New logo: FSE Energy

FSE Energy is an American company that manufactures equipment to extract biomass fuel. Until December last year it was known as Factory Sales & Engineering, Inc. when it was rebranded and adopted a new corporate identity, created by MetaDesign in San Francisco.

The previous name and the humdrum logo that accompanied it conveyed an image of a small family-owned company. The new identity is more on par with FSE's competitors. The icon is "a contemporary abstraction of flame", depicting "the transfer of biomass to fuel through fire".
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New logo: LogoTV

Launched in 2005, the confusingly named Logo is an American cable network tailored to an LGBT audience with programs about everything from adoption to drag queens. It is owned by Viacom and is probably the first such network to be launched by a mainstream broadcaster. This month Logo itself has quietly rolled out a new logo.

The previous logo had been used in various forms since the network's launch. Originally it came in many colors, but lately it has usually been black of white.
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New look: State Fair

State Fair is a brand for ready-made corn dogs, a very American snack made from a hot dog wrapped in a deep fried cornmeal coating, typically served on a stick. Recently, the brand got a refreshed look, created by PKG in Chicago.

The primary aim was make it easier to navigate between flavours and to evolve the packaging by showcasing its "playfulness". As part of this, just about every aspect of the packaging has been refined and made more contemporary, but the brand hasn't changed direction. The various shadings in the logo have been refined, although the typography is left unchanged.
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New logo: Billboard

The Billboard brand is known around the world for its many music-related charts that are seen as the ultimate measure of success in the music business. The number of people who read the actual magazine behind the brand is probably a fraction of that, but this week it is launching a new look, created by Michael Bierut of Pentagram in New York, working with Billboard's own designers.

Since the issue of July 16, 1966, Billboard's masthead has featured a Bauhaus-inspired wordmark where four of the counters have been filled with different colors. It was given a small update in 1984 and has since remained unchanged.

It is now replaced by a thicker all lower-case wordmark that exploits the geometric nature of the name. On magazine covers, it is now presented in one color without filled counters, while the colored dots will remain in marketing and for digital platforms.

The entire magazine has been redesigned to be more relevant in today's music industry. This includes the charts, which are now easier to read.
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New logo: Food Network

Food Network, the first network solely dedicated to food, launched a new look this month, on Sunday January 6. The agency behind this rebrand was Troika who did everything from strategy, to logo design, to graphics package.

The plate-shaped logo has received a minor update with more contemporary typefaces and a "sense of dimension". The last Food Network logo was introduced almost exactly ten years earlier, on January 1, 2003.

Programming on the Food Network is very much driven by celebrities the network itself has created, and they are the focal point of the new look along with food-related environments and textures. This is summed up in the creative concept, dubbed "Characters and Stories". Visually, the graphics are built on modules with different textures, colors and imagery relating to different genres of specific programs.
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New logo: American Airlines

This morning, local time, American Airlines, one of the largest airlines in the United States, and the world, unveiled a new livery and corporate identity.

The new identity was designed by FutureBrand and is part of an ongoing effort to modernise the airline. It preserves the colours of the American flag, but replaces the polished metal from the previous livery with silver paint. In 2011, the airline ordered a large amount of new aircraft, made from composite materials that meant the polished metal look had to be abandoned.

American Airlines has also been given a new icon that embodies its name, called the "flight symbol". As previous symbols, it includes a soaring eagle, but the new one also has a star and a stylised letter A. The tailfin features and interpretation of the American flag.

From the standpoint of graphic design history, this marks the end of one of the final great corporate identities from the 1960s. Designed by Massimo Vignelli and featuring a Helvetica wordmark and polished "silver bird" livery, this corporate identity had remained essentially unchanged since its introduction in 1968, more than four decades ago.
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New logo: Tostitos

Tostitos a major American brand of tortilla chips, owned by Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo. Late last autumn it started rolling out a refreshed visual identity with new packaging.

Overall, the packaging is cleaner. The rough surfaces of some earlier packaging are being replaced by graphical sunbeams in clear colors radiating from a product window as the center of the bag. The logo has also be straightened up and simplified. The new look is being launched with some new products, such as the "Tostitos Cantina" chips, inspired by Mexican restaurants.
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More on: UniMás

Back in December, we were reached by the news that US-Hispanic broadcast TV network Telefutura would be renamed UniMás. The new name and brand identity launched yesterday, January 7, which gave us and the viewers the opportunity to see how it would work on screen. Los Angeles broadcast design agency Troika worked with many aspects of the brand launch, including logo design, graphics package and a marketing campaign (although the name was selected internally).

The logo is a "youthful twist" on Univision's abstract U symbol. In the divided wordmark, the "Uni" part links back to the parent company, while the bolder "Más" reflects the "always more" attitude of the desired audience of Millennials.

All graphical elements feature forward-leaning angle as the logo, including the typeface. Motion graphics seem to constantly move forward on screen.
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New logo: VH1

Most readers are probably familiar with the American cable network VH1. Originally a music video network for somewhat older viewers, it has over time shifted its focus to reality programming. Over the weekend, it adopted a new look with a new logo that had been previewed in the past few days.

