New logo: Corbion

Corbion is the new name for a Dutch company that produces biobased products for ingredients and packaging, formerly known as CSM. It recently divested its bakery products division, which kept the CSM name.

The new name was unveiled on June 18, and the visual identity was developed by VBAT.

New logo: NPO

The public broadcasting system in the Netherlands has always been organised in a unusual way with several broadcasters, both private foundations and state-controlled entities, providing programmes for its many channels. These days, the system is controlled by the umbrella organisation Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO). As public broadcasting has faced increasing competition and economic troubles, there has been a move merge several of these organisation and create a more unified identity, slowly moving to a system more like the rest of Europe.

As part of this process, the NPO announced earlier this year that the various channels would have their names changed to include the NPO brand. While this is yet to happen, last week the NPO introduced a new logo as it launched a new website.

New look: Ziggo Muziek

Ziggo is the largest cable TV company in the Netherlands. Last year, it ventured into the streaming music business by launching a service called Ziggo Muziek. Dutch creative agency Cape Rock created a visual identity for the brand built around a frequency bar that extends from the Ziggo logo. (The service itself doesn't have a dedicated logo per se.)

These frequency bars are used in several different ways. One video sequence can be adapted to include different artists. It also appears in the opening for a weekly top 20 chart of popular music videos.

New logo: AH Basic

Albert Heijn is one of the largest supermarket chains in the Netherlands. Earlier this month it introduced a new brand for discount products, replacing the existing brand Euro Shopper. The new visual identity was developed by Brandnew Design in Amsterdam.

The new brand promises better quality than its predecessor as well as maintained low prices, stamped with a mark than you shouldn't be ashamed of taking home.

New logo: Port of Amsterdam

The Port of Amsterdam is Western Europe's fourth-largest port. On April 1, it was turned into a corporation owned by the city of Amsterdam, called Havenbedrijf Amsterdam NV. At the same time it introduces a new corporate identity with a new symbol and the tagline "Port of Partnerships", reflecting the port's aspiration to grow through collaboration.

New look: Zapp and Zappelin

It's Friday, so here's a project that I've had among my drafts for a few months. Zapp and Zappelin are the two children's brands for the Dutch public broadcasters. Zapp targets kids over six, whilw Zappelin is for those under six, and they both operate as cross platform brands with their own dedicated TV channel, slots on other channels and websites. Last autumn, on September 3, they both introduced completely new looks, created by Amsterdam agency Terralemon.

The agency was assigned to bring the two brands together, which they did through colour, shapes and music, while also giving them a tone of voice appropriate to each age group. Before this, the two brans had gone in somewhat different directions.

Zappelin lost its very literal zeppelin logo in favour of a green butterfly. In idents, the logo flies through a safe and friendly world where characters from the shows associated with brand pop up. The new Zapp logo is more aligned with the diamond shape used by the public TV channels in the Netherlands. This logo also flies through a clean world, but the animation and music is more energetic.

New logo: Isala

Isala is a group of hospitals in Zwolle in the Netherlands. Last week, it unveiled a new corporate identity, created by Dutch design agency Teldesign.

According to a press release, the new logo reflects the groups mission and values better. It should communicate "no-nonsense, reliability and motion".

New logo: DTG

De Telefoongids BV is the company that publishes telephone directories in the Netherlands, formerly a part of the incumbent telco KPN. Yesterday, October 15, it shortened its name to the abbreviation DTG and adopted a new corporate identity developed by VBAT in Amsterdam.

The new look was developed to feel familiar while also communicating new growth ambitions.

New logo: Sky Radio

Sky Radio is a Dutch national radio network, with a mainstream adult contemporary format consisting of hits from the 80s until today. Last week it introduced a new logo as part of a major marketing campaign with the theme "Stay in the flow".

Dutch branding agency VBAT developed the new logo.

New logo: Senseo

Senseo is a coffee pod system owned by two Dutch companies, appliances producer Philips and the previously Sara Lee-owned coffee maker Douwe Egberts. Recently, Senseo has started rolling out a new visual identity, partly coinciding with the launched of a new coffee maker called Senseo Twist.

The awful typography used up until now has been replaced by a swirly wordmark. The generic coffee imagery from the previous packaging is being abandoned in favour of a simple elegant solution where the logo is placed on a colour-coded circle with concentric circles radiating from it.

New logos: RTL5 and RTL8

RTL5 and RTL8 are two TV channels from the Netherlands' largest commercial broadcaster, RTL Nederland. On Monday, August 27, they both launched new looks for the autumn season.

The group also owns RTL4 and RTL7, and since 2005 they have all used logos created from the same template. RTL7 diverted from this standard when it introduced a new logo in 2010, and this rebrand means all four channels have unique logo designs once again.

To create distinctive identities, RTL hired two different agencies. RTL5 was remade by Grump who turned the number five into a "character" that gets incorporated into programmes. The female-leaning RTL8 was rebranded by Terra Lemon, and the channel's managing director describes the new look as "robust, modern, dynamic and fresh".

New logo: Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum is a national art museum in Amsterdam and the second most visited art musuem in the Netherlands, with large collection that includes many important works from the 17th century.

