4uatre opens up the Vegan Eden

Vegan Eden is a French company that offers biodegradable cleaning products for fruits and vegetables. Its first products include a washing solution and cleaning wipes. The brand identity was developed by French agency 4uatre.

4uatre say their design reflects the innovation and the inevitability of its products with "fun and recyclable" packaging.

New German travel app Qixxit launches

Qixxit is a new mobile portal and app from German railway company Deustche Bahn that help travellers plan trips using all modes of transportation. Development started in 2012 with a soft launch last autumn and full launch last month. The visual identity for the new service was developed by wirDesign, working with Cheil to apply it to a communication platform.

WirDesign developed everything from positioning and name to tonality and logos. The slogan for the new service is Einfach. Unterwegs., meaning "Simply. On the go."

Akademiska Hus (2010)

Akademiska Hus is a Swedish state-owned enterprise, created in 1993 to administer real estate for Swedish universities. If you are studying in Sweden, it is very likely that your classes take place in a building rented from this company.

On March 31, 2010, the company launched a new visual identity. It was a product of a new brand platform that was developed with Forsman & Bodenfors, and the visual identity was created by their design agency Happy F&B.

In addition to the puzzle piece logo, Happy created a "visual toolbox" with typefaces, graphical devices and imagery that should help the company communicate its core values, "expert, active partner and future-oriented".

Previous logo.

According to the company, it had used previous logo since its foundation in 1993. The rebrand was revealed through a press release on March 25, 2010, and launched on March 31.

7up (2010)

Last year, PepsiCo started rolling out a new look for 7up in the markets where they own the brand, which is essentially every country except the United States, where 7up is a part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

In March this year, it was reported that the New York design agency TracyLocke was credited with creating the new look. Their case study contained the following introduction:

It’s time to get fresh! That’s why 7up International is stripping it all away and going back to what always made it great: lemons, limes, bubbles, and that iconic number 7. We’re revealing the naked truth that refreshing flavor is what matters most. Telling the whole world that “Simpler Is Better” with a new logo, new packaging, and sparkling activation around the globe. Because 7up knows that a simpler life is the way to a richer life.

Regional branches apparently had great liberty in applying the design. Some markets went for a simpler graphic design with flat circles, while other used meaty slices of lemon and lime with lots of gradients.

Cans with the new logo have been spotted as early as June 2010, with Canada probably being one of the first markets to get the new design. I remember seing the new design back in December. In January, it was discovered that the German division of PepsiCo had set up a website with the new design. The global rollout continued during 2011.

Below is a little gallery with shots of 7up packaging that have been uploaded by Flickr users around the world.

New logo: Gille

Gille is a popular Swedish cookie brand. The company behind the brand also produces cookies that are sold under "store brands" around the world. It was called Gillebagarn until September last year, when its name was changed to Continental Bakeries North Europe AB after its owner, the Dutch Contintal Bakeries group.

However, the Gille brand will remain, and the company intends to invest in it by expanding the product range. This includes a new visual identity and packaging design.

Previous logo.

The previous logo had been used for decades. It resembled an old-fashioned store sign, with the name written in a toned down version of the Pretorian typeface. The new logo is a modernised version of the old one. The new typeface is called Quorum Black.

The biggest change is the packaging which will now use a clean design with a swirling typeface. The packaging design was created by Guts & Glory, an ad agency in Malmö in southern Sweden.

New logo: ZDFinfo

In March, you could read about the German public broadcaster ZDF rebranding its digital ZDFtheaterkanal as ZDFkultur. In 2009, its documentary channel was replaced by the youth channel ZDFneo. Both were given individual logos that dropped the corporate ZDF logo, but kept the signature orange colour.

The only channel not rebranded has been ZDFinfokanal, an 'info channel' with news updates and programmes on current affairs, science, business and culture. That is however about to change, because yesterday, July 27, ZDF unveiled a new look and a new logo for the channel. As previously announced, with the rebrand the channel will officially be named "ZDFinfo", a name which has long been used as a shorthand for the channel.

