Opinion BY Armin

Three Cheers for the Laundry Detergent

Since 2006 when we launched Brand New there has been one constant: every two years, the Procter & Gamble laundry detergent, Cheer, redesigns. The first redesign came in 2007 and the second in 2009. We’ve become, like, their official identity biographers. Back in July, Cheer introduced its third look in four years.

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Opinion BY Armin

Budweiser Rocks the Bowtie

First brewed in 1876, Budweiser is one of the best-selling beers in the United States and probably one of the most recognized beers here and abroad. Budweiser is the flagship brand of Anheuser-Busch, that reportedly holds a 48.3 percent share of U.S. beer sales to retailers. This past Wednesday, Budweiser announced a new can design — the 12th redesign since 1936 when it began using them — focused on the “Budweiser bowtie” which, according to this explanatory diagram was created as a symbol to encourage people to order the beer by its full name, instead of just by “Bud”. The new packaging was designed by London-based JKR. (So much for the “All-American” beer).

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The B-Side BY cole

Serena & Lily

Established in 2003, Serena & Lily has transformed from a nursery bedding to home products provider and updated their identity, designed by Partners & Spade, to reflect that change. More on that here.

Thanks to Kevin Tucker for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Penalty to the Future

Launched in 1970, as part of Brazilian company Cambuci SA, Penalty is a comprehensive product line of soccer shoes, clothing, socks, accessories, and balls. From beach soccer, to indoor soccer, to field soccer, Penalty has everything a player would need, manufacturing all of its own products locally in Brazil. Penalty is a major sponsor of soccer teams in Brazil as well as in Argentina and is the official ball of various tournaments and leagues. Earlier this year, Penalty introduced a new logo implemented across all of its products designed by Sao Paulo-based Oz Design.

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Opinion BY Armin

Tassimo Brews Brand New Blend

Introduced in 2004, Tassimo is a home brewing system that uses what it calls “T Discs” to produce coffee, tea, espresso drinks, lattes, and hot chocolate. It’s like a coffee machine on steroids and a little bit space-age-y with its little packets of powder that you lock into the machine and let it whir. Tassimo’s system allows different brands to create T Discs of their products and they also produce their own varieties. Since the latter half of last year Tassimo has been introducing its new look in Europe and it seems like this June it started to make its way into the U.S. and other markets around the world full steam ahead. The new look has been designed by Turner Duckworth.

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Opinion BY Armin

Bioplastics is the New Recycling

Bioplastics are an environmentally friendly alternative to regular ol’ plastics. Made from renewable resources like vegetable oil, corn starch, or pea starch, or corn, tapioca, potatoes, sugar and algae. Some bioplastics are even designed to biodegrade, which basically means you can toss the thing into your backyard (or better yet, your compost) and it will eventually become not the thing it currently is. Bioplastics got a bit of a public boost when Pepsi announced that it would launch a pilot bottle in 2012 made out of “bio-based raw materials, including switch grass, pine bark and corn husks”. Looking to capitalize on the popularity of this growing trend is Cereplast, a California-based company that designs and manufactures proprietary starch-based, sustainable plastics. In January of this year, Cereplast launched a contest to design a new symbol to represent bioplastics. Yup, you know where this is headed.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Hershey’s Kisses

Introduced in 1907, Hershey’s Kisses are delicious even though their ratio of time-it-takes-to-open to time-it-takes-to-eat isn’t very good. No idea when or why, but there is a new logo floating around. A less flattering version below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

SeedSeed for QiaQia

Established in 2001 and located in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone in China, QiaQia produces what looks like delicious snacks of roasted sunflower, pumpkin, and watermelon seeds as well as pistachios, almonds, cashews, pecans and peanuts. With a broader consumer base around the world QiaQia has introduced a new identity designed by Alan Chan Design, one of the most well-known identity design firms in China.

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Opinion BY Clinton Duncan

Acer

Acer, as you’re probably aware, is a Taiwanese computer and electronics manufacturer, making everything from desktop and laptop PCs, PDAs, storage devices, smartphones and… well you get it. What you may not know, is they are the global number two PC maker, behind HP and in front of Dell. They recently updated their rather odd looking pine green logo to a less odd, more “consumer friendly yet technological” lime green logotype in their push to be ‘more like Apple’. Financial Times has the story. Below (or after the jump) you can see the progression over the years, with the latest iteration definitely the best yet.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Honeydrop

Launched no more than two years ago Honeydrop is “a healthy low-calorie organic beverage sweetened with a spoonful of honey and brewed with juices and teas.” New York-based Monday Collective has revised their logo and packaging. Case study here. Shot of the packaging below (or after the jump).