2013 in review

With only a few days left of 2013, The Branding Source presents its year in review post. This is a collection of over a hundred different logos introduced during the year. The selection is partly based on the significance of the client and/or the overall quality of the work. Most entries come with one or a few links that should provide you with hours of great designs and interesting reads.

New logo: Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Europe's largest TV event, the Eurovision Song Contest, will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark next year after the kingdom won the competition in neighbouring Sweden in May. Every contest has its own theme art, the look and feel that will permeate the contest, and the host broadcaster DR unveiled theirs yesterday.

Next year's contest will be signified by a hexagonal diamond with the slogan #JoinUs on it. This will be the first contest to use a hashtag as its slogan. In a statement, the executive producer of the show explains that the diamond symbolises the contest as gathering point that is "at once sparkling and strong" and that its different sides show "the diversity and difference that will be on the Eurovision stage".

New logo: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is Hollywood's film academy, probably best (or only) known for being the organisation behind the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. Yesterday, the Academy unveiled a logo for itself, developed with Los Angeles agency 180LA.

A triangular shape forms a spotlight on an Oscar statuette silhouette, which can also be interpreted as the letter A for "Academy". The previous logo had the spotlight coming from behind the statuette, and the shift is supposed top place more focus on the Academy itself, not just the Oscars. In an introduction, AMPAS president Cheryl Boone Isaacs says the new symbol represents it members, "a community of artists at the top of their game".

New logo: Encore

Encore is a suite of cable movie channels in the United States. At the beginning of this month, on December 2, the package was relaunched with new logos, new graphics and some new channels, all developed by Troika in Hollywood.

The Encore channels specialise in somewhat older, familiar and "iconic" movies rather than recent releases, as expressed by the existing positioning "Playing Favorites". The tone of voice for promotions is set by different clever messages that play on the familiarity of the films. Graphics make use of large and straightforward typography. Troika also produced a series of genre stings with haikus and graphics inspired by classic movie posters (think Saul Bass).

New logo: Golf Channel

The Golf Channel is an American television network dedicated to the sport of golf, holding the rights to many of the important tours. It is owned by Comcast, and after its merger with NBCUniversal in 2011 it has been integrated into the NBC Sports Group. This was quickly made evident with Golf Channel-branded programming airing on the NBC network and the addition of an NBC peacock to the network logo.

Yesterday, December 16, the network took this one step further and unveiled a new logo with focus on the peacock and the word "golf". When it launches in May next year, it will completely replace the G-with-golf-peg mark that has been used until now. The new logo was developed by Los Angeles agency Troika, who have been working with Golf Channel for several years.

Logo round-up: November 2013

This past November was a rather slow month for rebrands, but there were still almost thirty new logos introduced that qualify for this round-up.

New logo: Stöð 3

Stöð 3 is a new television channel from Iceland's leading commercial broadcaster Stöð 2. It launched earlier this autumn, on September 7, and targets a younger audience with entertainment and drama series. The bright look makes use of glowing triangles to frame the 3 numeral.