The new look launches on September 5. A new slab serif typeface called Vitesse is used for the logo, and the word "info" is enclosed by a speech bubble. ZDFinfo plans to introduce more porgrammes that allow audience interaction, which may explain the speech bubble.

Previous generic logo.

New logo: Zaatar w Zeit

Zaatar w Zeit is a Middle Eastern food retailer with locations in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. In May, it unveiled a new logo, created for them by the London design agency Pearlfisher, who will also work on other aspects of Zaatar w Zeit's communication.

The name Zaatar w Zeit translates into "Thyme and Oil". The new logo is a literal interpretation of the name featuring a leaf (thyme) and a drop (oil). In the negative space between leaf and the drop, one can see a Z.

The logo was revealed in the middle of May on Zaatar w Zeit's social networking profiles and was preceeded by a social media campaign about the mystery of the "Missing Z". Later reports say that the new look will be rolled out starting July 20.

New logo: Kvaerner

Aker Solutions is an industrial concern based in Norway. In its current form, it was created from a merger between Kværner and Aker Maritime, and was known as Aker Kværner until 2008 when it adopted its current name. Recently, Aker Solutions spun off its EPC activies into a separate company.

The working title for this company was "Aker Contractors" until April 6, when it was announced it would be called Kvaerner, resurrecting a company name that had been dormant for a few years. The new corporate identity was created by the Oslo brand agency Brandlab, who got the assignment in January.

The new logo is a simple powerful teal wordmark, with an unusual rendering of the letter Æ as a distinguishing feature. Brandlab provides an explanation of the identity (translated by me):

Kværner has ambitions to appear as an innovative and different company with solid experience. With an established an historical name it was of great significance to create a unique and future-oriented design.

The oil and gas business is dominated by profiles in blue, grey and orange. Large images of complex installations and energetic people in hard hats. Kværner wanted to challenge with its design. The logo is iconic and modern, without a disturbing symbol. It underlines the power of the Kværner name and makes the profil practical to implement. The rest of the design is inspired by dynamics of the huge finished installations and Kværner's competence in handling the complexity and to realise them. The colour palette with thin a precise lines underlines precision and competence.

The following images were published by BrandLab Oslo.

New logo: Red Lobster

Yesterday, July 26, the American seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster announced a new ad campaign. This announcement also marked the official launch of its new logo.

Although the new logo officially replaced the previous one yesterday - for example on Red Lobster's official website and social profiles - it has been around for at least a few months. It was trialled on a newly designed restaurant in Tampa Bay which opened in April.

Previous logo.

The new logo features a refreshed lobster and new typography. It also includes the phrase "Fresh Fish, Live Lobster".

The following images were provided by Red Lobster press:

New logo: Avio

Avia is an Italian aerospace company, which produces parts for both civil and military aircrafts. It was a part of the Fiat Group until 2003, when its was sold to private equity. Yesterday, July 25, Avia launched a new identity yesterday, developed by the Italian design agency Ineditha.

Previous logo.

The previous logo was introduced when the company separated from Fiat and changed its name from FiatAvio. The double-wings were also used in the last FiatAvio logo. In the new logo, both the wingspans and the wordmark have been given a much needed update.

The following quote comes from the press relase provides further information.

New logo: RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group

Last year, the Indian businessman Rama Prasad Goenka announced that his industrial conglomerate RPG Group would be split between his two sons. The part given to his older son, Harsh, keeps the RPG brand name, while the younger brother, Sanjiv, would have to get a new name. Sanjiv's company is called RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, and has a diverse portfolio, which includes retail chains, music publishers, a carbon black maker, power utilities and infrastructure.

The Mumbai agency Design Law & Kenneth was given the assignment to create the new visual identity in April. The result of their work was unveiled and launched on July 13. It includes a colourful symbol called the "Dhanuchakra".