VH1's new logo has a plus sign embedded in the H. This expresses VH1's new brand statement, "The Ultimate Mash Up". For example, a video says VH1 is a mash up of music + pop culture + nostalgia. VH1's new signature color appears to be purple, but other complementary colors are also used.
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New logo: Flywheel

Cabulous, a mobile app that helps people order a taxi, was relaunched last week as Flywheel. The new identity was developed by Moving Brands, who are promising more information in the future. Until then, we have a nice icon portraying a wheel with wings, that perhaps reminds one of the letter F. It lives in a clean vivid visual environment.
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New logo: Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Dean is a brand for meat-based food products – including something called "Pancakes & Sausage on a stick" – founded by a country singer of the same name and now owned by Hillshire Brands. Back in October it started rolling out a refreshed package design that is described as more consistent and contemporary. This also includes a new simplified logo with a rought stamp effect.
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New logo: Comcast

Back in January 2011 when NBCUniversal became majority-owned by Comcast and introduced its new simple purple logo, there was plenty of uproar about the removal of the NBC peacock. In an unexpected move, Comcast itself has suddenly started using a new logo that prominently features the NBC peacock over a wordmark set in thin capital letters.

Becoming the symbol of a communications company marks a change in use for the peacock, that until now has mainly been associated with television and associated media. The new logo was unveiled on Monday, December 10. At the moment we only have the primary corporate brandmark, but there are several other Comcast-branded assets, such as the Comcast Sportsnets, that will presumably have to be updated as well.
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New look: ID by Stride

ID is a new chewing gum brand launched earlier this autumn by Kraft Foods (now known as Mondelez) in the United States. Its packaging was developed by Landor Associates in Cincinnati.

Primarily targeting teens, the packaging features original artwork commissioned from young emerging artists around the world. The artwork is hidden by a transparent cellophane wrap the consumer has to remove to see the artwork. This encourages interaction that should foster a relationship with the brand. The packaging carries a "by Stride" tag, linking it to a more established gum brand.
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New logo: Weight Watchers

Most of you are probably familiar with Weight Watchers, an American company that offers dieting products and weight loss guidance. On Monday, December 3, Weight Watchers launched a new weight loss program called Weight Watchers 360°. The reason you are reading about that here is that at the simultaneously the company launched a new corporate identity, created by Paula Scher at Pentagram.

Weight Watchers itself says the new identity "brings to life the transformation members experience when they adopt a new lifestyle that can lead to significant weight loss". The gradient from dark to light is the visual expression of the transformation Weight Watchers costumers go through. The typeface is designed by Jeremy Mickel and is a customisation of his Fort typeface.
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New logo: UniMás

TeleFutura is a Spanish language TV network in the United States. Established in 2002, it competes with Telemundo to be the second most watched Hispanic TV network. Univision, the market leader, is also the owner of TeleFutura and yesterday, December 3, it announced its intention to rebrand TeleFutura and change its name to UniMás on January 7, 2013. This is part of an enhanced commitment to more action, drama and sports for younger viewers, but will also link the network closer to its parent company. Broadcast design agency Troika developed the logo and brand identity for the rebranded network.

It has certainly been a year of rebrands for Spanish TV in the United States. Telemundo unveiled a new logo in May, and was followed by Univision in October, who also announced a new look for the largest Hispanic cable channel Galavisión in November. In addition to this, News Corp launched its new MundoFox network in August.
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New logo: Galavisión

Galavisión is one of the most watched Spanish language cable TV networks in the United States, having been on the air since the late 70s. Over the weekend, on November 4, it unveiled a "contemporary" new logo, just a few weeks after its corporate parent unveiled another new logo.

The new logo is a stylzed G and was designed by PMcD Design in New York. It is frequently accompanied by the tagline "a Univision Network" (or its Spanish equivalent), linking it more strongly to its parent company.
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New logo: Actavis

Watson Pharmaceuticals, an American maker of generic pharmaceuticals, recently bought its European competitor Actavis. The deal that was finished at the end of October, creating the world's third largest generic pharmaceutical company. The new company takes the name of the latter, and a new corporate identity was unveiled on October 31.

The new corporate identity was developed by Lippincott. The new logo combines a W from the old name with an A from the new company. A press release says is "speaks to the Company's fast-evolving business, as well as its dynamic culture".

One stated reason for shedding the Watson name was that the company can't register it globally, as it is a common surname.
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New look: The CW

The CW is the fifth-largest English language television network in the United States, formed in 2006 when The WB and UPN merged. It skews more to younger viewers than the four larger networks, with series including 90210, Gossip Girl and America's Next Top Model. For the start of the autumn season, the network has a new look and a new slogan, "TV Now", as part of a strategy to further turn The CW into a multi-platform, multi-screen brand. It runs through the new look as both a promise and a call to action.

Los Angeles motion design studio Troika have been working with The CW since its launch and designed the original logo and on-air graphics package. They are also behind this latest redesign. The new look replaces the "TV To Talk About" branding that was introduced in 2009, also created by Troika.
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New logo: Dallas

The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau unveiled a new logo on Friday. This clear and modern wordmark with a star included in the D will be used to market one of the major cities in the Lone Star State to tourists. The logo comes with a new tagline, "Big Things Happen Here".

The new logo replaces a brush wordmark and the tagline "Live Large. Think Big.", introduced in 2004. Local press credits local brand consultancy TracyLocke as having a leading role in the development of the new brand and message.
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New logo: Univision

Univision is by far the most-watched Hispanic television network in the United States. Having been known by its current name since the 80s, it has grown with the Hispanic community and is now well established as the fifth most watched network overall. Yesterday, October 17, it unveiled a new logo, intended to signify the transformation the network has gone through in its history. It was the result of a collaboration with Wolff Olins.

The stylised U used by Univision up until now has been reshaped slightly and turned into a three-dimensional object, and the four separate slices that made up the symbol have been joined. The stated intention is for the symbol to resemble a heart.

The out-going Univision logo was developed by Chermayeff & Geismar. It has been in use for about two decades (an official press release would have you believe that it was introduced in 1962, but that's nonsense). The new logo launches on January 1, 2013.
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