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.

read more

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

NYTimes.com: MetroCards for Sale

Last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York announced that it would be selling advertising space on the front of its fare cards to raise revenue. “The whole thing is available, except for the black stripe,” said Aaron Donovan, an agency spokesman. As a MetroCard-carrying subway rider and graphic designer, I offer a couple of ads that both natives and tourists might actually find useful.

Chip Kidd is a graphic designer and author.

from MetroCards for Sale

Can a Font Help a City Make a Comeback?

Chatype came about when D.J. Trischler, a brand consultant, discovered he'd been sitting next to typeface designer Jeremy Dooley at their local coffee shop. The two became fixated on a question: What if Chattanooga had its own typeface? The idea may sound strange from an American perspective, but it's actually the norm throughout Europe, where even small cities employ unique typefaces to distinguish themselves.

Read the article in Good Magazine

Florent Gallery

From the gallery of Florent with work by the illustrious Tibor Kalman and M&CO.

On Jet Exteriors, a Parade of Vanilla

As domestic airlines have taken a more sober approach to the business of flying, fancy fuselages and lively paint jobs have faded away. The color of choice these days is white.

NYT: BUSINESS DAY, by JAD MOUAWAD

The colorful paint jobs on airplanes have gone the way of free meals and pillows.

After decades of frenzied competition and staggering losses, domestic airlines have taken a more sober approach to the business of flying, with their first priority making money. And so the fancy fuselages and lively paint jobs — remember TWA’s bold red lines? — have gone the way of free meals, pillows and checked bags.

read the article

Pentagram’s Abbott Miller Designs New Identity/Branding for Barnes Foundation

Pentagram’s Abbott Miller Designs New Identity/Branding for Barnes Foundation - UnBeige

http://pentagram.com/en/new/2011/09/preview-the-barnes-foundation.php

Our friends at Pentagram have this week posted information on the branding and identity work partner Abbott Miller has created for the new location. The logo is based off of the coloring of Matisse’s Joy of Life, resulting in a muted but strong, modern orange, laid out in a form based related to Albert Barnes‘ sketches for the original gallery. The main font within the logo is Milo, created by Mike Abbink, with Monitor just below, spelling out the full name of the organization. In addition to the identity, Miller and his Pentagram pals are also working on a site redesign (launched this week), as well as “environmental graphics and interpretative displays and materials.” Here’s a bit from their write-up about Miller’s process:

"To develop the identity Miller conducted extensive research of the Barnes estate and the original building at Merion. The identity’s form was suggested by a sketch by Barnes of one of his signature arrangements, a symmetrical row of paintings. Miller recognized the layout as “the DNA of Dr. Barnes’ vision,” a motif that captures the museum’s unique environment and Barnes’ singular view of art. The logo consists of a row of rectangles that recall the centered, axial hanging at the Barnes, each form containing a letter of the museum’s name. The letters play with positive and negative space, referencing the Barnes’ intention to read across works and make connections."