Pentagram Rebrands Competitive Chess, With A Spiffy 3-D Logo

When entrepreneur Andrew Paulson approached Pentagram to update the World Chess Championship, to give it all the international prestige of the Bobby Fischer era, the creative team responded with a similar trick--creating a 3-D logo constructed as much from enigma as geometric simplicity, a new look for a new era of competitive board gaming that they renamed, simply: World Chess.

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Microsoft Unveils a New Look

"In advance of one of the most significant waves of product launches in Microsoft’s history, today we are unveiling a new logo for the company."

Microsoft Unveils a New Look - The Official Microsoft Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

[another - also from Armin Vit at Brand New]

To end the year on a positive note here are The Best Identities of 2011. As much as I enjoy posting the train wrecks, the Bests are more fun, mostly because my selections tend to generate plenty of disagreement. You can catch the worst here. Enjoy and see you in 2012.

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The Best and Worst Identities of 2011, Part I: The Worst

[From the wit of Armin Vit at Brand New.]

Without much further introduction — since now you know what to expect from our end of year round-ups — here are The Worst Identities of 2011. Enjoy! Part II: The Best will come next Monday.

For clarification: The choices are solely at my discretion. Original comments and voting results do not really influence my selections.

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The Branding of the Occupy Movement [NYT]

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: November 27, 2011

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Kalle Lasn, the longtime editor of the anticonsumerist magazine Adbusters, did not invent the anger that has been feeding the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations across the United States.

But he did brand it.

YIKES! ACTION ALERT: Check LogoGarden for identity work stolen from you

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ACTION ALERT: Check LogoGarden for identity work stolen from you A website promoting access to "do-it-yourself logos for entrepreneurs" starting at $79 has copied logos and other images created by designers and displayed them as LogoGarden founder John Williams's own work for sale, without the original designers' permission. Bill Gardner of Gardner Design, who found more than 200 of his own designs offered on the site, has documented Williams's outrageous and unethical behavior on the blog Rock Paper Ink, including examples of the slight modifications of well-known logos like the identity for World Wildlife Fund and Time Warner Cable.

Abercrombie & Fitch Offers to Pay Jersey Shore‘s “The Situation” Not to Wear Its Clothes - UnBeige

"We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image."

Abercrombie & Fitch Offers to Pay Jersey Shore‘s “The Situation” Not to Wear Its Clothes - UnBeige

Logorama

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's...an Infographic?

South African airline Kulula launches a new fleet of conveniently labeled jets.
From Fast Company, by William Bostwick

Ah, the power of branding. While Boeing plays around with carbon fiber, South African airline Kulula--unknown to me before this--slaps a new decal on its fleet and becomes the talk of the blogosphere.

With the help of local branding agency Atmosphere, Kulula launched this new look, called Flying 101. It's more proof of the ubiquitous cool of infographics, I guess--everyone loves a good labeled diagram. And what a way to stand out on the tarmac, amidst South African Airways plain-Jane fleet: white, serifed type, and the most predictable logo possible, the South African flag.