Zoinks!!

Ok so I admit I have been slacking on blogging regularly. I feel like I go in major spurts! Then again I have also not been all that visually inspired by recent brands! So maybe it isnt just me and it is more that companies have gone on a slight re-brand hiatus? Anywho…here is what we have missed since last time!

Proctor and Gamble got a slight face-lift and have complicated their minimalist ID! Not that it was a change for the worse, but I also dont think that it was necessary! P&G is one of the largest consumer product distribution company and has been a household name for over 100 years! Well you be the judge on this one. I just dont feel like it was a needed addition to their identity! The only positive about it is that the mark works great within their new marketing campaign. Clearly the mark has inspired some new stuff for P&G, but there is still a major disconnect between the two!

I have always been a fan of wordmarks. So going with that theme like the P&G brand, Instagram has recently made some slight modifications to their identity. You probably didn’t even notice, but I think they are moving in a good direction. They have actually put some time into converting their generic script typface to something that is actually just for Instagram! They have been around for about 3 years now and are just now taking ownership of their brand! Have a look! You can see that they have cleaned things up a bit and connected the letters in a true script fashion. They have modified the “I” slightly and converted the “s” to an actual script “s”. All in all I like it! Well done Instagram! Well done indeed!

Continuing with the ever expanding and time swallowing world of social media, look out because Facebook has released a new mark. Let me tell you they went radical with this one! Note the tone of sarcasm that should be read in that! just a few simple modifications to finally simplify their identity to just an “f” on a blue box. Their logo has been changing consistently with the many changes that have taken place with the social network giant. Removing gradients and shadows and all depth to the basic vector image seems to be the exact opposite of what is actually happening at Facebook. As the site gets more and more complex and the mobile app changes almost daily the mark has moved to its most basic form.  Oh and take note of the Brand Guidelines that they have also released!

So there you have it. Three major companies and their updates. 

Ok so not a whole lot going on in the identity world this week so I have to pull from something that I missed last week. So for the past 10 years food network has been rocking pretty much the same logo. If its not broken don’t fix it! 

Pretty standard decent mark. Good flow solid typeface. We have grown to really know and recognize their mark. Afterall it seems to be on the internet, TV, grocery store, DVDs, basically its everywhere! The food network has been making a difference in lives of chefs all over the world. Taking what was once an overlooked profession to something that people seek out. Now of course not every chef will make it to food network for one of their reality shows, nor will they even get the opportunity to have their own show. 

The new mark is still sticking with the familiar. A slight face-lift was exactly what they needed. Bringing them out of the 2000s and into the current! With everything looking shiny and new and the fact that the is primarily a digital brand more than a print icon the new look makes sense.

You can see that the typeface is a bit different and the type is resting on a 3d circle instead of the flat vector based mark. The addition of the frame around the mark definitely solidifies the image and makes it have a finished look.

So Zoinks is kind of my new year resolution. Whats Up Wednesday is going to be the day of the week that I take a look at the new logos, rebrands, new company identies, basically my day to take a look into the world that I love! So sit back and relax because we’ve got some great stuff coming your way!

So for all of my fellow coffee/tea drinkers this one is for you. So lets get some interesting history on Tazo Tea Company before we delve into their new look! So back in 1994, yeah it seems a long time ago, Tazo was founded as a small start up tea and tisane company in Portland, Oregon. The company grew and started to approach investors. In 1999 Starbucks purchased the company. Now there are Tazo Tea shops popping up all over the country slowly but surely with the first opening in 2012.

The old logo uses a modified Exocet typeface in white set on a black background. The marketing of the tea was thought to be very new aged when Tazo first began production. So where is the company going now that they are owned by Starbucks? Lets take a look.

The new look of the identity definitely takes after that of Starbucks. Very crisp and clean. Utilizing white space and a nice San-Serif font. All around The new look is definitely targeting the new age tea drinker. The look though it is no longer as detailed and organic as the old brand this one still maintains the zen look that tea generally has.

