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UnBeige logo by Angela Voulangas and Doug Clouse, as part of our regular design our logo feature
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branding + identityNew Art Directors Club Logo Comes in Colors, Primed for 'Pimping'
Starbucks Rolls Out New Store Design in London
Following a couple of big rough patches after a decade of uncomfortably explosive growth, this has been the year for Starbucks' reinvention. Thus far, we've seen Arthur Rubinfeld come back, a complete LEED-happy redesign in the works for all their stores, and most recently, a virutually-brandless secret test shop, built to try out their new, more neighborhood-y ideas. Now they've started trying things out internationally with their first shop redesign at one of their (presumably thousand) London locations. Flickr-er Tiki Chris was on hand to take a batch of snapshots of the new look and it appears that it follows what's been planned out thus far for the chain's facelift, from the more communal layout to a generally more subdued atmosphere. Though we wonder, as nice as this all is, will re-doing all bazillion of their outlets to fit this model actually help them in any considerable way? We remember the first time or two we went into a Starbucks and thought, "Hey, this is nice." But now, decades later, from Beirut to Boston, they all look the same. So will this turn out to be just a move from one homogenous interior to another? We'll be interested to see. Think Pink: Art Directors Club Unveils New Logo
When it comes to daunting projects fraught with politics and strong opinions, rebranding the 89-year-old Art Directors Club (ADC) is right up there with selecting an official canine mascot for the American Kennel Club. But the ADC has done it—and kept the fur flying to a minimum—thanks to a committee helmed by ADC board members Brian Collins and Jakob Trollbäck. Designed by Trollbäck + Company, the new identity replaces the vertically arrayed acronym that hinted at a fraternal order with a fresh logo that spells out the club's name in tight text. As for that sizzling hue, you might recognize it as the signature pink of thehappycorp, the recently shuttered company founded by ADC president Doug Jaeger, who is now with TAXI New York. The new logo is indicative of the ADC's renewed "sense of engagement and vitality," noted Jaeger. "It will make the club more visible, and is only the beginning of what we are about to do." Among the things on the ADC's to-do list is its annual Designism event, which "explores the responsibilities and experiences of creatives and designers to drive social and political change." Designism 4.0 takes place next Wednesday, November 18, at the ADC Gallery in New York City. Featured speakers will include charismatic Design Observer Bill Drenttel, Pentagram powerhouse Paula Scher, and Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver at TOMS Shoes. Visit the ADC events calendar to register. UPDATE: Veteran art director and font of knowledge Steven Guarnaccia has helpfully pointed out that the old ADC logo was based on Albrecht Durer's monogram. It was designed by Paula Scher. Cynthia Rowley to Redesign United Uniforms; American Airlines Design Controversy Continues
Starting the week off, the biggest design-y conversations seem to be coming from the airline industry and so that is where we too must head. First comes the news that famous fashion designer and "Project Runway" and "Design Star" familiar, Cynthia Rowley, has been hired by United Airlines to redesign their employee uniforms, of which we're guessing there will be several dozen varieties, given that the company has over 40,000 employees working in numerous areas. The new outfits, according to the Chicago Tribune, will be unveiled in 2011 (assuming, of course, there's an airline industry left). Second in airline buzz comes this follow up from a story we posted back in early June, when an anonymous designer from American Airlines got in touch with writer/designer Dustin Curtis about how awful it was trying to get good design ideas through the gigantic company. Following up on the conversation, Curtis has posted news that just after his original post went live, American tracked down who had sent him the anonymous email and fired the designer for disclosing company information. Curtis sees this as yet another example of why the airline just doesn't get it, whereas others, like Joshua Blankenship, sees the whole thing as "creating controversy for its own sake." The 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. PreviouslyJerry Dior Finally Recognized as Designer of Major League Baseball's Logo Christopher Knight Takes Design Criticism To 9-12 Rallies Identity Archives Project Building Online Database, One Logo at a Time Recapping the Anger Over IKEA's Switch from Futura to Verdana Christopher 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 |
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