Still waiting for federal regulatory approval on the transaction of the merger between CenturyTel and Embarq — two telecommunication companies that, together, will bring together more than two million broadband customers (you can learn more about what they each do here) — the combined entity has announced their new name, CenturyLink.
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When it comes to cell phone providers I feel like you fall in one of two camps: iPhone users with AT&T (aka, the cool people) and Verizon users (aka, the lame people that will ask “Can you hear me now?” when they are not on their cell phone). Well, apologies for the perhaps offensive simplification of the matters but, let’s face it, Verizon has never had an ounce of cool to its name. Particularly among designers who, to my knowledge, all would rank the Verizon logo as one of the worst. And apparently Verizon has taken notice and is ready to make some identity and brand changes as it nears its first ten years in business.
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Fido, a Canadian cell phone provider, owned by giant Rogers Wireless, has recently launched a new identity. Surpassing the old child’s play logo of cut paper and mangled typography would not be hard, but this new playful logo is quite welcome. The name is pretty great and it was certainly underused in the previous version, and without being cloying or overly cute, this new logo is simple and friendly. I guess you could draw the little dog house a hundred different ways and many of them would be appropriate, but I do like the unfinished doodle they selected. And the typography isn’t bad although unlike other large corporations I think this would have benefitted from a more bubbly sans like Kodak or Xerox. But other than that, I put my paws together for this one. Apologies for the tiny logo, but it’s the only image available Thanks to Evan Cancelliere for pointing me to a bigger logo.
Thanks to Gray McCarty and Marko Savic for the tip.
Let me preface by noting that I’m not Canadian. I have never lived in Canada. I’ve never seen a commercial with a pair of talking beavers named Frank and Gordon hocking telecommunications products and services. Nor have I seen a lot of the previous Bell Canada logos out there in my daily world. And the first instances of the new logo I saw were images of their teaser campaign with its ample negative space and stark typographic compositions — just the right kind of light-handed touch to peak the curiosity of the graphic designer in me.
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After establishing a Corporate Branding Division last year, Japan’s 53-million-customer NTT DoCoMo is undergoing a major re-branding that will be rolled out July 1st — the cornerstone of which is their new logo. DoCoMo’s company name, previously divided in three syllables and now united as one word, comes from the word dokomo, meaning “everywhere”, and is an abbreviation of the phrase, “Do Communications Over the Mobile Network.”
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Boost Mobile, a “lifestyle-based telecommunications brand” and provider of mobile phones to the hip, the young and the restless has recently unveiled a new identity overhaul “engineered” by the equally hip Attik. The redesign includes the logo, of course, as well as a set of identity enhancements including new typefaces and colors in order to consistently brand the multitude of online and product offerings — from their online communities to the Boost Mobile Pro surfing competition. Boost Mobile is clearly targeted towards a young consumer — their web site touts 4.3 million customers with the majority under the age of 25 and their TV ads are nothing short of head-scratchers — so this redesign is spot on, especially in taking the original design and evolving it into a cleaner, bolder look. The icon feels a little more resolved to me, but I think the old one was pretty good too; and the typography is a definite improvement, as the old italicized version did not quite flow with the icon, and this one makes an interesting use of the letterfforms and creates with every character kissing each other — and, sure, it’s a little space agey, but it fits the brand and that’s what matters.
Thanks to Drew Dougherty for the tip.
Swisscom is Switzerland’s largest telecommunications company, delivering services and products for mobile, fixed and IP-based voice and data communications. Since 1997 — when PTT’s (Post, Telegraphy and Telephony) telecom division went public as a limited company — Swisscom has sported its blue and red, boxy corporate logo… “[the previous logo] with its simple style, combines the human side of technology with the image of credibility and security offered by a traditional company.” The previous logo was traditional indeed, perhaps even downright stagnant. And as with so many large corporations of late, the old logo has gotten thrown out the window to live amongst the lost hits of Hanson and Toni Braxton (that’s right, Hot 100 number-one hits of 1997!), making room for the more contemporary and trendy image.
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When it comes to telecommunications companies the modus operandi is apparently clear: The bigger, the better. And what could be bigger (and better?) than a new joint spin-off company by, already-big corporations, Finland-based Nokia and Germany-based Siemens, two of the most influential technology companies in the world. The result is Nokia Siemens Network (NSN). Like most telecommunication giants (Alcatel-Lucent, Ericcson and Cisco), NSN’s scope is broad, ambitious and ambiguous so creating an identity around it becomes increasingly complex. Moving Brands, a London-based branding agency — and a newcomer to the highly public branding game — scooped the project from a handful of the major players and proceeded to create and, most amazingly, launch a new identity in the span of two months, premiering at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona this past February.
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In April of 2006 Paris-based Alcatel announced that it would merge with New Jersey-based Lucent Technologies, creating one of the world’s biggest telecommunications companies. This past December 1st, the merger was official and a new identity for the siamesed company was unveiled.
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djuice is one of the worlds leading mobile content providers for young people. Wolff Olins, who also helped rebrand djuice’s parent company Telenor earlier this year, created the new identity.
Ok, I am clearly not the audience here as I’ve never downloaded anything on to my phone. Until last year, I still used a StarTac and still would be if it didn’t break. So it’s probably not important that I’m not exactly sure what the new logo is. I do know, however that whatever it is, it’s extreme. So extreme, maybe I should have spelled it x-treme. Don’t let it get too close to your eye, it may stick you.
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(Total Number of Pages in Telecom: 2)
