JDA delivers new plan

JDA Software is an American software company that provides planning and management solutions for businesses, including retail and manufacturing. This week, on October 28, the company launched a new visual identity, developed by Lippincott in New York.

The new tagline "plan to deliver" sums up JDA's mission to provide software solutions that help its costumers succeed. JDA works business-to-business and the new logo and its applications are therefore straightforward and business-oriented.

Camping in France with Tohapi

France is a popular destination for camping and the leading provider of camping suites is Vacalians Group, formed in 2012 through a merger. It does not only claim to be a leader in France, but the leader in Europe. In October, the company announced that it would launch a new brand to replace its existing consumer brands Vacances directes and Village Center. The camping sites will now be marketed under the name Tohapi, and the visual identity was developed by Royalties.

The aim of the new Tohapi brand is to "support the desires of its guests, anticipate their needs and offer them the best of the camping spirit". Royalties' execution makes great use of the signature orange colour and the elongated letter O in the logo. It comes with various applications and a set of icons.

Classics: New York Life, 1964

This classic logo for the New York Life Insurance Company was introduced fifty years ago this year. During those fifty years, New York Life has continued to grow to become one of leading life insurers in the world, but they kept the logo virtually unchanged. It was introduced in the autumn of 1964 and was commissioned from Lippincott & Margulies, the still-active New York branding firm now known as Lippincott.

The actual logo was designed by Raphael Boguslav (1929-2010) who was employed at L&M at the time and created several other classic marks. At first glance, it may seem a bit un-assuming, just three words stacked in a square. At the time, that solution was a bit more unusual.

Before this symbol was adopted, New York Life had used an oval badge with the initials NYLIC (introduced in 1954), and before that they used an engraving of an eagle feeding its offspring. The Nylic badge had several problems, foremost among them was that it was not recognised outside the company. The fact that it was far from uniformly applied added to this problem.

L&M recommended that the company switch from the unclear Nylic moniker to the more natural sounding New York Life. The typography was inspired by Roman lettering, bringing a classic sensibility. A launch campaign and consistent application ensured that it became well established among both agents and the public at large.

Elisa splashes out on new look

Elisa is a major telecommunications company in Finland, offering both landline broadband Internet and mobile services. Yesterday, October 15, the company launched a new visual identity, developed by Swedish branding agency Grow.

The rebrand unites a bunch of product names that will live on a sub-brands under the corporate name. The unified identity should project an image of a more fluid and agile company. The friendly script logo is supported by a splash figure made up of constantly changing fluid shapes.

Logo round-up: September 2014

This September, usually one of the busiest months of the year when it comes to rebrands, didn't disappoint. There were dozens of interesting new projects launched around the world, including a new look for Southwest Airlines, a new name for Belgium's phone company, a national export brand for Turkey and several others.

Ubeeqotous car sharing

Ubeeqo is a French company that provides corporate car-sharing solutions, describing itself as a national leader in that field. It was known as Carbox until earlier this year when it adopted a new brand identity, developed by French agency Brand Brothers.

The agency worked on everything from naming to visual identity, applications and icons. The new look should convey easy travelling and consistency.

BBC First – in the mood for great drama

BBC First is a new premium TV channel from the BBC, first launched in Australia back in August. The channel features the best of BBC drama and the intention is to have it rolled out globally over time. The brand identity for the channel was developed by New York-based Trollbäck + Company, who are also working with the BBC on the launches of two further channel brands, BBC Earth and BBC Brit.

The BBC First brand is set in "an emotionally heightened world where nothing is just black and white, but supercharged with fine nuances and incredible plot twists". The idents convey different emotive vibes and moods through footage shot on film using a special camera set-up that has been double-exposed and projected.

The idents and a press release can be seen below.

New Boomerang logo launching worldwide

Boomerang is an International cable network dedicated to classic American cartoons from the likes of Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera. It was launched in the United States in 2000 as a spin-off from Cartoon Network and has since been rolled out worldwide. Yesterday, October 14, Boomerang announced that it would launch a new logo internationally.

The new logo is part of an international relaunch as a "global all-animation, youth-targeted network, repositioned with a line-up of timeless and contemporary cartoons programmed for family co-viewing". The new logo is clearly more linked to Cartoon Network, clearly positioning it as a sister channel.

