Beiersdorf softens up its logo

Beiersdorf AG is a German company that owns several high-profile personal care brands, the most famous by far being Nivea which is available worldwide. This week, the company has introduced a new corporate identity, developed with Hamburg agency Justblue Design.

The old logo was reportedly introduced 35 years ago and contained both the full name in Helvetica Bold, the abbreviation BDF and four dots representing it then four business divisions. Two of those divisions have since been spun off. The new logo does away with the abbreviation and the dots, and builds on the old wordmark by rounding off some of its corners. The smoother wordmark should evoke care and trust. The colour is changed to Nivea's blue.

German publisher DFV rebrands

Deutscher Fachverlag is a German publisher that owns about 100 trade publications. On Monday, January 6, it changed its name to DFV Mediengruppe to reflect its transformation as a result of new cross-media ventures. The new corporate identity was designed by MetaDesign.

The new logotype is blue, with the exception of the "DFV accent" which is red. This red accent is an expression of what DFV publications do, putting a important focus on the areas they cover. The typeface used is Uni Sans.

New look: Hakle

Hakle is a classic German brand of toilet paper, dating back 1928. After being owned by Kimberly-Clark for over a decade, it was sold off last year. During that time, the brand had adopted a look that was aligned with their Kleenex brand with a similar logo and packaging design. The new owners introduced a new look this month along with softer and improved paper.

Berlin-based Leo Burnett Laeufer won a pitch to design the new look. The packaging is bright and colour-coded to aid orientation. The logo-type remains mostly unchanged but now appears in white.

New logo: Disney Channel Germany

Last week, German authorities approved The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of the struggling German TV channel Das Vierte. Almost immediately, the company announced plans to close the channel down and replace it with a German version of the Disney Channel, due to launch on January 17. The new German Disney Channel will be made available for free to 93 percent of households in the country, in direct competition with three other German children's channels. It will feature Disney's original children's TV series during the day and family movies in prime time.

With the November 14 announcement came a new logo that doesn't look like the one used by Disney Channel in other countries. Absent is the well recognised profile of Mickey Mouse. It remains to be seen whether this logo is exclusive to Germany or whether it will be rolled out to other countries.

New logo: Goobay

Goobay is a German brand for discount electronics accessories. Earlier this spring it launched a new look, created by KW43 Branddesign in Düsseldorf.

With 8,000 products to label, KW43 developed the brand promise "simple, everything, appropriate". The two o's in the logo become a sort of character that can take on different forms. The packaging is clean and autonomous, with several simple visual cues and elements used to convey positive aspects of the product.

New logo: ProSieben Maxx

Germany gets another free-to-air TV channel tomorrow with the launch of ProSieben Maxx. With programming for an upscale male-leaning audience it will complement Sixx and Sat.1 Gold, two other new channels from the same broadcaster that target women. Primetime schedules will be dominated by acclaimed imported series such as Homeland, House of Cards and Fringe, documentaries from the BBC and National Geographic, and movies, while the daytime is dedicated to action cartoons.

The logo for the new channel was unveiled in late June. On-air graphics were developed in-house at ProSiebenSat.1 in cooperation with Augsburg-based designer Sebastian Onufszak.

New logo: Sport1

Sport 1 is a German free-to-air television channel dedicated to sports programming. Launched in 1993, it was known as DSF until 2010. Its owners, Constantin Medien, are about to extend the brand to a sports radio station called Sport.FM, due to launch on July 19. As a result of this, Sport1 will get a new logo to be used across all platforms. It was reportedly developed by Brandsome, which also owned by Constantin Medien.

New logo: Continental

Continental is a German auto parts maker, best known for its tires. At its annual shareholder's meeting. held last week on May 15, it unveiled a new corporate identity. It was developed by Peter Schmidt Group.

The new logo is a careful update of Continental's existing wordmark that has been used with minor changes since the 1920s. The horse has been freed from its badge frame. This is a part of new brand platform, reflecting the company's transition to a technology company, summed up in the tagline "The Future in Motion".

New logo: Spiriant

LSG Sky Chefs is a German company owned by Deutsche Lufthansa that provides airline catering. This month it introduced a new brand for its "in-flight equipment" business that provides catering and other items needed on board, including salt packets, soap, plastic cups and those tall trolleys. These activities now stand autonomous under the brand name Spiriant, developed by Interbrand Hamburg.

The new name should be associated with "innovation, inspiration and confidence", while the icon combines an ampersand, associated with commercial partnerships, and a plus sign.