New logos: DR Radio

Denmark's state broadcaster is called DR, an abbreviation that once stood for "Danmarks Radio". It maintains a strong position on the Danish TV market, and dominates radio listening in the country. A decade ago, DR started investing heavily in digital radio, starting up a bunch of new radio channels, most of them dedicated to specific musical genres. At its height, DR operated over two dozen radio channels, including a bunch of web-only channels. Most of them were "jukebox channels" that broadcast music non-stop without any radio hosts.

This year, DR has implemented a new radio strategy which will see the company focus on ten more permanent radio channels that will be mostly presenter-led. Several factors contributed to this change. In the beginning, DR had all the bandwidth on digital radio for themselves, but some of it was later claimed by commercial broadcasters. DR also wanted to have channels that were strong, broad, clearly defined and presenter-led.

Furthermore, one of the corporation's four licenses for national FM radio was expiring, and the centre-right government didn't want to extend it, instead preferring to give it to a new private current affairs network. This would mean that DR's talk-based current affairs network P1 and the classical music network P2 would have to share one FM frequency. They would however continue as separate channels on digital radio.

Until now, DR's four national FM networks have been DR P1, DR P2, DR P3 and DR P4, where the letter 'P' has historically meant 'programme'. The digital networks have mostly had descriptive names like "DR Jazz", "DR Rock" and "DR Hit", but with the new strategy, most of them will also have the letter P and a digit in their names. DR P5, aimed at older listeners, was launched back in November 2009. DR P6 Beat, with alternative music for the youth, came on April 11, the contemporary pop music station DR P7 Mix followed on June 6, the suite will be completed on September 12, when DR's jazz station DR Jazz becomes DR P8 Jazz. Two channels are excempt from the P-number scheme, the kids channel DR Ramasjang (a radio extension of a brand already used on television) and the youth channel DR Mama.

With the new strategy comes a new set of logos for all radio networks. DR has long used a simple template from which all radio channel logos are derived. The previous one was implemented in December 2006 and early 2007 as part of another reorganisation.

New logo: Findus

The European food brand Findus originated in Sweden in the 1940s. Today it is available in many European countries, including the United Kingdom, France, the Nordic countries and some countries in Eastern Europe. It is mostly known for its wide range of frozen food products, but also produces some other products such as soups and marmalade. The multinational food conglomerate Nestlé bought Findus in 1962 and kept it until the year 2000. After that it has been in the hands of venture capital.

Since 1971, Findus has used a red and white "flag" as its logo. The "Findus flag" received major refresh in 1987 when it adopted the Crillee typeface it has used until now. It has since been given minor updates, for example a red rectangle behind the flag became a permanent part of the logo in 2001, manifesting itself as a red "strap" or "ribbon" which ran from top to bottom to the right on most packaging.

Early this year, the Findus introduced a refreshed logo. The red "ribbon" was dropped and replaced by a less intrusive "background plate". Research had shown that the flag and flagpole were important, and are kept with only minor changes.

"We wanted a more modern and softer image. Our new logo is also more flexible, something which was of importance for the packaging design. The logo colour has also become warmer and there is an element of yellow in the red logo." - Elisabeth Yllfors, market director Findus Sweden in a press release

According to Findus, two agencies were involved in the rebrand, and the final version was created by the Stockholm design agency Pond Innovation & Design, who had previously done some packaging design for Findus.

Findus logo from 2001.

A press release about the logo change was issued on January 26, but packaging with the new logo was already in stores by then. The first product with the new logo were Findus Wok vegetables. Other products will be changed over time and the rollout will progress slowly.

Two examples of the new packaging design for "Findus Wok Classic" can be seen below:

New logo: National Railway Museum

This was apparently a summer of rebrands for British museums. For example, the National Maritime Museum introduced a new identity from SomeOne a few weeks ago. Another British museum with a new look is the National Railway Museum in York, which this summer introduced a new visual identity, created by Thompson Brand Partners in Leeds.

Previous logo.