VH1 has also come a long way in their identity. Always seeming to be the little step child of the more mainstream MTV. Video Hits 1 has now passed the visual identity of MTV, I say that mostly because I dont like the MTV logo. Well dont let me blabber on about it here you go!

No those are not all of the VH1 Logos that they have used over the years, but the most iconic I would say. Slight modifications have occurred throughout the years. My personal opinion is that anything would be better than that mess of a logo that VH1 has been rocking for the past 10 years. The new look definitely goes back to the original image that VH1 first released in 1985. It has been said that history repeats itself and we all know as designers we pull from the old and modify to produce quality design. VH1 has done just the same. The only down side that I can see with the new look is that it reads as Vl+1. The incorporation of the + definitely allows for the company to grow and keep up with their target audience.

And that does it for our very first Whats Up Wednesday. Check back next week for more identity updates!

This is my top ten list of Iconic Rebrands of 2012! Each has made it’s way into the countdown for a specific reason! Take a look!

#10 Brooklyn Nets

Dont try to fix what isnt broken! Though I’m not a fan of the new look and there were a few sports teams that updated their identity this year This one stood out because it was just the worst of the rebrands!

#9 Comcast

This is a relatively new identity and lets be honest its not that great. With the update of the typeface and the addition of the NBC Peacock Comcast has hit the bottom of my top ten for most disappointing identity rebrand of 2012.

#8 eBay

I’m not a fan of the old logo at all, nor am I a huge supporter of the new look. None the less, eBay hits the countdown as one of the laziest rebrands of 2012. 

#7 State Farm

Like a good neighbor State Farm is here! Landing in the bottom half of my list. This identity remained true to the old, but gave themselves a little self-esteem booster!

#6 Arby’s

I do greatly enjoy the new typeface though that apostrophe is HUGE and super gaudy and the 3d effect is, well, its what it is. I think a lot more could have been done with this one, but I appreciate the attempt.

#5 Twitter

A gutsy move, but one that Twitter could totally do. Everyone knows the little Twitter Bird and the Fail Whale. Moving away from a text logo to purely an icon is something that very few brands can/should do. Twitter nailed it! 

#4 Wendy’s

Man she is looking good for 43! I love the new type treatment and the icon stays true to the original Wendy. The SigEp, Dave Thomas would be proud!

#3 Windows 8

OK not a rebrand so much, but the Windows 8 logo blows the previous versions of Windows out of the water. I am also a Mac user so its a big deal for this OS to make the countdown.

#2 Microsoft

With the new launch of the Microsoft Surface and a million other new products and software, Microsoft has really redefined themselves.

#1 USA Today

As one of the major news papers in the country USA Today was in desperate need of a new identity that would properly represent them on multiple platforms! Yah the old logo was great for a paper, but now that most news is consumed as digital content USA Today needed to update! Check out my post about USA Today’s new look!

What are your thoughts?

So I was perusing the internet last week and stumbled upon a website/company who is re-branding and has already done the early phases of implementation. Yes that is right, StumbleUpon has completely revamped their website and created a new logo to represent the brand.

Lets take a closer look at the new mark!

NEW!

OLD!

Ok so lets get into this. The new logo with a completely different color shows us an “S” and a “U” just like the old one but this icon is a little more simplified. The sans serif font is modern and clean. Both the icon and text work nicely together and the black and red color palette are pretty standard. The new icon continues to represent the flow of webpages from one user to another through the design that to me looks like plumbing.

The whole idea of the re-brand process and updating the website was all in part to the fact that StumbleUpon is now the largest social networking website in history surpassing that of Facebook. The new layout design is all about image and utilizing new features to enhance your experience with the site.

The new logo is pretty basic and does in a sense leave me wanting something more, but it works really well with the entire design concept and the entire company identity overhaul! 