Yesterday, August 22, a new logo was unveiled at the museum. The new identity is being created by Dutch graphic designer Irma Boom. It also includes a colour palette and a custom typeface family with no less than nine typefaces created by Paul van der Laan from the type foundry Bold Monday. The logo has a prominent IJ ligature which makes it typically Dutch, but the clean and contemporary design is also made to work internationally.

The previous identity was in use for about three decades and was created by Gert Dumbar's Studio Dumbar, who had previously designed posters for the museum and would later create new signage in the 80s.

The new identity will be implemented in full when the museum reopens in April 2013.

Dutch public radio (2011)

There were several public service broadcasters that unveiled new logo systems for their radio networks this spring. One such example that I somewhat missed was the Dutch public broadcasting system that introduced new logos for its radio networks last year.

The new logos use slanted squares, a shape that has been embraced by the Dutch public broadcasting system. These squares where originally adopted by the three TV channels back in 2003 and took inspiration from the De Stijl movement of the 1920s, specifically a famous painting by Theo van Doesburg. The current radio incarnations are however don't have much in common with the ideals of De Stijl.

The previous logos were all introduced in March 2007 and combined the networks' existing logos with a common template. The new logos introduce a new template and carry over some elements from the previous logos. The logos were launched with a few months between each other, starting with the popular music network Radio 2 on New Year's Day, followed by the classical music station Radio 4 in March, news and sports station Radio 1 in June and finally in August came new logos for Radio 5 with easy listening for the over 55 and Radio 6 with soul and jazz. Where's Radio 3, you ask. That is the edgy youth radio station 3FM that has its own independent design.

New logo: Naturalis

Naturalis is the Dutch national museum of natural history and a biodiversity research center, located in the city of Leiden. Its 37 million specimen makes it one of the largest natural history collections in the world. After merging with two other museums in 2010 it has used the temporary name NCB Naturalis.

This month, on July 12, the museum changed its name to Naturalis Biodiversity Center and also launched a new visual identity, created by an agency called DieTwee from Utrecht.

New logo: Royal HaskoningDHV

Royal Haskoning and DHV are two Dutch engineering consultancies with a legacy going back to 1881 and 1917, respectively. Back in February, they announced their intention to merge back to form Royal HaskoningDHV. The merger was finalised yesterday, July 2, and a new corporate identity was unveiled the same day.

It appears no further information about the logo is available at the moment. Update July 5: The Dutch agency Millford Brand-ID developed the new identity for the merged company, having won the assignment through a pitch. (Thanks Sabrina!)

New look: NOS Journaal

NOS, which stands for Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, is a public broadcaster in the Netherlands. Created in 1969, it is responsible for news and sports on Dutch public radio och TV. Yesterday, May 27, it introduced a new design for its flagship news programme, NOS Journaal.

NOS' previous look was launched in December 2005 and created by the British agency Lambie-Nairn. Based on a concept called "the hub of news", Lambie-Nairn built the new look around a red ring, also taking the place of the O in the logo.

The new look reaffirms the confidence in the red ring, making it the focal point in the intro. NOS are also getting a new studio set design. The music is a re-arranged version of the music used before 2005.

New logo: Albert Heijn to go

Albert Heijn To Go is a Dutch chain of convenience stores, a concept within Albert Heijn, a major supermarket chains in the Netherlands. There are over 50 stores in the "to go" concept, mostly located at places where many people pass by, such as train stations.

In March, it premiered a new store design, aimed at enhancing convenince and speed for busy consumers. The new identity was created by the British agency Cada Design Group, who chose to focus on fun by bringing in a range of bright colours.

New logo: vanHaren

VanHaren is a Dutch shoe store chain with a history dating back to 1929. Today it has 135 stores and is a subsidiary of the German Deichmann Group. About a year ago, Deichmann introduced a new visual identity which it started implementing in its stores across Europe. Last month, on February 15, vanHaren unveiled a new logo to match its parent company.

Deichmann's logo consists of a green square and a D with a very subtle shoe in it. VanHaren has now adopted a similar square, but this one is orange and has a script H. The orange colour was chosen to provide a link to the previous logo (which was blue and orange) and to mark the chain's Dutch origins, as orange is the national colour of the Netherlands.

New logo: Mentrum

Mentrum is a Dutch care organisation for people with complex psychiatric problems, part of the Dutch mental health organisation Arkin. In November, Mentrum also started offering treatment for serious addiction problems, and introduced a new visual identity, created by Millford Brand-id.

"The logo uses stacked stones. In different cultures stacks of cobbles are placed along the road to mark a route. Travellers add a cobble to the balancing stack making it grow, fall over and be built all over again. Mentrum too is working steadily towards a more balanced human being." - Millford

Millford has a long-standing relationship with Arkin. They were behind its corporate identity back in 2008 when the company was created through a merger, and would later create identities for other divisions.

New logo: VGZ

VGZ, a major Dutch health insurer, has introduced a new corporate identity. This is part of a consolidation which sees VGZ replacing two other brands, Trias and SIZ, owned by the same company. After the changes, VGZ will have 2.2 million policyholders.

The new logo is supposed to be shaped like a flower with a little curl on the letter G, both aspects representing growth and development, while the interlocking petals represent cooperation between clients, providers and the insurer.