|
UnBeige logo by Angela Voulangas and Doug Clouse, as part of our regular design our logo feature
|
|||||||||
|
Book/Calendar Publisher is looking for a Administrative Assistant to Photo Director. See the next featured job.
branding + identityThe Saga Continues: George Lucas Takes Andrew Ainsworth Back to Court Over Stormtrooper Costumes
The old saying goes that there are two constants in life, death and taxes. But were we to revise the list, we would say "death, taxes, and the legal battle between George Lucas and Andrew Ainsworth." You might recall our last post about that new addition toward the end of 2008, when a lawsuit was finally settled between the two, with Ainsworth, the designer of the original Stormtrooper costume from Star Wars, being found by the British court to have broken US copyright laws by continuing to sell replicas of the outfits without Lucas' permission. But it wasn't a total victory, as the judge also ruled that Ainsworth wouldn't have to pay any fines and he still hadn't broken any intellectual property laws in the UK. Now, because this issue will likely go on forever, Lucas' team has decided to try again in court by claiming the Stormtrooper attire are pieces of art and thus, copies should be punishable by British law and Ainsworth will need to shut down and pay up. It should make for an interesting trial, given Ainsworth's hand in the original creation of the works of art in question. Burger King Finalizes Redesign, Plans Made for Company-Wide Rollout
In just these past couple of years, we've seen some massive-undertaking redesigns from Starbucks getting back to their roots to McDonald's faux Arne Jacobs move, and even from companies like Motel 6. So it only seemed a matter of time before another biggie joined the fold. Sure enough, Burger King is the next in line for a complete makeover. We first told you about a test redesign in Houston the fast-food giant had undertaken back in early June, but now Ad Age has a look at the final-final concept that should start sweeping out across their burger empire over the next few years. It doesn't look entirely different from what we'd seen those few months back, with those more rounded edges and light-grey and red serving as the predominant colors, but maybe a bit more toned down and less "sports bar" than the earlier test model. Here's a description: The design, which Burger King describes as "contemporary industrial," has a palette of white, black and black -- with flame designs -- and brick and concrete finishes. The company maintains that the atmosphere will "encourage intimate and engaging dining." We're assuming that that "palette of white, black and black" is a typo. Whatever the palette, the first finished redesign update was done at "the chain's highest grossing" location, in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (who knew?) and will cost each location "between $300,000 to $600,000 per restaurant." While that's a high fee, apparently all that encouragement of intimate and engaging dining should fetch double-digit increases in sales for each unit. Apple Takes Australian Supermarket Chain to Court Over New Logo
It's the Americans vs. the Australians again in a battle over branding, but this time it isn't Katy Perry vs. Katie Perry. Nope, this one finds computer giant Apple going after the Woolworths Supermarkets chain (unrelated to one we're familiar with in the US) over their now year-old rebranding effort which uses the shape of an apple to form the letter W. Apple apparently finds this a bit too close to their own iconic apple, particularly in that Woolworths has wandered into more tech-y merchandise at times, and as such, have decided to take the fight to Australian courts. Here's a bit about the rumble down under from the Aussie perspective: Since it unveiled its new logo a year ago, Woolworths has been at pains to avoid using the word ''apple'' in commentary. All of this follows a suit early last year the company brought against the city of New York over a new GreeNYC logo. Rebranding Reno 911: City Befuddled by Proposed Slogan
Yale Press Retires Paul Rand-Designed Logo; Chris Rubino Brokers Compromise
Spending £100,000 to Rebrand 'M Shed' Museum as 'M Shed'
