A Lambie-Nairn showreel from 1996

I recently stumbled upon an old showreel and a presentation video from the UK broadcast design agency Lambie-Nairn that had been uploaded to Youtube by a user called "deeman3000". Founded in 1976, Lambie-Nairn established itself as a leading broadcast design agency in the late 1980s/early 1990s. These videos were probably produced in 1996 and mostly feature material created during the five years prior to that.

This was during a time when it seemed like the company strived to rebrand a channel in every European country. Aside from the acclaimed work the BBC, Lambie-Nairn also worked with other UK broadcasters as well as clients in France, Germany, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Benelux and Russia.

Although every project is unique, one can detect some recurring methods in this body of work, like many filmed sequences featuring different props or actors with heavy makeup, rather than three-dimensional computer animation. Many of these could be shown on television today, if properly remastered for high-definition, but they are of their time and would probably be considered too high-brow in today's environment.

But most of all, they are marked by a certain British wit and sober design sensibility, even in some of the fast-paced epilepsy-inducing examples.

This period was not the peak for the agency. The very next year, it would win the prestigious assignment to rebrand the BBC. Not only did the company create the current straightened-up BBC logo. The Beeb was at this point gearing up to launch a string of new digital channels, both regular public service channels and advertising-funded ones as part of the UKTV partnership, and this would provide steady work for Lambie-Nairn over the following years. If you were watching the BBC between 1997-2003, you could expect the channel branding to be created by Lambie-Nairn.

The agency also continued its international activities, delivering new branding to clients like VRT Belgium (1997), Euronews (1998), the Sci Fi Channel (2002) and LCI France (2005) as well as new Middle Eastern networks like Alhurra and Adu Dhabi TV. It would also move into non-TV branding, and was behind the successful launch of O2 in 2002.

Martin Lambie-Nairn himself left in 2008, one of his last projects being a relaunch of BBC News. Most of the creative professionals who worked with him during these years have also moved on to other agencies.

The two videos can be seen below, along with some stills and short descriptions of the work featured in them. Martin Lambie-Nairn published a book in 1997, and it provides extended descriptions of the work included in these videos. Unfortunately, it is out of print and is somewhat hard to get hold on if you aren't close to a UK library.
Read more »

Swiss Miss brand history

Swiss Miss is an American brand of cocoa mix powders and chocolate puddings. Having been with the American people for half a century, it is one those classic brands that many remember growing up with.

Thanks to the Internet, innovative companies and people willing to share their collections, we can get a good view of how the brand and its packaging has progressed through the years. A special thanks to Jason Liebig who has given me permission to use some images from his collection. If you want even more packaging nostalgia, you should visit his Flickr photostream.

Swiss Miss original logo, used from the 1960s until the mid-1980s.

The "instant cocoa mix" powder, which creates delicious hot cocoa by just adding water, was developed by Sanna Dairies in Wisconsin, who were also manufacturing instant dry milk. It was originally served on airlines. In the early 1960s, Sanna Dairies were packing the product under the name "Swiss Miss Instant Cocoa Mix" and selling it to grocers. The original packaging was developed with "old world" aestethics, with decorative flowers and an old calligraphy typeface for the logo. A newspaper article published in February 1963 explained it thusly:

"The chocolate flavor developed by Sanna Dairies is reminiscent of delicious Swiss milk chocolate... thus the name and the attractive "old world" design package."

The black-and-white image of a Swiss Miss package on the right is from a 1962 ad. It may well have been the very first Swiss Miss packaging design.
Read more »

New logo: Atos

Last week, on July 1, the global IT company Atos Origin announced that it had finalized its aquistion of Siemens IT Solutions and Services. With the merger, the company took the opportunity to drop "Origin" from its name and introduce a new corporate identity.

Although based in France and listed on Euronext Paris, Atos is a truly global company, which claims to have 78,500 employeees in 42 countries. Atos has been the Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games since 2002.

Atos Origin logo.

The new corporate identity means a farewell to the tropical fish that has been with the company since May 1997 when the name Atos was introduced after the merger of Sligos and Axime. Back then, it was said to symbolize "mobility, responsiveness and vitality". When Atos and Origin merged in 2000, the fish was carried on to the merged corporate identity.

Atos logo from 1997.

The press release about the merger also mentions the rebrand:
Read more »

New logo: Mountain West Conference

The Mountain West Conference is the youngest American college athletic conference, covering institutions from the mountain and Western regions. This Monday, June 6, Mountain West revealed its first new logo since its establishment in 1999. It was created by an agency called Loma Media.

The new symbol has already received the official nickname "The Rock", and consists of the letters M and W standing "shoulder to shoulder". The gray-purple color scheme is kept. The mountain range is removed, and the word "West" becomes bigger, giving the two regions more equal prominence in the logo.

Previous logo.

The previous logo had been used since the conference was formed and was unveiled on January 14, 1999. It was credited to R&R Advertising in Las Vegas.
Read more »

New logo: MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian cable television channel dedicated to music and music-related programming. Launched in 1984, it was clearly inspired by MTV in the United States, which Canadians couldn't watch because of the country's peculiar broadcasting regulations.

Recently, MuchMusic launched a new logo which can be seen above. It is much simpler and elegant than the cartoonish "planet" logo the channel has used until now. The version above uses various pastel colors, but there are also single color variants in use.

Previous logo.

Read more »

New logo: Stora Enso

Stora Enso is a Finnish pulp and paper company, formed in 1998 when the Swedish forestry and mining company Stora was bought the Finnish forestry company Enso. On April 20, it revealed its first new corporate identity since the merger.

The rebrand is a part of a corporate inititive called "Rethink", which went public with the new logo. The basic idea is to challenge old ways of doing things and finding new solutions inside the company and amongs its stakeholders and costumers - in short "rethinking". The company has also rethought the annual report, which has been replaced by a "Rethink Report", released with the rest of the Rethink stuff.

Suitably, the word "rethink" is at the center of the new company symbol which is "inspired by the petalless flower of the eucalyptus tree".

The new logo has been created by the Helsinki creative agency N2's Canadian-born creative director Brian Kaszonyi. A study of StoraEnso's corporate image was done by Kuulas MillwardBrown.

Previous logo.

Read more »

New logo: CommScope

CommScope is an American company which manufactures various telecommunication infrastructure products, including wires and antennas, based in Hickory, North Carolina. Last Tuesday, March 15, the company unveiled and launched a new corporate identity.

The previous logo was introduced in the 1990s, probably when the company was spun off from General Instruments in 1997.

Previous logo.

The new logo has the company name in all capital letters, with the last O replaced by the company's new icon, a cyan blue orb with a whirl. The previous logo featured a somewhat similar icon, a teal oval with a stylized representation of a cable. This is has intentionally been made less obvious in the new icon, as the company is no longer a simple cable manufacturer.

The orb can be used on its own without the logotype. There are also three versions of the orb that have been created to represent the company's markets segments: At Home, At Work and On the Go.
Read more »

New logo: Standard Life

Standard Life is a UK financial services company, focused on "long term savings and investment". This February 7, the company revealed a new visual identity and a new tagline, "The Way Forward".

According to Standard Life, this is the first change in visual identity since 1993. The new logo keeps a yellow triangle from the old logo and places it after the company name, optimistically pointing forward and upward.

The new look was created by London design agency JKR. It has been rolled out across the company since February 7.
Read more »