Air Canada’s new leisure airline with stylishly affordable service to holiday spots in Europe and the Caribbean. Benefit from Air Canada’s extensive network for smooth connections to flights departing daily from Toronto and Montreal. Service begins July 1, 2013. It’s time to go more. “

Design by: N/A.

Ed.’s Notes: Wow. That is bad. I would excuse how bad it was if at least they would have actually taken the time to hand-letter it instead of just using a font — or if they did hand-letter it (because I really have no idea what font that is, I’m just assuming) then they should have made different letterforms for the repeating characters in “Rouge” and “go more”. Terrible. Livery and logo-on-balloons images below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Meet Air Canada Rouge.

Select quote: “Air Canada rouge embodies the best of Air Canada including reliability, trustworthiness, top safety standards and a name and iconic brand that represents ‘Canada. The name was tested in major Canadian cities. Canadians said the name and colors spoke to the color Canada is known for: red, a color they link to warmth, fun and excitement. Air Canada rouge also represents Canada’s two official languages.”

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A B-Side BY Armin

Marsh

About: (Est. 1931) “Headquartered in Indianapolis, Marsh operates 78 Marsh Supermarkets and 3 O’Malia’s Food Markets in Indiana and Ohio. We also manage 16 MainStreet Market locations. The largest pharmacy chain based in the state of Indiana, Marsh has forty-one pharmacy locations. Marsh has the distinction of being the first grocery store in the world to use electronic scanners to ring up purchases. Nearly 9,000 employees serve two million customers weekly.”

Design by: N/A.

Ed.’s Notes: Newspaper ad, old and new, below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: N/A.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Deluxe

About: (Est. 1915) “Deluxe lives at the intersection of artistry and technology and is the industry’s leading provider of digital media & entertainment services. We make, move, manage and monetize content for the film, television, and advertising industries providing world-class talent and technology innovation with well-known sub-brands: Beast, Company 3, Filmcore, MediaVu and Method Studios.”

Design by: Futurebrand

Ed.’s Notes: No relevant link, so a few applications and video in this post.

Relevant links: N/A.

Provided quote: “Wanting to integrate is diverse holdings under one brand, reflect a transition from analog to digital and signal its shift away from one-off sales to enterprise service agreements, Deluxe partnered with FutureBrand in 2011 to create a new brand story, architecture and modernized visual identity.”

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Opinion BY Armin

From Barracks with Love

Established in 1992 in the small (pop. 71,000 and counting) town of Brandenburg an der Havel in Germany, Fachhochschule Brandenburg (wherein Fachhochschule translates to University of Applied Sciences) offers degree courses to approximately 3,000 students in engineering, business administration and economics as well as information technology and media. The university is housed in an 1880s building that originally served as barracks for the Prussian army. Last month Fachhochschule Brandenburg introduced a new identity designed by Thomas Manss & Company.

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Opinion BY Armin

Kraft Logo Gets Back in the Race

The saga of the Kraft logo continues and, possibly, ends this month. It all started on February 2009 when Kraft Foods Inc., the corporation, not Kraft, the consumer brand, redesigned its logo to this horrible thing. Five months later they flipped the starburst to the other side and changed the colors. Then, as reported here, Kraft Foods Inc. had announced in August of 2011 that it would split its company in two: (1) Mondelez, for the global snacks business and now (2) Kraft Foods Group (not Kraft Foods Inc.) for the North American grocery business, managing brands like the eponymous Kraft as well as Maxwell House, Oscar Mayer, Planters, and JELL-O. As of October 1, 2012, Kraft Foods Group is officially a start-up or, as they describe it, a “new company that has been around 109 years” that also happens to have revenues of approximately $19 billion in 2011. A new logo was introduced with the new company. No design credit given.

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A B-Side BY Armin

IG

About: (Est. 1974) IG is a financial spread betting — a flexible, tax-free way to deal on falling and rising financial markets — company.

Design by: N/A

Ed.’s Notes: Some kind of fancy graphic below (or after the jump).

Relevant links: Logo and name introduction.

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