This year has seen a lot of anger over re-branding efforts, from Tropicana's ill-fated container redesign to the flare up over Pepsi's multi-million dollar logo redo. Though it's been a few months since these hot outbursts, they certainly haven't gone away completely. We turn to something on a slightly smaller scale, but fun and topical none the less. In Bristol, hometown of street artist Banksy, the city council decided to spend millions of pounds in rebuilding the local industrial museum, technically "The Museum of Bristol" but known familiarly and on pieces of advertising as "M Shed." From that big pile of money, they'd set aside some to work with ad agency True North in order to come up with some sort of exciting new brand. Months later, what did they come up with? That's right: "M Shed." Their bill? £100,000. This has locals up in arms, asking why their tax dollars went into a project only to have the same name come out, and the city council responding in a sort of "It's been decided. Deal with it." fashion: "The review is still on-going, however, the re-branding has been agreed and is going ahead. To be fair, we haven't read if the fee covered just the re-naming or also included design work, which would make this a whole different story, to be sure. Though judging from the response and the involvement by taxpayer activist groups, it does seem a little like that was the entirety of what was included in the fee. Jerry Dior Finally Recognized as Designer of Major League Baseball's Logo
Just shy of a year ago, you might recall reading here about Jerry Dior's quest to get credit for designing the iconic Major League Baseball logo (or maybe that split-second of controversy following the story over who really designed it). Now, after nearly a full rotation around the sun when the story first started circulating, and 40 of these rotations since the logo made it first appearance, Dior is finally getting his due, with the MLB this week recognizing him as the original designer. And for this, he was honored on the field yesterday at Yankee Stadium and will be again tomorrow at Citi Field. It's a sweet story and we're glad it all ended up positively. Here's a bit: With the recognition of Dior as the logo's originator comes the answer to a question that has puzzled fans and journalists alike over the years: On which player is the silhouette based? Christopher Knight Takes Design Criticism To 9-12 Rallies
Following Glenn Beck's much-discussed transformation from political commentator to art historian, the LA Times Christopher Knight has returned to critiquing right-wing design critiques (his first was over Rush Limbaugh's claim that President Obama's new health care logo was Nazi-like) by going after the logo for the Beck-affiliated 9-12 Project, a rally this past weekend in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, despite all of Beck's cries against the supposed communist messages embedded in the Rockefeller Building in New York, the 9-12 group doesn't really seem to mind putting them in their own pieces of work, as its hard to deny the origins of the thrusted fists they use in their "Taxpayers March on DC" logo. With great detail, Knight gives this logo as much attention as Beck had given the Rockefeller, making for a very fun read. All of this is entirely petty, for sure, but isn't most of what goes on in politics? And who doesn't like seeing Knight fight back? Update: Turns out that Knight had it a bit wrong. While Beck was one of the leaders behind this past weekend's rally, he was not behind the logo itself. Identity Archives Project Building Online Database, One Logo at a Time
Recapping the Anger Over IKEA's Switch from Futura to Verdana
Moving out of China now, but expanding on the briefly-mentioned IKEA, we turn to the big story passing around these webs of ours this weekend. You've likely seen some mention of this somewhere, but the AP offers a nice recap of the uproar over the furniture chain's decision to move from Futura to Verdana for its latest catalog, the first type change the company has made in nearly half a decade. The big issue is that a) Verdana was created for computer monitors, not the printed page and b) (at least in our view) Verdana was created by Microsoft, who companies will always catch flak for when working with anything even remotely connected to them (except the Xbox, of course). It's all gotten a little ridiculous, with petitions asking IKEA to return to Futura, sites like Typophile writing "For me it's a sad day" (though an interesting discussion follows in the comments for sure). In short, it's a little like the absurdity from earlier this year over Tropicana's rebranding. We agree that their catalogs don't look as good as before, but when was the last time high-minded designers were defending IKEA? Isn't IKEA the death of all good design? Shouldn't everyone who passed around that "IKEA isn't sustainable" article from a few weeks back be happy that they're making bad decisions and it's going to result in type and design folks refusing to shop there in protest? PreviouslyChristopher Knight Gives Rush Limbaugh a Lesson in Design, Following Obama Logo = Nazi Logo Comments Mars Pilots 'Naughty,' Sparkle-Infused 'Chocolate for Women' Rob Janoff Reveals Early Apple Logo, Starring Sir Isaac Newton Starbucks Rolls Out Secret Shop to Test Redesign Options Leaked Images Give