United States Postal Service (1993)

Twenty years ago this month, on October 12, 1993, the United States Postal Service introduced a new identity. The bureaucratic organisation was facing stiff competition from the likes of FedEx and UPS and needed to be run more like a business to survive.

The task of rebranding this huge organisation was assigned to CYB Yasumura Design, lnc., a New York subsidiary of Young & Rubicam, who were the postal service's ad agency at the time. CYB Yasumura was founded in 1981 and headed by Matsuo Yasumura who had a background as an art director within Y&R. The firm's handling of the account was later investigated for improprieties, which caused Mr. Yasamura to resign.

The design itself wasn't that well received either. The previous symbol was a classic, designed by Raymond Loewy and introduced in 1970. Its replacement was much more corporate, with all the letters in the full name crammed into a unwieldy wordmark. It is also one of very few logos to be ridiculed on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. Reporting on the new logo, anchor Kevin Nealon explained that "the eagle depicted is a special breed known for its incompetence, slow flight and sudden bursts of violent behaviour against former co-eagles".

Nonetheless, this identity has survived more or less intact for twenty years. Meanwhile, the Internet has had the net effect of fewer letters being sent, and the USPS continues to manage its inevitable decline.

New logos: Challenge and Pick

Pick and Challenge and two British entertainment channels, available to most households as the free-to-air outlets of pay broadcaster Sky. Pick shows a mix of entertainment from Sky's pay channels, while Challenge is focused on game shows. On October 7, they both introduced new looks with similar logos.

Other than the logos, the two channels have different presentation. Idents on Pick feature people on bicycles, while the Challenge idents introduce a cast of animated characters who are enthusiastic about different types of game shows.

New look: TV 2 (Denmark)

TV 2 is Denmark's most watched television channel, owned by the Danish state but commercially funded. It started broadcasting in October 1988, and at the conclusion of a 25th anniversary tribute that aired on October 5, the channel launched a new on-air identity. It is a part of a larger overhaul of the company's brand architecutre that is being created as a collaboration between TV 2's in-house design department and the independent agencies Designit and Stupid Studio.

The new identity brings focus back to the classic TV 2 logo, originally designed by Finn Hjernøe and used since the launch with only minor updates. In the past few decades, the logo has been permanently enclosed by a rectangle. That rectangle has now been removed and the logo stands free once again. The 56 degree slant in the logo is used in all aspects of presentation, including sliding graphic on screen.

New idents and break bumpers feature snippets of everyday Danish life, sent in by viewers. The new channel typeface is Alright Sans.

New logo: Melbourne Festival

The Melbourne Festival is a cultural event that takes place annually in the city of Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the leading cultural festivals in the country, and can also stand up against other multi-arts festivals in the world. This year's edition is currently ongoing and is the first to use a new visual identity, created by Futurebrand.

The mark was inspired by the "Hoddle Grid", the layout of streets in Melbourne's city center which is located at a 20 degree angle in relation to the surrounding streets. Futurebrand also created a visual language for communication with lines in different colours, referring to the festival's theme of "connections".

New logo: Iberia

Iberia is the national airline of Spain, incorporated in 1927 and still the country's largest airline. Today, it is owned by International Airlines Group, which also owns British Airways. After a few weeks of leaks to the press, the airline officially unveiled a new corporate identity today, due to launch in November. The rebrand was handled by Interbrand.

The previous identity with its IB mark and striped livery had survived ever since 1977 with only minor changes. The new logo evolves the mark into a tailfin, controversially dropping the royal crown in the process.

Logo round-up: September 2013

Here's a round-up of new logos revealed this past September. If you feel there's something missing, please do post a comment below.

New logo: Kanal 11

Kanal 11 is a Swedish television channel. Formerly known as TV11, it was acquired to Discovery Communications last spring. On October 1, it was relaunched under a new name to align it with the company's other Swedish entertainment channels, Kanal 5 and Kanal 9. It is now positioned as an entertainment channel for young women.

The new logo and on-air identity were designed by Swedish broadcast design agency Dallas Sthlm.