Joe Duffy creates a refreshed look for Baby Einstein toys

Kids II is an American company that makes toys and equipment for babies and toddlers under several different brands, including Baby Einstein and Bright Start. This week, they announced the launch of new visual identities for these two brands. Acclaimed designer Joe Duffy has joined Kids II as its creative director and he worked with the agency he founded, Duffy, to develop the new brands.

Baby Einstein products are designed to "enrich baby's young mind with a unique combination of language, music, art, animals and nature" and its new identity is "inspired by discovery and progressive learning". Meanwhile, Bright Starts products are "designed to spark smiles and laughter in babies" and their new look features "simple, bright and amusing elements".

Canal+ rebrands free channels

France's leading pay TV broadcaster broadcaster Canal+ expanded into free-to-air TV a few years ago by buying struggling TV stations Direct 8 and Direct Star and relaunching them as D8 and D17. Particular investment was made in D8, which has since grown to become France's fifth most watched TV channel. Yesterday, the broadcaster confirmed reports that was about to rebrand D8, D17 and news channel i-Télé to bring them closer to the Canal+ brand. The logos above were displayed at the same time.

The channels will now be known as Canal 8, Canal Star and Canal News. Canal 8 will continue to bring entertainment for all ages, Canal Star will remain a music channel and Canal News will report the news as it happens.

VBAT brands Heineken's new cider

Apple Bandit is a new brand of cider from the Heineken company, introduced this month in the Netherlands. The packaging was designed by Amsterdam-based agency VBAT.

Saint-Gobain introduces habitable logo

The French corporation Saint-Gobain has diversified manufacturing activities, but is probably best known as a maker of specialised building materials. At the beginning of this month, they launched a new corporate identity, developed by Paris-based Terre de Sienne.

The new logo is slightly reminiscent of the bridge motif it replaces, but has been updated, modernised and transformed into the outline of a city. According to the company, the new symbol shows how "skyline unfolds in an explosion of color, reflecting a Saint-Gobain that, after more than three centuries of existence, is more dynamic than ever". Crucially, it humanises the company, shifting focus from durable construction to pleasant habitation.

SomeOne creates elegant identity for skincare brand Debbie Thomas

Debbie Thomas is a UK skincare brand specialised in treating skin problems, such as scarring, discolouration and ageing. Last month, they introduced a new visual identity, developed by SomeOne in London.

The new identity is mostly based on elegant typography and graphics presented in grey tones. The most striking part of the new look is a set of brand images that highlight the areas of the body targeted by Debbie Thomas' treatments. They were created by pouring together 100 bags of white flour ad pressing mannequin faces and body parts into it. SomeOne also rewrote different technical descriptions to make them clearer.

Philippine's PLDT adopts three-sided logo for two brands

PLDT, or the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, is the leading telecommunications provider in the Philippines. In addition to their landline operations they also provide mobile telephony through their subsidiary Smart Communications. Last week, both PLDT and Smart launched new corporate identities with matching logos. At the same time, the company has abandoned its long-winded full name to use PLDT as its legal name.

The new triangle-shaped logo symbolises the "powerful convergence of PLDT and Smart", as well as the Greek letter Delta, which apparently means change. Its is decidedly more contemporary than the two logos it replaces.

SomeOne creates happy identity for Personal Group

London-based agency SomeOne has delivered this really neat project for Personal Group, a leading provider of employee services. The company has long had a direct face-to-face relationship with its costumers, but more recently they have also launched a new online platform called "Hapi" where users can track their benefits digitally.

SomeOne distilled its brand strategy into an idea called "Work Happy". Visually, this was expressed through a happy new logo, featuring a smiling PG monogram always shown against a yellow background. Sub-brands were also aligned with the new look, including a new wordmark for Hapi and a set of icons.

Logo round-up: May 2016

The new Instagram icon was easily the biggest logo change in May, but there were many other things that happened. The resurrected logos for DC Comics and Co-op in the UK were also subject to a lot of buzz on the web. This logo round-up is most extensive in a while, gathering almost 50 different projects from around the world.

