A B-Side BY Armin

Urecel Quickdry

Established in 1997, Urecel is an Indonesian company that manufactures a specialty high-performance foam called Quickdry that is used for high-end outdoor cushions. Among other things and uses. The new identity has been designed by Melbourne-based Lucas Melbourne. A cool infographic video below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

Nooka goes Bold

Established in 2004, Nooka is a product and fashion design company whose fame rose with the introduction of a wrist watch that displayed the time in a rather unconventional way — while the hour of the day was displayed in a big bold number, the minutes were rendered through a horizontal bar that filled in as the hour went by. From there, the watches’ display got more abstract and playful and with more success and recognition, Nooka has grown into a full brand of products, from the original watches to belts, wallets, eyewear, and even fragrance. Nooka has a bit of a funky new-agey philosophy, i.e., “Creates physical manifestations of ideas”, or “Promotes universal communication via the form and visual language of fashion and design” or “Brings a techno-progressivist set of expectations to the world of ordinary objects.” A little too frou-frou for me, but I’ll bite, because sometimes the world can do with less serious things. The in-house design team at Nooka has just completed an identity redesign.

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Opinion BY Armin

A New HP: So Close, Yet So Far Away

Established in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, HP (shorthand for Hewlett Packard, just for the record) is, as it describes itself a “technology company” selling consumer products for printing (shipping more than 1 million printers a week!), personal computing (48 million units a year), and software, as well as offering IT infrastructure and other related services. Ranked 11 in the Fortune 500, HP counts with 324,600 employees across 170 countries and generated $127.2 billion in revenue in 2011. Clearly, HP is big but, also, it lacks that je ne sais quoi that transforms a massive company into a revered brand like, oh, I don’t know, Apple. With the help of Moving Brands, HP hopes to transform its perception and introduce a whole new way of portraying the company. Maybe.

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Opinion BY Armin

The Huntsman Rides Again

Founded in 1822 by Joshua Tetley, Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds in West Yorkshire, England is one of the better known beer brands in the UK. Perhaps not always for the right reasons. Although it enjoyed quite a bit of success before the 2000s, Tetley’s beer has bounced around owners — now owned by Carlsberg — and closed its legendary plant in Leeds. Tetley’s is heavily involved in the sponsorship of Rugby teams and its most recent logo and packaging focused a little too heavily on that. Tetley’s recently reintroduced its iconic huntsman logo and new packaging, designed by Leeds-based WPA Pinfold.

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Opinion BY Armin

It’s Okay to be the King

Currently the closest — and by closest I mean pretty not very close but it will do — thing the NBA has to a Michael Jordan-level global superstar is LeBron James of the Miami Heat, formerly of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He can dunk, he can block, he can pass, he can piss off an entire audience through megalomaniac ESPN specials, and, perhaps he can win a championship. But not yet. In the meantime, the only crowning he’ll have is by his own “King James” nickname, which serves as the basis for the logo of his Nike line of shoes and apparel. Designed by Nike Brand Design, the logo officially debuted this past October although it was leaked as far back as November 2010.

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Opinion BY Armin

Vintage Brewer

Founded in 1807 in Blackburn, Lancashire, UK, Thwaites Brewery is an independent, family-owned brewer, bottler, wholesaler, and retailer. Thwaites offers a variety of beers from cask beers to keg beers to bottled beers to craft beers, most of which can be enjoyed at one of their 350 pubs. This past June, Thwaites introduced a new logo and a new fleet of trucks.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Meow Mix

Meow Mix, owned by Del Monte, offers dry and wet cat food and is most well known for its meow meow meow meow meow meow jingle. New logo and packaging — below (or after the jump) — have hit stores recently.

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Opinion BY Armin

Nice but not Too Nice

With more than 7,700 stores across the U.S., Walgreens is the largest drugstore chain in the country and it has long carried its own private label brands offering discounted prices on common household and grocery items. This past August Walgreens introduced its new Nice! brand which will include over 400 items when it fully launches at the beginning of 2012. The logo and packaging have been designed by New York-based CBX.

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A B-Side BY Armin

JOBY

Founded in 2005, JOBY produces the very popular GorillaPod line of flexible tripods, among others. A new logo was introduced recently, designed by Indicate Design Groupe.

Opinion BY Armin

Floating Soap

First sold in 1879, Ivory soap is one of the flagship brands of giant Procter & Gamble as it was one of its first products. While originally just a manufacturer of candles, P&G sought to create an American soap that would compete with the more luxurious soaps imported from Europe. This led to the formulation of a silky, ultra white soap that was embedded with air bubbles, making it float on water. Over the last 132 years the Ivory packaging and logo have changed numerous times, going from ornamental logos to serifs to sans serifs to the latest version which looks like everything else you can buy at your national chain pharmacy. With the launch of a national ad campaign by Wieden + Kennedy, Ivory has introduced a new logo and packaging.

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