Abu Dhabi's leading TV channels rebranded

Two of the leading television networks in Abu Dhabi were rebranded over the weekend. They are both owned by Abu Dhabi Media, the media company of the Abu Dhabi government.

Having previously been gathered under the umbrella brand Abu Dhabi TV they will now market themselves under separate identities. The general entertainment channel Abu Dhabi Al Oula (Al Oula meaning "the First") will now be known as the Abu Dhabi Channel, and the educational, cultural and official channel Abu Dhabi Al Emarat simply becomes Al Emarat. The logos have also diverged into different styles. Media reports say the new look involved a team of 60 experts working over eight months.

Hyatt Centric launches with identity by Lippincott

Hyatt Centric is a new hotel brand from Hyatt Hotels that will launch this summer in several U.S. cities. Its brand identity was developed by Lippincott, who have previously helped launch several other new Hyatt brands as part of a long-running partnership.

Hyatt Centric targets what the company calls "Modern Explorers", travellers looking for a cosmopolitan experience. The hotels will serve as a simple and welcoming launchpad for exploring the city. This is expressed through an eclectic visual style that uses both photography and drawings, the latter by the pen of illustrator Christoph Niemann. The pindrop C in the logo represents the hotel's goal to put its guest at the centre, one assumes both of their attention and in the city.

Straightforward brand consolidation for the DPD Group

GeoPost, the international parcel group owned by France's mail company Le Groupe La Poste, announced a new brand strategy last week. Its parcel delivery network will be united under the new umbrella brand DPD Group, capitalising on the recognition of DPD, the major European parcel company that is part of GeoGroup. This exercises includes new logo for DPD Group and DPD.

The London office of Lippincott worked with GeoPost to develop the new brand hierarchy, the new name and the refreshed logos. The new symbol is a red cube, an evolution of the previous logo. It reflects the "straightforward and pragmatic approach" of the group.

Meals on Wheels rolls out new logo

The Meals on Wheels Association of America is the largest organisation in the country that promotes the 'meals on wheels' programmes that provide meals to senior citizens, numbering more than 5,000 such programmes among its members. Last month, it shortened its name to Meals on Wheels America and adopted a new visual identity, developed by Minneapolis-based Duffy & Partners.

According to a press release, the new identity symbolises a movement coming together and aims to spark a movement, active volunteers and combat isolation. The symbol is a combination of the initials M and W with wheels that move forward.

Duffy's work included logo design, typography, iconography, co-branding for affiliates and programmes, promotional items and collateral.

A world of experiences on BBC Earth

Last week we featured a branding project for BBC Brit, a new international entertainment channel from the BBC, first launched in Poland in February. At the same time, the company launched a new documentary channel dubbed BBC Earth. Its visual identity and graphics package was created by New York-based Trollbäck + Company, who were also behind the identities for BBC Brit and BBC First.

BBC Earth is positioned as a documentary channel that wants to blow its audience away "with unbelievable and unmissable experiences". It is summed up with the tagline "Be Here". Visually, the graphics package is built around stunning imagery with 'milky' overlayed type.

Logo round-up: February 2015

An unusually active February this year with lots of rebrands in both Europe and America. Enjoy!

Cheese maker Bongrain becomes Savencia

Bongrain is a French dairy company and one of the world leaders in processed milk products. It owns several international brands of soft cheese, including Saint Albray, Saint Môret and Le Rustique, but the company itself has been fairly anonymous. That is about to change, because yesterday the company announced that it would change its name to Savencia in a move that it hopes will make it more visible to consumers. The new visual identity was developed by W&Cie.

The name should evoke flavour and savour and was created by naming agency Nomen to work internationally. The tagline 'Fromage & Dairy' tells what the company is about, with the word cheese written in French to highlight its origins. The logo, a stylised S, represents dynamism, balance, pleasure and generosity, as well a diverse product portfolio and innovative know-how.

Suez Environnement starts revolution with new logo

Suez Environnement is one of the world leaders in water treatment and waste management, formed in 2008 as a spinoff from French energy company GDF-Suez, but consisting of various merged and acquired companies. In addition to the corporate name, the company has been active under brands such as Sita, Degrémont, Agbar, Aqualogy, Lyonnaise des Eaux, United Water, Ondeo and Safege.

Last week, they were all united under the Suez Environnement name, when a new corporate identity was launched. Its design is credited to French agency Saguez & Partners. The new symbol is a stylised S that also resembles an infinity symbol, thereby embodying recycling. It also contains three C's, for "circular, concrete and collaboration".

In addition to creating unified identity, the exercise is also intended to communicate that Suez is all about sustainable management of resources, a convergence of its different business areas. It is launched with a campaign dubbed the 'resource revolution' that tells stories about how Suez recycles waste.

Venturethree redefines Dailymotion

Dailymotion is the world's second largest online video site. It was launched in 2005, a month after Youtube, the uncontested leader among the video sharing sites. Last week, it introduced a new visual identity, developed by London-based venturethree.

