In detail: Sveriges Radio (2010)

Sveriges Radio is Sweden's public radio company. With four nationwide FM networks funded be a license fee, it dominates radio listening in the country. Last year, it implemented a company-wide rebrand that had its root in the perceived need to enforce one single name for the company.

For many years Sveriges Radio had referred to itself both by its full name and by its initials (SR). After an identity review, it was decided that the company needed one single verbal identity. It could either follow the lead of most other broadcasters and switch to an initialism that is never read out in full, or they would use the full name in all circumstances. They opted for the latter, as the full name differentiates Sveriges Radio in a crowded landscape and communicates that they are a Swedish company that does radio. An an identity overhaul was set in motion.

eu2012.dk - Danish EU presidency logo

At the moment, Poland holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Next in line is Denmark, who are taking over on January 1. While Poland unveiled their presidency logo in May, Denmark announced their logo over a year before taking the presidency. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Design Centre (DDC) arranged a contest to select the presidency logo, and the winner was presented on October 11, 2010.

The contest attracted 71 submissions from designers and graphic artists, and the winner was selected from seven finalists. The winning submission was created by Peter Jacob Møgelvang from Kunde&Co. A jury statement described it as "an aesthetic and creative typographic solution, which in its simplicity is a clear expression of Danish design tradition". The "half-digits" represent the Danish half year at the presidency, and rotating digit represents the rotating nature of the presidency.

Denmark last held the EU presidency in 2002, using the logo seen below:

The winner got 100.000 DKK (about €13.000 or $19.000). Two runner-ups where also presented:

Swiss Miss brand history

Swiss Miss is an American brand of cocoa mix powders and chocolate puddings. Having been with the American people for half a century, it is one those classic brands that many remember growing up with.

Thanks to the Internet, innovative companies and people willing to share their collections, we can get a good view of how the brand and its packaging has progressed through the years. A special thanks to Jason Liebig who has given me permission to use some images from his collection. If you want even more packaging nostalgia, you should visit his Flickr photostream.

Swiss Miss original logo, used from the 1960s until the mid-1980s.

The "instant cocoa mix" powder, which creates delicious hot cocoa by just adding water, was developed by Sanna Dairies in Wisconsin, who were also manufacturing instant dry milk. It was originally served on airlines. In the early 1960s, Sanna Dairies were packing the product under the name "Swiss Miss Instant Cocoa Mix" and selling it to grocers. The original packaging was developed with "old world" aestethics, with decorative flowers and an old calligraphy typeface for the logo. A newspaper article published in February 1963 explained it thusly:

"The chocolate flavor developed by Sanna Dairies is reminiscent of delicious Swiss milk chocolate... thus the name and the attractive "old world" design package."

The black-and-white image of a Swiss Miss package on the right is from a 1962 ad. It may well have been the very first Swiss Miss packaging design.

Entertainment One logo (2010)

Based in Toronto, Canada, Entertainment One is an entertainment company which distributes music, films and TV. Last year the company rebranded by changing its name from E1 Entertainment to Entertainment One and introducing a new corporate identity created by the Toronto brand design agency Parcel Design.



Previous logo.