2015 in review

With Christmas and a new year approaching, here's the traditional year in review round-up from The Branding Source. It presents more than 100 brand design projects from around the world, selected mostly for the profile of the client and/or the overall quality of the work. Most projects have links that lead to in-depth coverage.

General comments about trends and changes are interspersed among the projects. This year has seen some sectors grow in importance while other have stagnated. Another apparent trend is that the major global branding networks are producing fewer notable entries, leaving more room for medium-sized design studios and agencies.

Logo round-up: November 2015

Here's the long-awaited November issue of the logo round-up. This November was unusually busy with a few major changes and several interesting projects from around the world.

Rome presents bid logo for 2024 Olympics

Somewhat overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the withdrawn logo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the bidding is ongoing to find the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Four candidates are currently active, and this week Rome became the first of these to present its candidate city logo.

The logo was revealed during a long ceremony and depicts a version the Colosseum in the colours of the Italian flag.

Interbrand rebrands engineering company Engemon

Engemon is a multi-disciplinary engineering company based in São Paulo that serves many industries with infrastructure technology. It recently launched a new visual identity, created by Interbrand São Paulo.

The new brand platform is built around an idea of "synergy through mastery", which was concocted through client interviews. It expresses how Engemon unites different disciplines to create new solutions. The new logo "demonstrates the sum and constant interaction between people and knowledge in finding the best solutions".

Google Life Sciences becomes Verily

Google's transformation and rebranding of its various side businesses has progressed during the autumn since it was revealed that Google's parent company would be known as Alphabet. The latest change occurred this week when Google Life Sciences changed its name to Verily.

Verily will still study ways to apply technology to health and the life sciences, but will now do that as an independent company. The name is derived from the Latin word for truth, embodying the company's mission to "use technology to create a true picture of human health". The fresh identity uses simple typography in shades of pink and purple.

Gripping cinematic look for Chiller

Chiller is an American TV channel owned by NCBUniversal that specialises in horror, thriller and mystery programming. It recently launched a new set of presentation graphics, created by production company King and Country.

The current Chiller logo was introduced in 2010 and remains mostly unchanged. The new motion graphics make great use of its angular qualities in the form of a "sliced" screen with visible cracked glass. The modernised look has clear cinematic qualities with scary settings created using both live action footage and visual effects.

Radius - a new name for Danish electricity distribution

DONG Energy is the leading energy company in Denmark. It is currently in the process of a restructuring which will see its electricity distribution network spun off into a separately managed company. It was recently announced that this company would be called Radius, a name developed by Danish agency Kontrapunkt who were also behind the brand strategy and visual identity.

Design Bridge gives leading Dutch juice brand Appelsientje a refresh

Appelsientje is the most popular juice drink brand in the Netherlands, introduced in 1973 and now owned by dairy giant FrieslandCampina. Last month, it launched a new look with redesigned packaging and a refreshed logo, courtesy of Design Bridge.

As the leader in its segment, the challenge for Appelsientje was to stand out among competitors trying to mimic its look. Additionally it needed to fight the perception that packaged juices aren't a fully natural product.

Design Bridge's solution keeps Appelsientje's distinctive A-logo and its dominating presence on the packaging, but gives it a cleaner look. It is flanked by fruit still on the tree above it, as well as below it,

CBS Sports reveals new logo

CBS Sports, the sports division of American TV network CBS, announced yesterday that it was about to introduce a new logo. The launch will take place on February 7, 2016, ahead of the network's airing of the Super Bowl. It will also include new graphics and a consistent look across platforms.

For the major American TV networks, the news and sports divisions have always been major operations with a strong sense of identity. This is most evident in the on-air personalities, but the divisions also have clear and consistent branding.

CBS tends to be quite conservative in its branding and the previous CBS Sports logo was reportedly introduced in 1981. The current CBS News logo is even older and hasn't changed at all since the 1960s.

Elmwood redesigns Swedish soft drink Mer

Mer is a popular and classic soft drink brand in Sweden, now owned by The Coca-Cola Company. Over the summer, the brand was given a new look, created by the London office of Elmwood.