Gone is the broadcasting tower that has adorned the site since its launch. In its place comes a simple wordmark. More crucially, venturethree worked with Dailymotion to redefine the purpose of the website around the freedom for people to share what they love. The brand architecture has been streamlined and the entire viewing experience has been given a clear and simple look that works across platforms.

Lippincott rebrands car marketplace Autotrader

Autotrader.com is an American online automotive marketplace. It was formed in 1999 when AutoConnect.com merged with Auto Trader Online. The dot-com era logo had been left virtually unchanged until yesterday, March 16, when a new visual identity, created by Lippincott, was launched.

The name has been shortened to simply Autotrader, dropping the dot-com. The new logo can be interpreted as a "road ahead", a forward-pointing arrow or an 'AT' monogram. The colour orange is retained, having been a part of AutoTrader's header for several years.

BBC Brit launches with help from Trollbäck

The BBC is continuing its rollout of a refreshed portfolio of brands for the international market, which started in Australia last year with the launch of BBC First. Last month saw the launch of BBC Brit and BBC Earth in Poland, one entertainment channel and one documentary channel replacing BBC Entertainment and BBC Knowledge, respectively. The same will happen later on other territories. Unlike BBC Entertainment, which was a general entertainment channel, BBC Brit will be a male-skewing network "where witty banter and madcap adventure meets intellectual substance - all with a healthy sense of the absurd".

The new graphics package for BBC Brit was created by New York-based Trollbäck + Company, who were also behind the look for BBC First. The graphics are "clean and in-your-face", with a hint of the Union Jack. Idents are based around the "Rules of BBC Brit" with copy conveying the 'ballsy' attitude of the brand.

Futurebrand brands the warm life on Tenerife

Tenerife, one of the larger and more popular of the Canary Islands, launched a refreshed visual identity last week. It was created by Futurebrand Spain, who were also behind the original iteration of the identity, introduced in 2005.

Futurebrand worked on this project for over a year. The old tagline, "Enjoy it all", had become outdated and it replaced with "100% Life", conveying the fact that Tenerife's warm weather makes life enjoyable year-round. The 'vertex' symbol has been made more rounded and the letterforms are reworked for legibility. Colours and new imagery should "transmit the human values of experience and warmth" of both the island itself and those that life there.

Hulsbosch creates unified brand for ABC Kids

ABC Kids is a kids channel from Australia's public broadcaster ABC, targeting preschoolers. It was known as ABC 4 Kids until last week when it adopted the current brand name, which will also be used for ABC's commercial and retail activities for this age group. The new visual identity was developed by Hulsbosch.

Until the launch of this rebrand, ABC's retail and broadcasting activities had used different brands. The main point of this exercise is to unify them unto one single cross-platform brand.

The apple, the bee and the carrot have been used as symbols for ABC Kids for a long time. The new version has both "a sense of play and also a sense of learning and purpose".

Fun and surprising branding for VTMKzoom

VTMKzoom is a Belgian children's channel, owned by Flemish media group Medialaan which also owns the region's leading commercial TV channel VTM. Last month, VTMKzoom launched a new graphics package with a new logo, all designed by French broadcast design agency Gédéon with audio by La Plage Records.

The package uses fast and bright graphics to create a fun and engaging brand environment.

New logo for merged Polish newspaper group

February saw the completion of the merger of two Polish newspaper groups, Polskapresse and Media Regionalne, to create Polska Press Group, Poland's largest owner of regional newspapers. Last week, on March 2, the newly formed group unveiled its new corporate identity, developed by White Cat Studio.

The new logo can be combined with the names of subsidiaries and regional offices, as seen below.

A new edgy logo for Spike TV

At an upfront event on Tuesday this week, US male-oriented network unveiled a slate of new programmes an initiatives that it hopes will make it more attractive to both genders. This included a new logo and the slogan "Spike: The Ones To Watch". The 'slice' from the logo is a recurring tool in the graphics package.

Update March 10: The visual identity was created by bluemarlin and the on-air graphics graphics was developed by New York-based agency Juniper Jones with Spike's in-house creative team. The new identity was designed to work across platforms and includes a vast toolkit of colours and typefaces that should give Spike a varied on screen appearance. The new logo reflects what has been dubbed "approachable edginess", the network's move from all male-focused programming to something more inclusive.

Intelligent identity for France's Daher

Daher is a major French industrial involved in several advanced engineering businesses like aircraft manufacturing, aerospace, logistics services and nuclear power. Last week, on February 25, it introduced a new corporate identity, developed by CBA.

The new positioning is summed up as "Shaping Industrial Intelligence", conveying the advanced engineering involved in all of Daher's products. The rebrand unites the companies divisions under one corporate name. The logotype uses simple typography and is contrasted by an overall style that makes use of detailed photography and technical drawings.