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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Opinion BY Armin

Vintage Brewer

Founded in 1807 in Blackburn, Lancashire, UK, Thwaites Brewery is an independent, family-owned brewer, bottler, wholesaler, and retailer. Thwaites offers a variety of beers from cask beers to keg beers to bottled beers to craft beers, most of which can be enjoyed at one of their 350 pubs. This past June, Thwaites introduced a new logo and a new fleet of trucks.

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Opinion BY Armin

Up + Down = 1

Established in 1998 as the Chart Information Network, The Official Charts Company (OCC), as it was renamed in 2002, is the gatekeeper of, basically, what is hot in the music and entertainment industry. Every week, after canvasing data from over 5,900 retailers in the UK selling at least 100 units of audio or video product per week, OCC publishes the definitive chart that is then published or used by BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, MTV, Music Week, 80% of the national daily newspapers, and other magazines and websites. Although best known for their Official Singles Chart and the Official Artist Albums Chart, they compile more than 50 different charts. In October, with the launch of a robust consumer website, OCC introduced a new logo designed by London-based Give Up Art.

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Opinion BY John J Custer

I’m With…

Formerly known as Polytechnic South West until 1992, Plymouth University is the ninth largest university in the UK, with a student body reaching just over 30,000 students along with 3,000 faculty and staff members. In June of this year, Plymouth University launched its new identity, “With Plymouth University,” designed jointly by here design and Buddy.

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Opinion BY Armin

Ben There, Done That

Founded in 1963 in Brighton, UK by Ben Sherman (neé Arthur Benjamin Sugarman), Ben Sherman is one of the most iconic clothing brands in both the UK and the world. Best known for its defining button-down shirts, Ben Sherman has maintained cult status for a remarkable five decades, transcending whatever the fashion of the moment is. Since July (or perhaps June) the Ben Sherman website has been showing a simple sans serif logo but acknowledging that the site was an interim version to a brand new site, so it seemed as if the logo was not a definite change. But this past September, with the opening of a new concept store in their flagship location on Carnaby Street, it remains no doubt that this is the new look for Ben Sherman. Designed in-house, the logo and identity have been brought to life in a retail environment by Brinkworth.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Virgin Media

Established in 2006, Virgin Media is the first provider of all four broadband, TV, mobile phone and home phone services in the UK. Virgin Media is getting its British on. The revised logo was designed by Start JudgeGill, who also designed the original logo. Press release here. Bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

War! What is it good for? For Good Logos

Founded in 1917 and first opened to the public in 1920, the Imperial War Museum — no plural at the time — was established to create a record of the experience of Great Britain during the first World War. Since then, and with an expansion to four other museums — IWM London; IWM North in Trafford, Greater Manchester; IWM Duxford near Cambridge; the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall, London; and the historic ship HMS Belfast — the Imperial War Museums (IWM) is “the world’s leading authority on conflict and its impact, focusing on Britain, its former Empire and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present.” IWM, as it is now officially named, introduced a new identity last month, designed by London-based Hat Trick.

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Opinion BY Armin

Portal On-Demand

Launched in 2006, BT Vision is an on-demand digital TV service available to broadband customers of BT, the London-based über telecommunications services company. BT Vision’s offerings are broken down by genre — Film, Music, TV, Kids, Sport, and others — and can be consumed through an unlimited package or at fifty pence (about US$0.80) a show. Despite having over 5.7 million broadband customers, only 575,000 are BT Vision subscribers. This past September, BT Vision introduced a new identity and on-air look designed by Proud Creative (identity) and ManvsMachine (on-air).

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In Brief BY Armin

British Airways Goes Vintage

British Airways is trying to infuse its brand with some of its past. Last week they launched a new 90-second TV spot that brings together vintage aircraft with modern day, big ass planes and even the Concorde — the Concorde! Remember that? — makes an appearance. They are also reviving British Airways’ motto “To Fly. To Serve.” and coat of arms, the latter revised in 3D by forpeople design.

For clarification: The crest does not replace the BA logo. It’s an additional identity element.