The aim of this redesign is to make Mer seem more "modern, relevant and cool" to the lucrative teen and young adults market. Mer means more and the brand's slogan has long been Älska Mer ("Love More"). The redesign uses the slogan across all packaging, including the smaller cartons popular with children. The new packaging also features bright and energetic fruit illustrations.

Preschool channel Sprout refreshed by Oishii

Sprout is an American TV channel for preschoolers. It was originally launched in partnership with PBS, but is now fully owned by NBCUniversal/Comcast. Recently, Sprout launched a new graphics package, produced by "creativity solutions" company Oishii Creative.

The channel's tagline "Free to grow" is reflected in a bright and positive look, combining live action and animation. The IDs feature everyday situations and objects that have been re-imagined as playful scenarios. Overall, Oishii produced more than 60 different elements, including IDs, bumpers and menus.

Royalties rebrands decorative paints leader Cromology

Back in July, one of the leading companies in decorative painting was rebranded. What was previously called Materis Paints was then renamed Cromology. The agency behind the rebrand was Paris-based Royalties.

The greek roots of the name Cromology mean "the science of colours", which explains what the company is all about. The logo is described as using a script-like futuristic typeface, shown in black or white to "[enhance] Cromology’s aesthetic priority and cultural sensitivity".

Refreshed identity for helmet maker Schuberth

Schuberth is a German manufacturer of safety helmets, including combat helmets and motorcycle helmets. Last week, it launched a refreshed visual identity, created by Hamburg-based agency Jung von Matt/brand identity.

Cape Rock brands new Dutch sports channel Ziggo Sport

Ziggo Sport is a new sports TV service in the Netherlands. It launched on November 12 for subscribers of leading cable operator Ziggo, replacing an existing sports channel called Sport1. The channel identity and branding for the new channel was developed by Cape Rock.

The new Ziggo Sport is a "free" channel offering live sporting events as well as talk shows and other sports programming. The channel ident features 3D representations of different sports arenas with sports imagery superimposed on the Ziggo symbol. The graphics should convey a "masculine, combative and premium feel".

Logo round-up: October 2015

Here's the logo round-up for October 2015. A few large companies, most notably Germany's Merck KGaA, introduced new visual identities last month. In addition, there were several other significant rebrands and redesigns around the world.

Eurosport drops its star circle logo

Eurosport is a leading sports TV channel in Europe, having been a staple of cable packages since its founding in 1989. It was recently acquired by Discovery Communications who've integrated it into their portfolio of channels and bolstered it by securing the rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympics. Today, Eurosport launched a brand new identity, with graphics developed by London-based DixonBaxi.

Significantly, the new look introduces a new logo, for the first time abandoning the European circle of stars used with minor modifications since the channel launched. It has been replaced by a wordmark with a single star. The new look is launched with the tagline "Fuel Your Passion", exclaiming the engagement its viewers have with the channel's content. The on screen are graphics are clean and simple, relying on strong imagery and typography.

A new tower in Tours

Tours is a city in France, the administrative centre of the Indre-et-Loire department. It has a long history stretching back to Gallic times. With 135,000 inhabitants, its municipality ranks 27 in population in France, although the metropolitan area where Tours is the centre has about 480,000 inhabitants. A week ago, the city presented a new logo.

What's most remarkable about this new logo is the one it replaces. Reportedly introduced in 1987, it consisted of a tower, inside a grid with a rainbow coming out of it. It screamed 80s design experiment and the city has been moving away from it over time.

The new logo is far more functional, dominated by a wordmark, with the old tower abstracted to three shapes in the middle, in colours related to the city and the region. An accompanying press release says it should convey a range of values, such as charm, elegance, revival, fluidity, innovation, movement and a balance between tradition and modernity.

DesignStudio creates new car rental brand Turo

Peer-to-peer car rental service RelayRides, which connects car owners with prospective renters in over 2,500 cities, changed its name yesterday. It is now known as Turo, and the rebrand was spearheaded by the San Francisco office of creative branding agency DesignStudio.

Turo is positioned as an adventurous, aspirational and individual brand that makes car rental a part of the journey. The visual expression is clean, using majestic imagery and "editorial" typography. The simple logo symbolises the starting point of a journey.

