Ribena Light Packaging Redesign - Aesop

New Ribena Light packaging by Aesop in London. Much simpler, cleaner and feels more refreshed. Removing some of the imagery makes it fit with the idea that there's less sugar. A sort of scaled back version of the 'full-fat' original version. Ribena have recently made a big effort to show that they use blackcurrants grown in Britain so to have a redesigned packaging will refresh the image and keep people talking about the brand.

I still have the idea that if a product has to have a 'light' or 'diet' version, then the original must not be too healthy for you!

eBay Logo Redesign

eBay have announced they have redesigned their logo after seventeen years. I haven't been a massive fan of the original logo. It's seemed rather childish and hastily put together, but over time it's grown on me and the colours and style is now totally associated with eBay.

The new logo has lost the playfulness. It's like the brand is trying to grow up, but whilst doing so it is taking away the community feeling that the previous logo had. I'm not a massive fan of the lack of kerning. The letters should either be how they were previously, or not connecting at all. I do prefer the colours, particularly the blue as it seems to flow more, and my eye doesn't get stuck on the letter b.

It's always going to be a tough job to redesign such a memorable logo, and everyone has their own opinions. This design could have been better, but could have been a lot worse.

Diet Coke and Jean Paul Gaultier

Diet Coke is still viewed as a ladies drink. Coke Zero is more masculine and has been marketed as such. So a connection between fashion and Diet Coke seems like an obvious thing. At the beginning of 2012 Jean Paul Gaulier was selected as the creative director for Diet Coke. Since then various things have been created to promote the two brands. He isn't the first fashion designer to collaborate with Coke. Karl Lagerfeld, Matthew Williamson and Roberto Cavalli have also worked with the brand.

The obvious change is the packaging. It's an easy and very visible way to get consumers to see the connection between the two brands. There have also been adverts which include the small puppets and Gaultier himself. Posters which feature models using photos of Gaultier have also been created.

I think it's great for designers to collaborate and work on different projects. It must be refreshing to be given a different task, and to be able to make your mark on something that you wouldn't usually have the opportunity to.

Microsoft New Logo - Rebrand

Microsoft are unveiling a new logo, 25 years after the last update. With the company about to release Windows 8, and new versions of almost all of their products, it's the perfect time to freshen up the look. There are so many platforms for the windows products, including desktop computers, laptops, notebooks, tablets, phones and games consoles. It's important to make sure that their brand works visibly and efficiently without any weak points.

Microsoft Old Logo

Microsoft New Logo

Regarding the logo, I feel that it could have been a bit more exciting. This was an opportunity to really go for something new. The 4 squares are quite plain, however the kerning of the letters is perfect and pleasing to look at. I'm not saying that the logo is totally bad, and until I have seen how they are implementing it across the whole brand, it's wrong to criticise.

Yell Rebrand as Hibu

So it seems Yell are rebranding themselves, getting rid of the name and image, and becoming Hibu
Yell needed to do something to refresh themselves after reporting an annual loss of £1.4 million, so they called on Landor Associates to help them out. I'm not really a fan of the made up, nonsense style names, so right now I'm not so impressed, but it may be one of those names that grows on me the more I hear it. The Yellow Pages was always seen by the phone as I was growing up, and some of the adverts (the boy getting the yellow pages to stand on so he would be tall enough to give a girl a kiss) stay in my memory. With the internet and all the information and adverts readily available, and for free, they have to really set themselves as the go-to place for when you need a plumber, a tree surgeon or even a dog walker.

Above is the new logo. Yell said in a statement,  ‘Communities are built on the connections people make and people are connected at the heart of the hibu logo. The identity utilises typography with soft shouldered edges like the human body and coloured dots represent the people behind the identity, diversity, connections and conversation. By using bold lower-case typography with soft edges we project a human and approachable company.’
I quite like the logo, although it does remind me of Gu, the luxury pudding people. I think it's the dots above the 'u' and because both logos are quite rounded.


I think ditching the recognised name and logo could be dangerous, but if done well, they could go back to their directory heyday. Only time will tell.

Metal Business Cards

I've been very busy recently, but been redesigning a few things as I'm looking for jobs. i came across these business cards which as much more interesting and will give a prospective employer a reason to remember you. Cards often get discarded if they aren't required, interesting or designed well, so this will make sure that your business card doesn't get thrown in the bin. Also the price isn't the cheapest, so it will show your dedication to the profession you are seeking to get into. Unfortunately I don't have the funds at the moment so will have to design something exceptional using standard formats.