Plzeň points out new logo

Plzeň is the fourth-largest city in the Czech Republic. It is also known by its German name Pilsen and to the outside world it may be best known as the place where pilsner beer was originally brewed. The city recently finalised a contest to find a new logo for the city. The winning suggestion was created by Dynamo design who will now develop the logo into a full manual in anticipation of its eventual adoption as official city logo.

The new logo consists of a sign pointing west, highlighting Plzeňs location in the Bohemia and the idea that the city has always gone its own way. The signature colours are green and yellow, used historically by the city.

Canadian bank BDC updates its logo

BDC, or Business Development Bank of Canada, is a government-owned bank that provides financing for Canadian businesses. Last week it introduced a new corporate identity, the creation of which is credited to communications agency Cossette.

The new logo is launched with a large campaign that highlights BDC's financing and advisory services, as summed up by the slogan "financing. advising. smarts.".

Trollbäck helps Lifetime build its 'fempire'

New York-based agency Trollbäck + Company has created an extensive new graphics package for women-oriented cable channel Lifetime. The package diverges in two directions for Lifetime's two main programming genres, with a filmic look for original drama and a magazine-like look for reality shows.

The new package is part of a "Fempire" promotion to turn Lifetime into a "multiplatform destination to entertain and engage the next generation of feminists". The main graphics feature "glitches" that transition between different content and messages. Trollbäck also created new programme icons based on the main logo and commissioned nice background collages.

Troika gives Corus Entertainment a bold new identity

Corus Entertainment is one of Canada's largest media corporations, which took on its current form at the beginning of April when it merged with Shaw Media. The combined company owns the major TV network Global, many of the most popular cable channels in Canada and several local TV and radio stations. Corus also used this as an opportunity to adopt a new visual identity, created by Hollywood-based Troika.

The old logo was one of the last great whimsical postmodern logos of the 90s with its varying letterforms and bevel effects. The new look is more contemporary with a bold and simple wordmark.

Landor creates positive brand for Amplifon hearing aids

The Italian company Amplifon is a worldwide leader in the manufacturing of hearing aids. The Amplifon name is used for most subsidiaries in Europe, while other names are used in other parts of the world (the American subsidiary is called Miracle Ear). This week, the company launched a new corporate identity, created by Landor Milan.

The new identity positions Amplifon for a new generation of hearing-impaired, namely ageing baby boomers. It does this by focusing on the positive aspects of sound, thereby shifting focus from the negative aspects of hearing-loss through the tagline "Hear, Feel, Live".

New Tiny Toast cereal launches

This week, General Mills made big splash with the launch Tiny Toast, described as the company's first new cereal brand in fifteen years. If you consumed mainstream U.S. media, you were likely to hear about it.

The actual cereal consists of small toast-shaped pieces that taste of strawberry or blueberry. The packaging is dominated by the brand's cheerful logo on plain coloured backgrounds. No word yet on who designed it.

New logo puts Bremen Airport on the spot

Bremen Airport is the international airport for the city and state of Bremen in Germany. It was marketed as City Airport Bremen until late May when the name was shortened and a friendly new logo was introduced.

The new logo features the airport's IATA code, BRE, on a red disc. Red is the traditional colour for Bremen. In a little brochure about the new logo, the disc is described as something that is both "light and flexible", but also cannot be hidden. It also represents Bremen Airport as a hub for people and industry in Bremen and its surroundings.

Pulsating identity for Nordea

Nordea is a major bank in the Nordic countries, formed in the year 2000 through the merger of banks in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Earlier in May, the bank revealed a refreshed identity, due to be rolled out over time. It was reportedly created by Scandinavian brand agency Bold.

The previous logo with its stylised sail had been with the bank since it was formed. It was created by Landor Associates, who also came up with the name for the new bank.

The squashed wordmark from the previous logo has been straightened up into cleaner geometric letterforms. The "sail" is gone and has been replaced by a "pulsating" graphic that will be used more independent of the wordmark.