New brands for Canadian preschooler channels

In Canada, the rights to Disney-branded TV programming were held by the local Family Channel until this year, when the rights switched. Family Channel had also operated local versions of Disney Channel spin-offs Disney XD and Disney Junior. As a result of loosing their Disney programming, the channels were rebranded in September, with the English and French versions of Disney Junior rebranded as Family Jr. and Télémagino, respectively. The visual identities and graphics for the two preschooler channels were developed by LA-based creative studio Roger.

The graphics package uses paper-textured animation throughout, giving it a playful and tactile feel. This is reinforced through the use of custom handmade typeface. It also features a cast of whimsical paper characters, created through a combination of stop-motion and computer animation. They are used to tell small stories in the idents.

Centennial redesign for Marabou

Marabou is Sweden's leading brand of chocolate, maker a particular variety of milk chocolate. Nowadays, it is a part of Mondelez International, making it a sister brand of Cadbury, among others. In September, it started rolling out new packaging with a revitalised visual identity, designed by London-based Design Bridge.

Marabout founded in 1916 and will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. Fittingly, the new design is restrained with focus on the packaging's classical features. The logotype has been freed from the oval that was its holding shape for the last ten years. It now stands on its own, with the tagline Mmm… sedan 1916 ("Mmm... since 1916") added. The yellow colour associated with the main milk chocolate product has been extended to encompass the entire range of Marabou branded products, creating a more uniform branded block on the shelves.

New crown for Melodifestivalen

Melodifestivalen is a Swedish music contest that serves as the vehicle to find the national entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, but is also an enormous event on its own. Since 2002, the event has had a consistent branded look with a dedicated logo. For the next year's contest, that logo will change, as announced this week.

Ahead of the 2002 contest, the organising broadcaster, SVT, contracted Stockholm-based Dallas Motion Agency to create the graphics and look-and-feel of the contest. They came with a symbol where spotlights made up a crown. For the 2011 contest, this symbol was revitalised and the spotlights turned into bunch of splats.

SVT were unsatisfied with how the 2011 worked in print and returned to Dallas who came up with a new concept that retains some recognition. It can be interpreted both as the letter M and a crown. The typeface for the wordmark has previously been used in the contest's graphics.

Siegel+Gale rebrands procurement advisors Beroe

Beroe is a company that describes itself as "the premier provider of procurement intelligence and customized market research", which basically means they help organisations make smart decisions when they buy stuff. This year, they have introduced a new corporate identity, created by Siegel+Gale.

Siegel+Gale developed a brand platform for Beroe based on the "freedom to focus" which the company brings to its clients. This focus has been expressed visually by the "lens" in the new logotype and other supporting graphics.

A triangle of possibilities for Digi International

Digi International is an Amercian company that manufactures a wide range of specialised computer hardware. It is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and yesterday it launched a new visual identity.

AXN redefines itself

AXN is an international television channel brand owned by Sony Pictures. It is used by numerous pay TV channels in many countries around the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America. The programmes shown differ between territories, but the emphasis is on action-oriented programmes from Sony's library. Last month, a new visual identity for AXN was revealed.

The tagline for the new-look AXN is "Redefining Action", which in this case means "action" has been redefined quite broadly as anything intense or intriguing. The new logo uses angular typography and includes a three-dimensional pyramid, which is described as "a classic shape associated with mystery and the convergence of energy". That pyramid is heavily featured in the new graphics package.

Mighty mark by Red Antler

Mighty is an American start-up that helps plaintiffs fund their struggle through the justice system, positioned as way to help people stand up against powerful corporations and employers. It launched last month with a website and visual identity designed by Red Antler.

The Might mark uses "upward angles that are heroic and uplifting", and a lively, energetic green colour. The website is designed by be clear and easy to use.

Logo round-up: September 2015

This past September was a quite busy month when it came to new identity launches. Naturally, the new Google logo had the most impact by far, but there were several other high-profile rebrands, including Verizon, Channel 4, Best Western, Ireland's telco Eir and some major cable networks. In total, this logo round-up presents more than fifty projects from around the world.

