We take a look back at this month's biggest new logo designs, including new identities for Marvel, Philips, and more.
As creatives we constantly strive to reinterpret the world in new and visually exciting ways. Yet we can also be conservative and often have a knee-jerk reaction to something new.
So on the day a new logo design is launched for a familiar brand, the first reactions are usually negative. Once some time has passed and the new design has been seen in action, though, it can be a different story. Here we take a look back at the month's biggest new designs and redesigns: with a bit of fresh perspective, what do you think of them now?
01. Philips
NEW LOGO: Harks back to the company's earlier shield design
Leading Dutch technology company Philips unveiled this new logo and identity across the entire brand in November. Based on the strapline 'innovation and people', the new shield logo harks back to the company's original logo design back in 1934. But this new look shield has curvier aspects to it, with thicker and softer lines throughout.
However, Philips have stated that they will continue to use their previous blue wordmark (above), as it aims to 'remains true to its legacy, rooted in its early years at the beginning of the 20th century'. The new logo will appear on all their upcoming promotional material.
OLD LOGO: The blue wordmark will continue to be used in tandem with the new logo
02. Mesosphere
Here, we witness an evolution of a brand with a logo that mimics the transformation of its company as it goes along. Designer Brett Wickens was responsible for the iconic Sopranos logo for HBO - summing up the show's aesthetic in just a few letters. He now works as the partner and identity design specialist at Ammunition, where his expertise have been snapped up by San Francisco startup company Mesosphere to create a morphing brand identity.
Instead of a static image, the logo is an animated network of curvy nodes that shift and evolve over time. That network is amonogrammed 'M' that has been birthed in code, with the team building an app in the open source platform Processing that allowed them to tweak a few variables to suit their taste and the brand as a whole.
03. Marvel
If you've seen the movie Thor 2: The Dark World, you may have noticed something a little different at the beginning of the movie title designs. That difference is a change in the iconic Marvel logo - and the company has released the short video above to introduce it properly.
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"We designed the very first Marvel logo for the first Spider-Man film," producer Kevin Feige explains on Marvel.com. "We've used that logo for 11 years, and with 'Thor: The Dark World', it felt like a good time to update it because this is the very first film that only has the Marvel logo in front of it." The design of the logo, which will appear in future Marvel movies, as well as the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., has been beefed up, he added.
OLD LOGO: The long-standing design has been beefed up for a new era
04. Wellington, New Zealand
NEW LOGO: A modern type treatment and new brand colours for the New Zealand city
This is the new logo design for New Zealand's capital, designed as part of the Destination Wellington project, which aims to promote the city as a place to do business.
Masterminded by Wellington City Council, with the help of paint company Resene, the rebranding exercise involved the creation of specific brand colours - Absolutely Yellow and Positively Black - as distinct from the black and gold of the Wellington rugby team.
This is being described as a way for residents to own the brand, by letting them use the paints in their own homes and businesses.
OLD LOGO: The traditional script approach of old is gone
Okay, this is not a logo design from November - but a whole book of the best ones ever which was released this month! The 50 Best Logos Ever is a definitive guide to the greatest identity work ever created. Even if you only have a passing interest in graphic design, it’s fascinating to see what the BP logo looked like in 1930, or to chat about how the Coca-Cola identity has evolved (or not) over the past 125 years.
Over 180 premium pages, the book dissects the world's greatest examples of logo design, showing their origins, their evolutions and interviewing the designers behind them - including Rob Janoff (Apple) and Lindon Leader (FedEx). It all adds up to a fascinating reference book on the best known marks ever created.
Pick up the book at all good newsagents today or order it online. Or if you prefer, you can download a digital edition directly to your iPad from the Computer Arts app on iTunes.