Thompson's solution is very simple, consisting of two parallel lines, with several meanings:

"The new logo has been designed to reflect the direction the museum is moving in. It is modern, simple, easy to read and dynamic with a clear indication of speed and momentum. It is based on the many angled slashes that can be found in the iconography and architecture of railway throughout history. It also makes subtle reference to rails." - blog post from Thompson

The agency has also created brand guidelines, but says that the implementation will be done in-house at the museum. Thompson have published a few images were the logo is overlayed on thematic images, showing the strength of a simple logo.

New logo: Southern Cross Austereo

Earlier this year, the Australian broadcasting company Southern Cross Media acquired its competitor Austereo. After the deal was finalised, the two companies have been in the process of integrating their activities. Yesterday, July 21, the a new name for the merged company was unveiled. It will be called Southern Cross Austereo.

A new logo was unveiled at the same time. It is a combination of the A from the Austereo logo and a very colourful rendition of the star from the Southern Cross Media logo. According to the media site B&T, the colour spectrum represents different business divisions.

New logo: Grupa Pracuj

Grupa Pracuj is Polish company which provides "recruitment solutions", helping companies in Poland and the Ukraine find the employees they need. Yesterday, July 20, the company launched a new corporate identity.

Previous Grupa Pracuj logo.

The new corporate logo is part of a brand harmonization within the group. The group's most important asset, the job portal pracuj.pl, launched a refreshed logo in June. Other services from the company have also got new matching logos with a common oval shape and typeface.

New logo: Liberbank

The consolidation of Spanish banks continues. In March we learned that a bunch of regional banks were going to be rebranded as Bankia. This week, on July 19, another such rebrand was unveiled. It is regional savings and loans banks Cajastur, Caja de Extremadura and Caja Cantabria which will unite under the common brand "Liberbank". Together, the banks claim to have 1,200 offices and 20 percent market share.

New logo: Aimco

Aimco, or the Apartment Investment and Management Company, owns and operates apartments in the United States. Yesterday, July 19, it unveiled a new logo.

"The mission of providing quality apartment homes to a broad base of residents across the country is reflected by Aimco's new key-shaped logo and the buildings represented within it. The tagline "Building Community" describes Aimco's objectives of creating communities for residents, a sense of community among its team members, and the goal of having a positive impact on the community at large." - Aimco press release

Previous logo.

The rollout of the new logo continues over the coming months and will include a new website.

New logo: Made in Britain

Last week, a new logo was revealed that can be used by British manufacturers as a seal to help consumers recognise British-made products. The initiative for this logo was taken by Stoves, a British manufacturer of kitchen products, who had found that consumers were confused about the origin of their products. It has since received backing from other British manufacturers and some members of parliament.

The logo was selected through a national competition among design students. The winning entry was created by Cynthia Lee, a student at Nottingham University.

New logo: Bertelsmann

Yesterday, July 18, the Germany-based international media company Bertelsmann unveiled a new corporate identity, a "powerful" wordmark with blue lettering. The new logo was developed with Peter Schmidt Group in Hamburg, who also created the previous logo.

Bertelsmann includes one of Europe's biggest television groups, RTL Group, as well as the book publisher Random House, magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr and the 'media services' company Arvato.

Previous logo.

The previous logo, which included an orange line of varying length and the slogan "Media Worldwide", was introduced in 2001.

With the new branding, "Media Worldwide" has been dropped as it was considered outdated and no longer properly reflecting the company, which has now expanded outside the media field. In addition, Bertelsmann now considers itself a strong international brand that doesn't need added explanations. A new slogan has been selected, "Creativity meets Entrepreneurship", but its use will be more limited and it will not be a part of the logo.

The old logo as a graphical element was considered "fragmented, unwieldy and inflexible". The modified Trajan lettering was elegant, but not strong enough. The letterforms used in the new wordmark are custom-made, inspired by the lettering in the previous logo, but stronger and more self-confident.

The new logo was launched worldwide on Monday, and revealed on several Bertelsmann branches around the world. According to a press release, Random House and Arvato are altering their identities to fit the corporate rebrand, while RTL Group and Gruner + Jahr will remain as they are.