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Opinion BY Armin

Warburtons’ Complete Package

Established in 1876, Warburtons is a producer of bakery products, from your everyday sliced bread to hot dog buns to pancakes to crumpets. Now, still a Warburton-family-owned business, Warburtons employs 5,000 people working at 14 bakeries and 15 depots across the UK, producing over two million bakery products every day and, according to Nielson Data, it is the “second biggest grocery brand” in the UK. Warburtons’ new logo was introduced back in late 2010 but the complete brand rollout has taken most of 2011 to implement. The whole project was designed by London-based Smith & Milton.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Osteopathic Centre for Children

Founded in 1991, the Osteopathic Centre for Children is a “charitable organisation based in the UK that seeks to ensure that paediatric osteopathy […] is established as the first option for parents and carers concerned for their child’s health.” New logo appeared in early August. Bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

Opinion BY Armin

Critter Type

First opened in 1931, Chester Zoo, located in Chester county in North West England, is one of the largest and most popular zoos in the UK. Located on 110 acres, Chester Zoo is home to over 7,000 animals and hosts 1.3 million visitors per year. In August, Chester Zoo introduced a new identity designed by Manchester-based Music.

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Opinion BY Armin

All Work and No Play

Established in 1998, Play.com started as an online retailer of DVDs in the UK and has since grown to offer over 8 million items including CDs, books, video games, toys, electronics, and MP3 downloads. After Amazon, it is the second leading online retailer in the UK. In August, Play.com introduced a new identity and a whole new website. There is also a U.S.-based version of Play.com that hasn’t changed logo or web design, probably because no one here considers anything but Amazon.

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A B-Side BY Armin

National Railway Museum

Opened in 1975, the National Railway Museum features “over 300 years of railway history and its collections include over 100 locomotives, some 250 items of rolling stock and thousands of other objects — from posters and tickets to uniforms and silverware.” It has two locations in the UK, one in York and the other in Shildon. The new identity was designed by Thompson Brand Partners. Creative Review has a bit more story and images.

Thanks to Cody Pate for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Splashy Museum

Established in 1937, the National Maritime Museum (NMN) in Greenwich, England is one of the largest museums in the world on this theme and one of the most popular attractions in the UK. Along with the NMN sit the The Royal Observatory, which happens to the epicenter of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and The Queen’s House, the birthplace of British architectural Classicism. Today, NMN is launching a new identity for all of its attractions, designed by London-based Someone.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Sheffield Food

Sheffield Food is a new initiative in Sheffield, UK to “support quality, artisan producers and food from across Sheffield’s seven hills.” The logo has been designed by local firm DED Associates. A lovely shot of some little flags below (or after the jump) and more background information at DED’s site here.

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A B-Side BY cole

Pannone

Pannone, based out of Manchester, UK is an internationally renowned law firm offering services from corporate to personal and all things in between. They have recently undergone an identity update and launched a new website. More information here.

[Ed.’s note: Our new intern, Cole Baldwin, will be helping out with the B-Side.]

Thanks to J. Jason Smith for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Little Chef, Big Dreams

First opened in 1958, Little Chef is a chain of restaurants found along the highways and “A roads” in the UK. Currently operating 162 locations, Little Chef boasts of serving 10 million cups of tea, 12 million rashers of bacon, 10 million eggs, and 13 million sausages each year. At Little Chef you can sit down and order food, or take food to go, or just buy stuff. Sounds like a combination of Canada’s Tim Hortons and the US’s IHOP and 7-Eleven. Little Chef has just undergone a big revitalization of its identity, designed by London-based venturethree, and its restaurant design by Ab Rogers Design.

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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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Opinion BY Clinton Duncan

Eurostar Sculpts New Logo

Launched in 1994 Eurostar was, until recently a tri-nation collaboration between Britain, Belgium and France, aimed at moving people quickly on trains, often at speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour, and in a tunnel 120 meters under the surface of the freezing cold English channel. Yep, we’re using metrics for this review people. With a re-structuring of corporate management, and consolidation to one entity based in London, Eurostar sought to rebrand and engaged the services of SomeOne. You can see a video summary of the brand at SomeOne’s project page here.

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