New logo: TV 2 Norway

TV 2 is Norway's leading commercial television channel, launched in 1992 after obtaining a government license. This month it has revealed a revised version of its logo.

When TV 2 was launched it had two versions of its logo, one where the numeral had a solid 3D appearance and a simplified flat print version. Both were designed by Scandinavian Design Group. Several years later, the 3D version would be dropped in favour of the print version.

The new one is a essentially a refined version of its predecessor. The integrity of the numeral hasn't changed, although thinner lines that mark its outline have been removed. The colours also remain, but have been changed to new nuances. Scandinavian Design Group were reportedly also behind this version, although Red Bee Media in London had some sort of input.

New logo: FSE Energy

FSE Energy is an American company that manufactures equipment to extract biomass fuel. Until December last year it was known as Factory Sales & Engineering, Inc. when it was rebranded and adopted a new corporate identity, created by MetaDesign in San Francisco.

The previous name and the humdrum logo that accompanied it conveyed an image of a small family-owned company. The new identity is more on par with FSE's competitors. The icon is "a contemporary abstraction of flame", depicting "the transfer of biomass to fuel through fire".

New logo: LogoTV

Launched in 2005, the confusingly named Logo is an American cable network tailored to an LGBT audience with programs about everything from adoption to drag queens. It is owned by Viacom and is probably the first such network to be launched by a mainstream broadcaster. This month Logo itself has quietly rolled out a new logo.

The previous logo had been used in various forms since the network's launch. Originally it came in many colors, but lately it has usually been black of white.

New logo: Hop!

The Air France Group owns three regional airlines – Brit Air, Regional and Airlinair – that are about to be united under one banner to communicate a clearer offer. As revealed yesterday, January 28, the combined airline will be named Hop!. It will commence operations on March 31 with 530 flights per day using 98 aircraft. The new brand was developed by Brandimage, who have been Air France's partner for several years.

The name should evoke speed, ease and agility. The logo is a simple red wordmark with a slanted exclamation mark. The latter is said symbolise and aircraft taking off, but it also evokes a sense of metaphorical takeoffs. It will also be part of the tailfin decoration. There's also a prominent "by Air France" alongside the fuselage that endorses the brand.

New logo: TV3 Sport

Denmark's largest sports channel, TV 2 Sport, was a joint-venture between two of the country's leading broadcasters, TV 2 and MTG, until late last year when TV 2 exited the company. As a result, the channel was renamed TV3 Sport 1 on January 7, linking it to MTG's other channels in Denmark.

There seems to be a company policy within MTG that logos have to be shiny spheres or circles, and this one follows that pattern.

New look: RTP1

RTP1 is the primary channel of Portugal's state broadcaster and the oldest TV channel in the country. It rates as the third most watched network in Portugal, behind commercial rivals SIC and TVI. This month, it launched a new on-screen look along with the slogan Portugal sempre ligado (meaning something like "Portugal always connected").

The new look is said to reflect Portugal's history, culture, regions and its people. Idents seem to come in two varieties. Some show time lapses of landscapes and landmarks around Portugal, others are shots of smiling young people. (Either there is some distinction about their usage that I don't understand, or they couldn't decide on a single concept.)

Graphics are employing a full spectrum of bright colours and effective "folding" animations. The current RTP1 logo was introduced in 2004 as part of a company-wide identity programme and remains unchanged.

More on: VH1

Earlier this month, the American cable channel VH1 launched a new visual identity, including its first logo change in almost ten years. It was covered here at the time. The new look was created by New York design firm Gretel, who published their case study, a video montage and a few more images last week.