W creates new identity for Novotel

Novotel is an International hotel chain of French origin with around 400 hotels around the world. It is currently a part of AccorHotels and positioned as the groups mid-range brand. It recently launched a new visual identity, created by French agency W.

The change is part of re-positioning of Novotel as a more personal brand, moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach that has become obsolete with the emergence of budget hotel brands.

Talking space symbol for new service HeadBox

HeadBox is the "first online marketplace for creative, inspiring and off-site spaces" in the United Kingdom. From the descriptions it seems like it wants to be a sort of Airbnb for professional and creative spaces. The service launched this month with a brand identity developed by London-based studio Karoshi.

New identity for Polish classifieds service Gratka

Gratka.pl is one of Poland's leading web services for classified ads, part of the Polska Press group. It was founded fifteen years ago and hosts ads for all sorts of goods and services. Last month, it launched a new visual identity, developed by Polish branding agency White Cat Studio.

The modern logo consists of a red rectangle with a white wordmark. In ads, the rectangle has been replaced with different objects of the kind that are on sale at the website.

Friendly Best Western surrenders its crown

Best Western is one of the largest American hotel chains, with more than 4,100 hotels worldwide, operated as a non-profit member association. Last week, it announced sweeping changes in its branding with new visual identities for most of its brands.

In recent years Best Western has diversified its offerings from one unified hotel brand to seven different and it is hoped that these changes will clarify the differences within the newly expanded brand portfolio. In addition to the main brand, two other sub-brands - Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier - have been given new looks. The entire company is about to change is name from Best Western International to Best Western Hotels & Resorts, which also means a new corporate logo.

The new logos have opted for a "friendlier" look with a typeface that resembles handwriting. It is hoped that the three-dimensional aspect of the monograms will help them stand out among other hotel logos. Notably absent is the crown that has adorned Best Western logos for over fifty years.

Channel 4 pushes boundaries with new identity

Channel 4 is the fourth major TV channel in the United Kingdom and has a remit and international reputation for creating challenging and innovative programming. This spirit runs through everything it does, including the presentation between the programmes. Yesterday, it launched a completely new identity that included everything from idents to news.

This is huge project involving several agencies and creatives. The lead was taken by Channel 4's in-house agency 4Creative and creative agency DBLG. Channel idents were produced with Academy Films and directed by Jonathan Glazer. Two custom typeface families were commissioned from none other than Neville Brody. Full credits are reproduced at the bottom of this article.

Channel 4 has always sought to bring innovation in their presentation and push the boundaries. The previous set of idents, introduced in 2004, consisted of short films were the logo was only flashed for less than a second. In the new idents, the full logo isn't included at all. Instead, pieces of the logo appear as crystals in various scenes. Other on-screen graphics also see the logo broken up into blocks that are free to flow around. Brody's typeface comes in eight weights and two variations, Horseferry for display and Chadwick for text.

Troika brands the new Daily Show

The Daily Show returned with its new host Trevor Noah this week, after Jon Stewart's departure back in August. The "new" Daily Show is fundamentally the same show, although Noah will probably change things up eventually. So far, the most noticeable change is an overall visual refresh. Comedy Central and The Daily Show worked with Hollywood-based branding agency Troika to create the new identity, including a new logo, an icon, and a complete show package

The old logo was introduced in 1998, before Jon Stewart had started hosting the show, and was arguably now overdue for a change. It's replacement is a relatively simple solution that uses Gotham.

The new intro features a lighter version of the over-the-top news intro tropes, with spinning globes and graphics. Some of it is surprisingly similar, including the orchestration of the main theme by They Might Be Giants, which remains unchanged. Other graphics are similarly light, contrasting with the studio which is still quite dark.

The studio set was designed by Jim Fenhagen and Larry Hartman of Jack Morton/PDG (who were also behind the old Daily Show set, as well as the new set for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert).

Red Antler brands healthcare startup Clover

Clover Health is a new data-driven health insurance start-up that seeks to give American seniors more effective healthcare, sort of a contender to be the Uber och Airbnb or healthcare. It's launch identity was devised by Red Antler. The also created the company website. The simple identity is focused on communicating the benefits Clover offers.