Sapo leaps forward

Sapo is a Portuguese company that is both an internet service provider and the owner of several web portals through which it collects a large amount of Portugal's internet traffic. It was founded in 1995 essentially as Portugal's equivalent of America Online. The name is originally an acronym, but also happens to mean toad in Portuguese, so the company logo has always been a toad. This month the are introducing a redesigned version of that toad.

Sapo say they are "betting on credibility, creativity, innovation, technology and proximity" and that their logo is "modern, technological, innovative and disruptive". It also comes with a new set of colours and icons.

Classics: Air Canada, 1964

Air Canada is the largest airline in Canada, founded in 1937 as Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), a name it kept using until about fifty years ago when the current name was adopted. Air Canada was originally the French name for the airline, used in conjunction with the TCA moniker for several years until the latter was dropped in 1964, legally changing the airline's name on January 1, 1965.

Part of that transformation was the development of a new corporate identity, revealed to the public in October 1964. Air Canada contracted Stewart Morrison Roberts (later known as Stewart & Morrison), one of Canada's leading brand consultants at the time. They developed a modern identity draped in the national colours, red and white.

The logo is a new take on the encircled maple leaf and was designed by Hans Kleefeld, a German-born graphic designer who was creative director at SMR at the time. They naturally decided to keep the maple leaf, but stylised it and added a broken circle that starts at its stem. The lettering was designed to be uncluttered.

SNL's anniversary logo flickers into life

The television institution that is the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live entered its 40th season last month. To celebrate, it adopted a new intro and logo, created by a team at Pentagram lead by Emily Oberman. Pentagram and Oberman have been the go-to people for NBC's late night offerings for several years now, giving them a sophisticated and contemporary New York look. They were also behind several previous SNL intros.

After several years with the ultra boldness of Gotham Ultra Bold, the show has switched for a flexible logo where the words in the logo and the "40" tag can be combined in different ways. On screen, it is frequently abbreviated to read "SNL40", with spaces left where the rest if the words would be. The typeface is called Druk.

The new title sequence takes its inspiration from old taping technology, utilising a "ghosting" effect that was a common artefact when bright lights recorded on tape. Images of New York buildings have been added, but otherwise the opening follows the established theme, with the exception of show announcer Don Pardo who passed away shortly before the new season was about to start.

Mitel makes new connections

Mitel is a Canadian tech company, specialised in business communications solutions. Last week, the company introduced a new visual identity.

Mitel has bought several companies recently, including competitor Aastra, and the introduction of the new logo will see the Mitel name adopted for these acquisitions. The old Mitel logo dated back to the 70s.

Nasdaq cuts ribbon on ambition

Nasdaq is one of the largest stock exchanges in the United States. As you already know, the name is an acronym that reads National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. In 2007, its parent company merged with Nordic stock exchange company OMX to became Nasdaq OMX. At the beginning of this month, Nasdaq rolled out a new visual identity.

The rebranding sheds the OMX tag and the company is now known simply as Nasdaq once again. A new tagline has been introduced, "Ignite you ambition", sending the message that Nasdaq is there to help companies and investors in their ambitions. The metallic ribbon symbol also exists in a flat version that can be seen on Nasdaq's website.

Neopost to receive new logo

Neopost is a French company that provides mailroom equipment, holding a leading position in this market. This week, on September 30, it introduced a new logo which is scheduled for launch in February 1, 2015.

Just like its predecessor, the new logo is a stylised N. This one has been designed to look like an envelope. The company says its new look will be "lively, bright, dynamic and optimistic" and that it reflects changes and diversification within the company.

New logo pulled together for MTG

Modern Times Group, or MTG, is a media company in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, mainly concerned with broadcasting, including the Viasat platform and TV3 channels in Scandinavia and the Baltics. As MTG prepares to become a more visible as a brand, it revealed a new company logo on September 30. The logo was designed by Swedish agency BVD, while London-based Radley Yeldar worked on the brand platform.

The previous logo had been used since the company was formed in 1995. The new one should reportedly convey clarity, self confidence and a twinkle in the eye (which the slanted G represents).

Update October 16: BVD have now published their case study for this project, more images added at the bottom of this post.

Saelen chips new identity

Saelen/TS Industrie is a French manufacturer of woodchippers based in Lille. Founded in 1880, it is now one of Europe's largest producers of woodchippers. French agency Brand Brothers recently created a new visual identity for the company.

The logo-type uses custom lettering and is part of a cohesive identity that also include guidelines and applications.