Sneek Peak at Microsoft Retail Store Designs Nathan Reddy: 'Branding Is Not Just About Pretty Pictures' SVA to Offer Advanced Degree in Branding Isaac Mizrahi Selects Winner for Studio 360's Gay Pride Redesign Philadelphia 76ers Return to Old Logo: A Sign of Good Things to Come? Duffy & Partners Riding High in Minnesota Packard Bell Rebranded Once More, Returns as Hovering 'PB' ConAgra Foods' New Identity Swaps Serifs for Love Studio 360 Plans to Give Gay Pride Branding an Update George Meyer Sends Up Airline Branding Geoff McFetridge Rebrands America for Pennies Chuck Palahniuk Seeks 'Subversive and Slyly Promotional' Book Logo Topps Sues Upper Deck Over Card Design Theft For Flying Logos, the Sky's the Limit Designer Accused by Stock Art for Theft of Logos He Designed Branding Wombats: Endangered Marsupials Ink Corporate Sponsorship Deal Duffy & Partners Takes On Beef Jerky Parks and Recreation Sitcom Copies Controversial Fort Collins Logo Pizza Goes Green at World's First LEED-Certified Pizzeria Forever 21 Swipes Logo from Band Minor Threat Mode's Government Logos Get Some Nice Mainstream Attention Tropicana Bows to Consumer Pressure and Returns to Prior Branding Digital Branding for Fun and Profit MoMA Updates Identity, Acquires Giant Collection of Fluxus Art Air France Get a New Logo and Loses Some Stripes in the Process Bounty Paper Towels to Become Plenty Paper Towels in Massive Branding Makeover The 'Pepsi Logo Design PDF': Embarrassment, Hoax, or Clever Advertising? Google Starts Small in New Branding Effort Philip Kennicott Offers a Closer Look at Shepard Fairey's Obama France Rebrands Itself to Boost Tourism Shepard Fairey Latest Designer to Team with Saks Pepsi Starts Drawing Attention to Its Costly New Logo Approaching 50, Barbie to Undergo 'Sweeping Makeover' Tai One On with a Recession Cocktail Trolling for a Legal Battle: Urban Outfitters Sued for Copyright Infringement McDonald's Rolls Out Redesigned Packaging Edward Leida Launches Website, Will Guest Art Direct NYT 'On Language' Column Profile of MLB Logo Designer, Jerry Dior, Creates Minor Controversy Paula Scher's New Branding for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Starbucks Hired Back Arthur Rubinfeld to Make Their 'New' Old Again 'Studio 360' On Political Party Branding with Kevin Kallaugher Profile of Jerry Dior, Designer Behind MLB Logo Bill Kurtis and the Little House on the Prairie From Private Label to 'Captive Brand' Turner Duckworth Redesigns Metallica, Creates Deadly Album Packaging New Stella Artois Redesign to be Unveiled Soon Rolling Stones' Logo Purchased at Auction Shepard Fairey Talks About Obama Poster Image Theft Tweetle-dom: Follow Diana Vreeland on Twitter One Product Behind Dara Torres' Success Star Wars Stormtrooper Design Lawsuit Comes to an End Dig Your Baby Teeth Into This New Site Laurent Vernhes Believes the End is Near for Designer Hotels Majority of Marketers Say 2012 Olympics Logo Ineffective Steven Heller Tackles Candidate's Lapel Pins A World Where Name Designers Design Everything Vanity Plate Legislation Sparks First Amendment Debates Whole Rundown on The Sunday Times' Redesign The Good and Bad of Obama's Bizarre Design Week Weighing In on the 'No Cigarette Branding' Law Wolff Olins Repaints London Olympics Logo The Many Horrors of Olympic Mascot Design Beijing Olympic Mascot Designer Blamed for Natural Disasters in China Brandweek Retools Website, Picks 'Superbrands' 'Various Projects' and Friends Design Buttons for Obama Cigarettes Possibly to Go Branding and Logo-Free in UK Steven Heller and Co. Come Up with New Campaign Mementos Using 'Brand Tags' for Instant Logo Evaluation Han Meilin and the Pain of Olympic Mascot Design Starbucks' New Logo Offends Godly People with Its Shameless Nudity Reining in the Love for I ♥ NY Losing Warner Independent Pictures Means Losing Its Logo Too Branding Universities Ain't Easy, Boston Magazine Demonstrates Building the 'Just Creative' Brand Starbucking the Green Trend, Coffee Giant Goes Brown Vintage Logos You Can Dance to! Last But Not Least: Dan Cooper Defends "Z" Give Me an "A"! That's It, Just an "A"! Adidas Further Locks Up Its Branding in EU Courts A Look at the Branding Behind Al Gore's New 'We' Starck's 'Dwell' Too Similar to 'Dwell' the Magazine? The Unofficial Obama Design Communities Apple Cleans Up in First "Brandjunkie" Awards Lord & Taylor Needs Your Help Coming Up (with) Roses Examining the Subliminalness of Branding Obama Gets High Marks for Backdrop Design Too Redesigning Motel 6...Into the Future! Michael Bierut Talks About the Power of Obama's Branding Nailing Graphic Design Badge, Eagle Scout Designs Centennial Logo for Boy Scouts |
Where Designers Read Design
|
||||||||
|
Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, Permissions, Privacy Policy.
|