So keep in mind that this is all just an opinion, but I am so not a fan of the rebrand of Tassimo. Granted I was not a huge fan of the original logo that they produced, but the rebrand is even worse. The product is coffee and other beverage packets that they call T-discs. The company began in 2004 in France several years after its competitor Keurig which started in 1992. It makes perfect sense that Tassimo rebrand so soon as the popularity of Keurig continues to grow and the knowledge of Tossimo systems seems to be lagging. Ok enough about the companies lets take a look at the branding.

The original brand for Tassimo showed the word “Tassimo” with the outline of a coffee mug around the “T” the typeface is a sans serif that is very rounded, which speaks to the shape of the actual Bosch brewer. It is not terrible by any means. Lacking in excitement, but then again compair that to the Keurig brand and they fit on the same level really. Neither are all that exciting and make you want to run out and drink coffee or purchase the product. 

The new identity for Tassimo definitely brings in the excitement factor, but confuses me on what the product is that they are trying to sell. based on the logo alone it doesnt really represent the brand all that well. 

The actual cups and the branding on the packaging I feel has definitely been incorporated better, but I just cannot accept this as a better design for the original. It now sets them apart from their competition and I understand that Tassimo produces more than just coffee. The color scheme on the new Tassimo logo is fun and I can see the pieces working well separately, but at this point people do not know the brand well enough to break the two entities apart. Overall the new design just does not work for me. Sorry Turner Duckworth your work is great and you are probably one of my favorite designers, but in this situation I dont think that it represents the client well. Though the Logo is very well designed and I think it has a lot of aspects that really are brilliant it just doesnt work for the product.

For a company that only started in 1997 this rebrand really makes sense for them. A strategy that many designers take is to brand a company using a retro chik approach. The design makes the consumer perceive the company to have been around for much longer. Companies that have been around for a long time tend to last because they are using a tried and true method. The new website has incorporated some fun aspects of the logo and the quirky photos mixed with amazing close-ups of the food on the site are absolutely brilliant. Check out the Kickin’ Chicken website and see for yourself. Not to mention this design is really clean and maintains the integrity of the original logo this is much more clean and visually stimulating! Take a look at the comparison brought to you by Brand New.

Now that you have had a moment to look at the two logos lets take a minute to discus the typography used in the two. On the original logo the text wraps around the chicken and is used in a mannor to appear as if the chicken is actually kicking the text. This is a fun approach but the typeface that is used is a little to display for my taste. The placement of “THE” is also kind of awkward. It breaks into the flow of “Kickin’ Chicken” and slightly distracts from the rest of the image. Onto the new logo. A perfect combination of a script type with a sans serifed typeface really pushes that retro look. the modern feel of the sans serif really brings the logo into modern time. Overall the image and the type work well together or they can be separated and work well as individuals. That is more than the previous logo can say for itself. 

So nothing tooo exciting, but aol has officially decided that their brand will only consist of lowecase letters.  Not too long ago we noticed the rolling out of a completely new look by the internet giant.  We have also noticed that aol has really not been in the media all that much.  Are there even still people using aol?  ANYWHO that was the big news with that.  

Just a few months ago Twitter updated their UI.  I heard very mixed thoughts about the changes. Really I just think that people are afraid of change and get super comfortable with something even if it is outdated.  With this new look I just discovered that Twitter has also changed their logo.  They did such a good job you wouldnt even notice the change!  haha that is because it is still the same. They have dropped the gradient within the letters and incorporated the tweet bird into their logo.

That brings me to wonder if the flashy reflection designs that Apple started are on their way out?  I have been saying since the web2.0 designs became the popular way of designing that it would be short lived!  

