2012 in review

To end a great year, here's a summary of the noteworthy and the memorable in brand design during 2012.

Logo round-up: Supplement 2012

The "logo round-ups" track logo changes that occurred during the past month and are quite popular. Unfortunately, there are always plenty of noteworthy logo changes that miss the deadline to be included in the monthly "logo round-up". In order not to let them pass by unnoticed, here's a special logo round-up that gathers noteworthy logo changes that occurred during January-November this year, but didn't make it into a logo round-up.

New logo: Ving, Spies and Tjäreborg

European holiday giant Thomas Cook Group is using three primary brand for its travel operators in the Nordic countries; Ving in Norway and Sweden, Spies in Denmark and Tjäreborg in Finland. All three brands have histories going back to the 50s and enjoy strong positions in their respective markets. Today, it is launching a new visual identity with a common icon to be used by all three brands, created by Swedish design agency Happy F&B

From now on, all three brands will be represented by a glowing yellow and orange heart, nick-named "The Sunny Heart". The changes will also apply to the group hotel chains, Sunwing and Sunprime. Having a common visual identity allows both the travel operator and the hotels to be part of the same unified brand experience.

New logo: Allens Linklaters

In May this year, Australia's leading law firm Allens Arthur Robinson formed an alliance with Linklaters, a global law firm head-quartered in London. This means Allens is Linklaters' partner in Australia, Linklaters is Allens partner in the rest of the world, and the two have agreed to form joint-ventures in Asia. Reflecting the fact that the two firms will work together, they also adopted a unified corporate identity, developed by Australian design agency Hulsbosch.

Allens Arthur Robinson dropped its two former names to become Allens. The Australian firm was keen to have its name first, a decision that also makes sense pronunciation wise. The new identity would use the same typeface as Linklaters global identity, with Linklaters set in its established magenta and Allens would use a blue shade. The two colours are equally strong and have almost the same lightness.

Two arrows separate the two equal brand, while also bringing them together. This arrow motif is also used extensively on stationery and other applications.

New logo: Flywheel

Cabulous, a mobile app that helps people order a taxi, was relaunched last week as Flywheel. The new identity was developed by Moving Brands, who are promising more information in the future. Until then, we have a nice icon portraying a wheel with wings, that perhaps reminds one of the letter F. It lives in a clean vivid visual environment.

New logo: Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Dean is a brand for meat-based food products – including something called "Pancakes & Sausage on a stick" – founded by a country singer of the same name and now owned by Hillshire Brands. Back in October it started rolling out a refreshed package design that is described as more consistent and contemporary. This also includes a new simplified logo with a rought stamp effect.

New logo: Nestlé Docello

Nestlé Docello is a new brand for dessert mixes and sauces from Nestlé that mainly targets the professional sector, such as restaurants and caterers. It was introduced earlier this autumn for a range of products that until then had carried generic Nestlé branding. The new identity was developed to remind one of Italian delicacies and involves new colour-coded packaging.