TBS previews new logo

TBS is one of the oldest cable TV stations in the United States, started by Ted Turner back in the 70s. It's focus has shifted through the years, but these days it is firmly positioned as a mainstream comedy channel, with sitcoms in primetime and Conan O'Brien later on. Recently, it has trialled a new logo, a version of which can be seen above.

Various version of the logo have been popping up sporadically at least since August, when new promos for the upcoming show Full Frontal were released. In mid-September, it was introduced on TBS's social media accounts, making the change more or less official, even if the logo is still not used on-air or on the official website. The version seen above is the one used on the social media profiles, but it will presumably take on many different textures and colour schemes later on.

DesignStudio redesigns Lendinvest

Lendinvest is a platform for investing in real estate through lending, branding itself as the worlds leading "peer-to-peer marketplace property lender". At the beginning of this month it launched a new visual identity, developed by London-based DesignStudio (who've previously helped rebrand Airbnb and Logitech). The agency set out to create "a clean, new focus that simplifies the offering and sets the brand apart".

The new symbol is a monogram, with an L and an I in an isometric grid, which should remind you of architecture and space. Backgrounds in ads use pictures of building materials to convey to the investor that they are investing in real buildings.

New O opens up for Opera

Opera is that web browser that by all accounts is great, but hardly used by any significant number of people. But it has been on the market since 1995 and is under continuing development. Yesterday, it launched a new visual identity, developed by London-based DixonBaxi.

Ever since its creation, Opera's icon has been the letter O taken from a serif typeface. The new version is more abstract, taking the form of a "gateway" that leads to new experiences.

Correction September 28: DixonBaxi only did the branding and creative strategy for this project, the visual identity was created by Anti.

Circle K gets global redesign

Quebec-based company Alimentation Couche-Tard operates a substantive network of convenience stores and gas stations around the world, across North America as well as some European countries. Today, September 22, it announced that many of these brands would be united under a refreshed Circle K brand.

Circle K has until now been the company's most significant brand in the United States. The brands it will replace are Statoil (Norway and Sweden), Kangaroo Express (part of the United States) and Mac's (Canada). In Quebec the stores are branded Couche-Tard, and will remain so "due to the specifics of that market".

The announcement came with a ridiculously detailed video, showing how great care has been taken to include aspects of the old logos in the new. The red colour is inherited from Mac's and the orange stripe from Statoil. But most importantly, the new logo is a cleaned up and modernised version of the old Circle K logo.

From 1955: ATV's double eye

Associated Television, or ATV, was one of the first commercial television companies to go on the air in the United Kingdom. They launched in London on September 24, 1955. As it turned out, they became the second commercial television station to go on the air in the country, narrowly beaten by another company called Associated-Rediffusion which launched two days before.

Incidentally, the company wasn't called ATV when it launched. It was initially referred to as the Associated Broadcasting Company, or ABC for short, but had to change its name after another broadcaster claimed those initials. So the company promptly had to come up with an altered name an change its logo to include the new initials.

The basic shape of the logo seen above was used from the start, minus two of the letters that were added later. That didn't change the idea behind the logo, an eye shape and its shadow, looking a bit like the classic CBS logo. The ATV logo is attributed to John B. Castle, a designer at Colman Prentis & Varley, which was ATV's ad agency in the early days. Mr. Castle remains largely unknown today, although he was a member of the Designers and Art Directors Club.

From 1959: ABC's trailblazing triangular symbol

Next week it will be 60 years since the arrival of commercial television in the United Kingdom, and ahead of this we look back at some identity design classics used by the ITV companies.

ABC Television (ABC for "Associated British Corporation") was the name of a British commercial television company that was active between 1956 and 1968. Of the four large companies that dominated British television during this period, it was the smallest, broadcasting only on weekends in the Midlands and Northern England. It did however manage to make a name for itself, primarily through distinctive drama programming.

ABC Television was owned by ABC Cinemas and its initial symbol was an adapted version of the cinema chain's symbol, an inverted triangle. After a few years on-air, the company commissioned a new symbol.

