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.

New logo: University of New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire is the largest university in the rather small state of New Hampshire. Founded in 1866, it currently has over 15,000 students. During a college hockey game on Saturday, the school unveiled its new logo, created by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv in New York.

The new emblem is a modern take on a shield with the initials NH in the school's colours and replaced an image of the Thompson Hall clock tower, a building located on the UNH campus. It was created with the collaboration of an "advisory panel" of students, alumni, faculty and staff. Usage guidelines will be published in February.

New logo: Lloyd's Register

Lloyd's Register is an organisation with various activities in maritime shipping, rail, energy and management systems. It was founded in 1760 in London, where it is still head-quartered. On Sunday, December 8, it unveiled a new visual identity.

The new monogram is a cleaned-up version of the LR stamp used by the organisation's surveyors since 1884.

New logo: Arby's

Arby's is a major American fast food chain, mostly known for serving sandwiches. Its logo has long been a cowboy hat. After several decades of barely changing it, last fall it was given an update when the "Wild West" typeface was replaced by something more contemporary. The result was an odd clash between old and new.

That logo proved short-lived, as last week it started using a refreshed version of the logo on its website, in advertising and on social media. This time, the logo has been given a more careful redesign with a contemporary slab serif typeface. The hat has been released from its odd extrusion and has been tweaked for the better.

New logo: Aurora Airlines

Last month, on November 6, Russia's Aeroflot Group unveiled a new airline, created by the combination of two smaller airlines based in the far-eastern part of Russia SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Avia. The airline will be called Aurora Airlines and its brand was developed by Landor Associates.

The hope is that the combination of two regional carriers will create a more efficient traffic system for the entire region. Inspired by cave paintings, the new icon has been abstracted to an infinity symbol with smooth curves.

New logo: Mobile by Sainsbury's

British supermarket chain Sainsbury's became yet another in the line of companies to launch a mobile telecom brand with the introduction of "Mobile by Sainsbury's" earlier this year in partnership with Vodefone. The brand was developed by Lippincott.

The brand was developed to translate Sainsbury's ethos, "Live Well For Less", to a telecom brand and emphasises that it is on the costumers side. Visually, it was designed to fit in with Sainsbury's overall identity and to appear generous and bright as well as technically knowledgeable.

New look: FX International

Today we take a look at a recent graphics package produced for FX, an international brand used by several TV channels featuring "edgy" drama series. The package was developed by Argentinian motion design studuio Superestudio with Fox International Channels' creative team for "worldwide" use, which means it will not be seen in the United States.

Superestudio has helped refresh FX several times before, and as with previous packages this one makes great use of the versatile FX logo. The studio says this package was intended to show the "edgy point of view of FX".

New logo: Paris Region

Île-de-France is the name used for France's capital region, that is Paris and its extended surroundings. Last week, on November 27, different government agencies unveiled a new brand, "Paris Region", to market Île-de-France internationally and to established it as a region of tourism and economic growth.

A new English language slogan, "Source of Inspiration", is intended to express the "innovation, creativity and invention" that has sprung from the region since the French revolution. The icon combines eight sticks that form a "capital radiation" image in different colours, representing diversity, with an abstraction of the Eiffel tower, a universal symbol of Paris, the region and France.

The BBC Television Symbol, 1953

Sixty years ago tonight, on December 2, 1953, if you were living in Great Britain and was among the few who had a television set you would probably turn it on to find a stark new symbol on the only television channel available to you. What was then known as the "BBC Television Service" had adopted Britain's, if now the world's, first moving television symbol which was shown in the spaces between programmes. Officially called the "Television Symbol", it has been nick-named the "bat's wings" for its appearance.

To create this symbol, the BBC had contracted Abram Games, one of the great poster artists of the time. He is probably best remembered for his work in poster design before, during and after World War II. One project that stands out was created for the 1951 Festival of Britain, a large national exhibition. Games had won a contest to create the emblem for the exhibition, against stiff competition from other contemporary masters like Milner Gray and F.H.K. Henrion. Games' experience and success from this project probably didn't hurt his chances in landing the BBC job.