W simplifies identity for online bank

Fortuneo is one of the leading online-exclusive bank in France. Last week, it launched a refreshed corporate identity, created by the agency W.

The new look keeps the green colour and the character from the old logo, but gives them a more modern and streamlined look. The character has been somewhat abstracted in "origami format" to appear simple and modern. This is part of the bank's mobile first strategy that requires clear and simple communication.

Norway's football league roars independently

Norway's top football league is changing its name. Starting next year, the current Tippeligaen will be known as Eliteserien. A new visual identity was unveiled over the weekend. It was designed by Oslo-based Scandinavian Design Group, who helped rebrand the Norwegian Football Association a couple of years ago.

Up until now, the most popular sports tournament has been named after a sponsor, Norsk Tipping, the national lottery monopoly. With its new identity, the league regains is independence as a brand.

The league will use a lion as its symbol. The lion is in Norway's coat of arms and is also used by its national football team. It is supported by bold typography with a 45 degree division in the middle.

New star for leading Mexican TV network Las Estrellas

Mexico's leading television network and the flagship of media group Televisa started out as channel 2 in Mexico City in 1951. In the '80s it started marketing itself as El Canal de las Estrellas ("the Channel of the Stars"), eventually adopting a star as its logo. This month saw the channel relaunch once again. Since August 22, the network's name has been shortened to Las Estrellas and its sports colourful new star logo.

The relaunch is said to be a part of a transition from a channel brand to a multiplatform brand. The programming will however remain a mix of drama, new and entertainment with housewives as the primary target audience.

Hulsbosch creates "driving" identity for MTAA Super

The Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund, usually shortened as MTAA Super, is one of Australia's leading superannuation funds. Australian employers are required to pay in pension contributions and MTAA Super is the pension fund for the automotive trade, managing the pensions of about 250,000 members. They recently launched a new brand identity, developed by Sydney-based Hulsbosch.

MTAA Super wanted to retain members by emphasising how they securely manage wealth. Hulsbosch also saw a need to distinguish MTAA Super from other funds who are all looking and feeling quite similar. They mitigated this by de-emphasising financial jargon in favour of positive straight talk.

The new logo features a "driving force" symbol (i.e. the wheel) and is supported by bright colours and more circular graphics.

From 1991?: CNP Assurances

People use umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain, which has made the umbrella a popular symbol for companies that offer protection, insurance companies in particular. The most famous umbrella logo is arguably the heavily stylised Citibank umbrella from 1998. But that stylised umbrella is actually predated by the surprisingly similar one used by French insurance company CNP Assurances.

This logo was introduced ahead of the transformation of the old Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance into a limited company known as CNP Assurances. It was designed by Desgrippes & Associés which was one of the leading brand design agencies in France at the time (now a part of Brandimage).

New TV channel 'Blaze' flutters into the UK

A&E Networks is launching a new free TV channel in the United Kingdom next month. It is called Blaze and will show "rugged" male-oriented reality programmes from the History channel for the Freeview platform.

The new channel was announced last week along with its "pennant" logo. A short video used to introduce the channel gives you an idea of how it will animate on screen.

Bell Pottinger brands investment platform CoInvestor

CoInvestor is a financial technology start-up that has created an investment platform for investing in alternative alternative assets. Although set up in December 2015, it recently a proper visual identity, created by London-based communications agency Bell Pottinger as part of a complete integrated communications programme which also includes strategy, website design and marketing.

The straight-forward logo has enclosed the first two letters in the company name in a cylinder. This creates an icon representing the collaboration CoInvestor sees as a key part of its business. The logo is supported by imagery featuring investors.

Rhythmic look for Belgian radio station Joe

Joe is the name of one of the larger radio networks in Flanders, providing a tried and tested mix of contemporary hits and the best music from recent decades for a target audience aged 35-50. It is a part of the Medialaan group, which also includes leading TV channel VTM and the radio network Q Music. On Tuesday, the station was given a new look, created by Amsterdam-based Cape Rock.

The new look should feel slightly younger more contemporary than its predecessor. The logo features a "spotlight" that can be used to showcase different musical artists. The lime green colour is part of Joe's heritage and allows the brand to stand out.

Logo round-up: July 2016

Not that many new logos to present from July, but one of them was for an enormous global brand, Mastercard. We also saw new the merged identity for the Ahold Delhaize grocery group, and about twenty other interesting projects from around the world.

Alibaba's cloud service unveils programmer-inspired logo

Alibaba Cloud (also known as Aliyun or AliCloud) is the leading cloud computing service in China, owned by the gigantic e-commerce group Alibaba. Last week, on August 9, they launched a new visual identity for their service.

The new symbol two brackets and a dash, important punctuation marks used by programmers.

Subway launches refreshed logo

Last Friday, when the eyes of the world turned to Rio for the Olympic opening ceremony, sandwich chain Subway hoped to distract a few of those eyes with a new ad campaign. Two spots introduced a refreshed logo for the new chain, "because the best way to stay fresh is to never get stale".

The new logo is a return of sorts to the old "classic" subway logo with its wonky letterforms. It was used with some changes since the founding of the firm until 2002. The refreshed version comes with a new supplemental mark that combines the classic colours, the arrows and the letter S.

Landor creates progressive identity for new Bank of Hope

Two Korean-American banks (that is, banks in the US that were originally set up to serve the Korean community) were merged recently. BBCN Bank and Wilshire Bank, both based in San Francisco, joined forces to become Bank of Hope . The brand, including visual identity, was developed by Landor Associates.

The symbol for the new bank resembles the gam trigram (☵), best known from the Korean flag. It's flag shape articulates the "upward progression" of the organisation. Landor notes that it also resembles a stylised letter H.

Real logo for fantasy sports site FanDuel

FanDuel is one of the leading fantasy sports services on the web. As I understand it, fantasy sports means betting money on how made-up teams will do in a computer-generated tournament. Anyway, yesterday FanDuel launched a new visual identity, along with a new product.

The new logo is a stylised shield monogram, inspired by the frequent use of shields as sports logos. The new look represents changes the company has made and its commitment to offer "the best experience and ensuring a level playing field for users of all levels".