It was to be designed by June Fraser who worked for Design Research Unit, one of the leading industrial design groups in Britain at the time. Fraser had joined DRU in 1957. To my knowledge, this is one of the first major corporate symbols to be designed by a woman.

Ireland's leading telco changes its name to Eir

Yesterday, Ireland's leading telecommunications company changed its name from Eircom to Eir. At the same time, it adopted the squiggly logo seen above. Update: The new identity was designed by Moving Brands.

"Eir" is derived from the Irish name for Ireland (Éire) and is pronounced roughly as the word "air". The logo can be used in a variety of bright colours.

Trollbäck brands global development goals

The United Nations's has recently worked to develop a new document with a set of development goals our world should achieve before 2030. It replaces the Millenium Goals, which expire at the end of this year. Next week, world leaders will gather in New York to subscribe to the The Global Goals for Sustainable Development which include ending extreme poverty and fixing climate change. The branding for this ceremony was created by Trollbäck + Company.

The logo consists of seventeen wedges in a circle for each of the new goals. Trollbäck developed a set a colourful icons for each of the goals, using the same colours as the main logo. They also created posters and campaign materials to promote awareness of the goals. Overall, the typography is strong and clear and the colours are bright.

Logo round-up: August 2015

August saw some major namechanges, for Latin America's largest airline and for Google's corporate parent, which became Alphabet. There were also a bunch of rebrands for TV channels, food brands and many others. Enjoy!

Independent rebrands for Flemish TV channels

VRT, the public broadcaster in Flanders, has three TV channels, operated under three different and largely independent brands. Last month, on August 31, they were all given new looks and new logos. In keeping with concept of independent channel brands, they were redesigned by three different agencies with little coordination.

Één is the flagship channel with broad mix of programmes for everyone. It has been given a brightly coloured look with a new script mark.

The secondary channel is called Canvas and is the home of alternative programming. It was redesigned by British agency Why Not Associates (which has previously rebranded the competing channel Vier). Canvas features a lot of culture and current affairs and has traditionally had a minimalist look which this redesign doesn't stray too far from. The old logo featured a square which as been "opened up" into two lines in this new iteration.

Finally, there's the children's channel Ketnet, which was given a new look by motion design studio Eugene and Louise.

Merger logo for KRO-NCRV

The public broadcasting system in the Netherlands was restructured a few years ago and many of the member-based organisations that make it up were forced to merge. KRO and NCRV were two of the largest organisations, and they merged to create KRO-NCRV. Both were founded back in the 1920s when radio was at its infancy. KRO has a traditionally catholic background, while NCRV has been protestant, and the merged broadcaster is built on broad Christian values.

The old logos remained in use for some time until late last month when the logo seen above was introduced.

A solid B for Roland Berger

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants is a consultancy network that helps businesses around the world with their strategies. It is head-quartered in Munich and has around 50 branch offices. Yesterday, it launched a new corporate identity, reportedly created with Hamburg-based ad agency Jung von Matt.

The core logo consists of a "titanium B", representing "excellence and strength", and a simple wordmark. It is supported by a "liquid B" which can be filled with colours or imagery.

Duffy creates flavourful packaging for Golden Island

Golden Island is an American brand of beef jerky. It traces its origins back to Taiwanese cuisine and is currently offered in a variety of exotic flavours. This July, Golden Island was given a new look by Duffy & Partners (which has since rebranded itself as Duffy the agency).

The new look highlights the brand's Asian heritage and positioning, while conveying the different flavours more strongly.

Verizon checks out new logo

Back in the year 2000, telecommunications company Bell Atlantic had grown to the point where it needed a name to fit a business that was no longer confined to the eastern part of the United States. Thus, Verizon was born and America came to be accustomed to a new logo, consistently regarded by designers as one of the worst logos used by a major corporation. Fifteen years later, one the country's most omnipresent brands has replaced that logo.

Keeping some of the straightforwardness of its predecessor, the new logo is dominated by a single-colour wordmark. Some identification is achieved and continuity maintained by keeping a small version of the old checkmark as part of the logo.