New logo: Stern

Stern is Germany's leading weekly magazine about current events, and a strong brand known around the world. The magazine was recently redesign and overhauled with a more varied layout and daringly classic typography. In was developed in cooperation with Pentagram's Luke Hayman.

As minor but crucial part of this redesign is the masthead which has a new wordmark. Created by type designer Ludwig Übele, it should look "stronger, friendlier and more modern". The star icon remains unchanged.

New logo: Videoload

Videoload is a video-on-demand portal owned by Germany's incumbent telco Deutsche Telekom. Yesterday, April 11, it launched a new look with a nice new logo. A press release says the logo "conveys an active dynamic".

New logo: Düsseldorf Airport

Düsseldorf International is Germany's third largest airport and a hub for North Rhine-Westphalia in the mid-eastern part of the country. A new corporate identity, designed by KW43 Branddesign, was unveiled yesterday April 9.

It sees the airport change its name to Düsseldorf Airport and adopting its IATA abbreviation, DUS, as its mark. The DUS lettering was chosen as it can be understood around the world and represents "closeness and internationality". KW43 says the new logo is striking, memorable and simple.

New logo: Duftstars

Duftstars is an annual event where are awards are given to achievements in the German fragrance industry. The event was established in 1993, inspired by the American FiFi Awards. This week, the awards unveiled a new visual identity, created by KW43 Branddesign.

The rationale for the symbol is said to be inspired by a drop of perfume and the ripple effects it has when it hits the human skin. Therefore, the symbol is five sets of concentric circles that together form a star. The name is set in Gill Sans.

New logo: Sat.1 Gold

In January, the German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 launched a new free-to-air TV channel called Sat.1 Gold with an oddly unusual target demographic of women over 49. It launched on January 17 with the 2010 film The Whore, a display of its commitment to German productions.

The on-air graphics for the new channel were created by Creative Solutions, ProSiebenSat.1's in-house agency. Naturally, its signature colour is gold and idents feature scenes and landscapes shot against a  gold-tinted sunset. The channel was launched with an ad campaign featuring two puppets, also devised by Creative Solutons.

New look: Nivea

Nivea is a leading global brand for skin care, founded 102 years ago and belonging to the German Beiersdorf concern. Yesterday, January 15, Beiersdorf announced the launch of a new global design for its flagship brand.

At the heart of the redesign is Nivea's circular logo, inspired by the iconic blue tin for facial cream. While not a completely new design, this endeavour will see it applied more consistently. Until now, Nivea has had a somewhat inconsistent visual identity, where the Nivea wordmark has been placed on a series of different blue background plates.

The new look was developed by industrial designer Yves Béhar of Fuseproject in San Francisco with Beiersdorf's in-house team.

New logo: Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital and second largest city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the seventh largest city in all of Germany. Yesterday, Düsseldorf's mayor presented the above mark that will be used to market and represent the city. Reports say it will be supplementary and that existing city logos will remain in use.

The new symbol is recognised around the world as a happy emoticon, that is produced a colon and the letter D. That letter also happens to be the first letter in Düsseldorf. It was created by BBDO who were selected out of 66 agencies, five of which where allowed to put forth proposals to the mayor.

New look: DAB

DAB, which stands for Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei, is a German brewery and a beer brand owned by the Radeberger group. Sold around Europe, it was recently redesigned by an Italian agency, Robilant Associati.

The redesign carefully preserves the equity in the previous label, but opens it up gently.

New logo: Meica

Meica is a German food manufacturer founded in 1908, primarily known for a broad range of canned sausages with names like Deutschländer, MiniWini, Trueman's and Curry King. Having used the same logo for decades, it introduced a refreshed version at some point this year.

The edges in both the wordmark and its background plate have been softened, and a bevel effect has been added. The new look is introduced gradually along with small refreshes of jar labels.

New logo: Mirácoli

Mirácoli is a German brand for pasta-based convenience meals and pasta sauces. It was owned by Kraft Foods until a few months ago when its was sold to Mars, as part of Kraft Foods' transition to become Mondelez. Around that time, Mirácoli also introduced a new look.

The previous generic "flag" logo has been turned into a friendly arch. On packaging, this arch become part of a plate that contains the product.

New look: KIKA

KIKA is the children's channel from Germany's public broadcasters, the second most watched children's channel in Germany. Back in February this year, it launched a completely new look, created by broadcast design agency DMC Group in Münich.

The on-screen look is built around "the fusion of a real world with an exceptional, playful, surreal, fantastic world". The idents feature children in an active environment where the KIKA logo suddenly appears. They all conclude in a simple "audio logo".