These cards, along with standard and plastic can be found at Plasma Design

Coley Porter Bell - M Savers

Another great redesign by Coley Porter Bell. Again, like one of my previous posts, it is regarding Morrisons own brand food range. The own brand range have progressed to have different varieties, from the cheapest-of-the-cheap, to the cheap, to luxury.

 

New Design

 Old Design

This time I'm talking about the cheapest-of-the-cheap range. Each of the major supermarkets have one of these types of own brand. Typically the packaging is quite hideous. Nothing exciting, doesn't particularly stand out on the shelf, and it's not what people like to be seen buying. Coley Porter Bell have rejuvenated the brand for Morrisons. They've made it much more appealing, with each item having some individuality and not being cluttered. Craig Barnes is a senior designer at Coley Porter Bell, and is the creator of the handwritten typeface used. Having a unique typeface shows that the cheapest range has been given some attention, and reflects that the quality of the product may be higher. It has also been renamed from 'Morrisons Value' to 'M Savers'. Even the name is more appealing.

I've seen some of the new packaging in store, and there's still more to come.

More4 Rebrand

I'm loving the More4 rebrand. Designed by Man vs Machine, it's more suited to the current type of programmes that are shown on the channel. The colour palette is much brighter, and I must say that the green which was previously used, was appealing at first and stood out from other channels, but it became more unappealing throughout the use. Maybe I watched the channel too much and just became too familiar with it, so it lost its spark. The triangles flip through the colours and brings the logo to life. Usually having so many colours doesn't work in a logo, but More4 is now an exception, and it also works very nicely on the grey background.

Man vs Machine did a spectacular job working with Jason Bruges Studios on the triangle flip installations. They've thought the idea through thoroughly and progressed to make something stunning to watch.

I do like the slight nod to the original channel 4 logo, and who knows whether this rebrand will stand the test of time, or whether the channel will undergo another facelift in a few years.

 New Logo

Old Logo

Stumbleupon Redesign

I absolutely love stumbleupon.  I've spent many hours getting lost in the internet browsing through websites, blogs, portfolios, videos and games. So when I saw the redesign of my procrastination tool by Huge, I was happy to see it looking more sophisticated. The logo feels more considered and designed, that's not saying the previous logo wasn't good, but it felt slightly dated. With stumbleupon becoming more popular by the day, it needs to be at the forefront to fend off any competition that may arise.Saying all that though, I feel that the logo and text are slightly mismatched. The icon is great, and so is the type, but when put together they typeface doesn't seem as smooth as the logo.

                                      Old Logo
                                     

                                     New Logo                                                                                             

Simplifying Logos

Simplifying logos can make them immediately more impressive. I often found when struggling with logo design, to strip it back to the bare minimum and see if the extra bits were really needed. As a brand and the logo becomes more well known, removing the name or any text can be beneficial in giving the look of the company a bit of a facelift.

More recently the Starbucks logo was stripped back, but so have these other examples (image taken from logo design love)

La Presse new logo

La Presse is a french newspaper based in Montreal and have recently updated their logo.

The new square logo has replaced the previous rounder version, and I've noticed a trend recently in angular shapes in logo design. Squares work really well as they give a frame for other items to be placed around them, both in print and digitally.

With newspapers generally declining as people read the news online, it's important to have a non-cluttered web page where people can find the article they are interested in quickly and without hassle. Some of the websites I find most annoying are the ones which have too much useless tat taking up valuable space! A good grid is essential in all cases.

Image taken from newseum.org

Branding Article

I've been reading articles refreshing my graphic design brain and came across this interesting one from Fatima Mekkaoui at sixrevisions.com. It's good to read something that is well written and doesn't bulk up the article with useless babble.

Starbucks Logo

I'm liking the new Starbucks logo at the moment. It's much simpler and is free of the circles boundary from the previous logos. The text has also been removed, and with it being such an iconic logo, it's still as effective and obvious of the company as ever before.

It's definitely been brought up to date, looking more contemporary but still keeping the main element that has been the logo seen since 1971.

Rebranding Logos

Recently, I've been looking into changed and redesigned logos. I found this website which is really good for showcasing the old and new, and has quite a community of people commenting and sharing their thoughts.
Examples of redesigned logos are quite hard to find in published books, as by the time the book becomes published there's a possibility that in a year or so the new logo gets replaced by something newer.

Brand New

Rebranding is something I find interesting, as it can be a major struggle to change peoples opinions of an existing company. I find especially with food brands, they have to keep changing their image to fit with the ever changing new ideas on what's healthy, what does or doesn't cause cancer, and the trends for what children find cool.