So two things…First thing Comedy Central

Comedy Central: This Is 2011www.comedycentral.comFunny JokesIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

So Comedy Central has recently announced their new mark coming in January 2011.  I don’t think that Im 100% sold on it.  Not saying that it is bad, because it is definitely not!  I guess I just have mixed feelings about it.  I greatly enjoy all of the new ways that they have incorporated the new mark into their overall identity.  I further feel that the new mark does offer up a very sophisticated, yet fun way of presenting the mission of Comedy Central.  I guess it is just personally I don’t really like it for the cable network.  I think they could have done so many other things that would have achieved their goal and just been more exciting to look at.  The new brand is very corporate.  As far as I know the network is not undergoing any crazy changes to convert their comedy programming to news media.  Those are my two cents on that.

Second Item…How in the world did I miss the Seattle’s Best rebrand?!?!  I officially feel very out of the loop on that one!  Ok so lets discuss the changes.  Being a lover of coffee and not any specific brand, but I can tell a quality cup of coffee and have never been disappointed by Seattle’s Best products.  

So I titled this entry Logos so we will look at the logo first.  Logo wise I really enjoy the new sleek look.  They have really updated the mark and made it very clean and sophisticated.  Which makes perfect sense seeing that coffee should be smooth and sophisticated in flavor. The mark still incorporates the original red color that we have come to know.  The droplet image however confuses me.  I understand that coffee is a liquid and is made from water, but I really feel the droplet speaks more to water than to coffee.  Now that I have shared my thoughts on the mark lets get to what really got my attention! The new packaging and level system.

I don’t entirely like it.  It makes a lot of sense, but I feel the execution is not right for some reason.  The colors really jump out which is great. That is exactly what a company should strive for.  The packaging is clean and bright and very easy to understand.  I think my biggest issue is that they have really dumbed the coffee down a lot.  When I was growing up I always wanted to drink coffee, but my parents would not allow it. Telling me that it was an adults drink and when I got older I could drink it.  Sure enough when I was in high school I was a frequent visitor to Starbucks and like many teens would not even think about drinking a cup of black coffee.  Now that I am older I really only drink black coffee and the stronger the better!  I feel that with age I have matured a great deal and so have my taste-buds. Relating to a specific level of coffee is great for the inexperienced coffee consumer, but something that I enjoy about coffee is relating to my bean.  Knowing where that bean is from and how it has been cooked not relating to a level.  I am more than a number 5 or 3 or 1.  The system is very clear and makes a lot of sense.  I just don’t personally like it.  I am exciting to try all of the levels however so even though I’m not a huge fan of the concept I think the marketing of the product is working!

Ok so I’m all about establishing a new image to increase usage or brand awareness.  After all that is why a company rebrands isn’t it? So in the past few weeks we have suffered through the terrible rebrand of Gap and now they are changing back to their original brand (suspicions now point to the fact that the rebrand was all a ploy to get more visibility and to hit more markets…DUH that’s what designers have been saying all along!)

Any who last week we saw that Urban Outfitters is following suit and doing the same exact thing.  I’m sorry, but why represent your company with a terrible logo just to get some extra press.  It isn’t going to improve your sales or increase anything.  I mean I guess everyone will be talking about how terrible the wordmark is, but honestly why do that.  

Ok enough of my ranting about bad logos and onto my confusion by the rebrand of MySpace.  

Now you have seen it for yourself…WHAT THE HELL?!?!  I mean yes i understand that the space is represented by that little bracket guy on your keyboard on your mobile devise and generally stands for space, but honestly!  They have abandoned their signature blue, which was probably a good choice on their part **caugh caugh** Facebook**caugh caugh** Yes the blue colors could be easily mistaken and now that Facebook has become more widely used than MySpace it makes sense to do something to get back into the competitive social media market.

I guess I just don’t get why they completely abandoned their little MySpace guy, if nothing else I would have changed the logo to being just those three little people. Perhaps MyBlank, aka MySpace is pulling a Gap or Urban Outfitters.  Not that I think their new mark is bad, just slightly confusing.  Whitty, no doubt. I just personally am not drawn to it. And that is my two cents take them or leave them!