2014 in review

Christmas is coming, and The Branding Source presents an early gift in the form of the 2014 year in review roundup. It consists of over 100 new logos introduced during the year, selected mostly based on the significance of the client or the overall quality of the work. The links included should provide you with enough reading to last the rest of the year.

New ribbon for Nelonen

Nelonen is one of the most popular TV channels in Finland, launched in 1997 as the country's second commercial TV network. Last week, on December 16, it introduced a new logo, designed by London-based Proud Creative.

The new logo is ribbon that forms the number 4 (Nelonen is Finnish for "Channel 4"), usually in blue hues but the colour changes depending on content. It launched with a new slogan, Katso mistä puhut, which roughly translates as "See what you're talking about".

Logo round-up: November 2014

Here's the logo round-up for November, a commonly slow month when it comes to rebrands. But that didn't stop several interesting projects from launching, including new logos for Pizza Hut and 7Up.

Tastier porridge from Fazer Alku

Fazer Alku is a Finnish brand for porridge and bread from bakery and confectionery company Fazer. Earlier this year, the brand introduced several new variants of porridge, as well as a new look, created by Dragon Rouge.

The new packaging establishes Alku as a brand for breakfast products, highlighting porridge as a healthy and tasty meal.

Integrated identity for Norwegian football association

The Football Association of Norway (Norges fotballforbund, NFF) governs football in Norway and organises its national teams. On Friday, it unveiled a new visual identity, developed with Scandinavian Design Group (SDG) and Norsk Designråd. It includes both a new association logo and a crest for the national team.

The monogram is a modernised version of its predecessor, while the new crest features the national flag and two lions. The accompanying press release stresses that these a both symbols of national pride, as well a more multicultural Norway. The monogram reportedly symbolises integration, which is a stated core value of the NFF.

There will also be a new system for the regional associations that make up the NFF. They will be given new logos based on the main NFF mark. SDG are stressing that the logo and crest are just small parts of a more cohesive identity, so you are advised to defer judgement until more is revealed.

New symbol for the National Museum of Finland

The National Museum of Finland an historical museum in Helsinki, Finland, displaying archaeological finds and historical artefacts in its exhibitions. Last month, it introduced a new visual identity, developed by Helsinki-based Agency Leroy.

According to Leroy, the new logo is timeless and durable. It contains the museum's initials in both Finnish and Swedish (Kansallismuseo and Nationalmuseum) and is part of a cohesive visual renewal, more of which will be revealed later on. It will be used to unite the eleven different museums that are part of the National Museum under a common symbol.

Time to enter the Transform Awards

The Branding Source is a supporting partner for the European edition of next year's Transform Awards, an award to recognise brand development work around the world. It is open to anyone involved in brand identity design, including both stand-alone and in-house agencies.

The deadline to enter is set for December 16. Although it is fast approaching, there's still time for you get your bid in order. The Transform website contains all the information you need and the entry form.

New identity for book club France Loisirs

France Loisirs is a major French book club, founded in 1970. Although smaller than it used to be, it still commands about 2 million members who are serviced through a network of shops or by mail. Recently, France Loisirs adopted a new visual identity, created by brand design agency CBA.

The new identity supports an expanded offering that also includes wellbeing products alongside books. CBA also designed a new retail setting.

Lippincott develops identity for merging landscapers

Brickman and ValleyCrest are two American landscape maintenance companies in the process of merging. Last week, they announced that the future name of the combined company would be BrightView. The brand strategy and visual identity was developed by Lippincott.

The new name keeps the initials of the merging companies (B and V), which are also present in abstracted form in the new tree symbol.

High energy monogram for V8 Supercars

V8 Supercars is Australia's leading car racing competition and one of the most watched sports in the country. Last week, it unveiled a new visual identity, developed by Sydney-based Hulsbosch.

Extensive research was performed to find a visual expression and strategy that would allow the sport to grow. Hulsbosch developed an iconic symbol that can stand on its own, representing the energy of the sport in the form of the stylised initials SC.

Centric becomes the first network for black women

Centric is an American cable TV channel. Originally launched as a jazz channel spun off from BET, it was relaunched as Centric in 2009 as a channel aimed at a slightly older African-American audience. Nowadays, it targets a largely female audience and over the weekend it launched a new look to emphasize this.

The channel is now branded as "the first network designed for black women", to clarify its position in competition from other networks who are also targeting this group. The new logo is flexible and can include moving parts. The graphics package greyscale footage in a colour scheme based on magenta and cyan.

Relaxed and human branding for Discovery Home & Health

Discovery Home & Health is a Latin American lifestyle TV channel. Owned by Discovery Communications, it mostly targets women with programmes about health, decorating and cooking. Earlier this year, it launched a new graphics package, created by Argentinian agency Lumbre.

The brief was to give the channel a look that was both accessible and aspirational. This was achieved by using bright colours, textures and patterns to frame photos and humorous video elements.