Opinion BY Armin

Surf’s Down

Founded in 1984 by a small group of surfers in Malibu, California, Surfrider Foundation (SF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to “the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.” Through more than sixty local chapters, SF counts with over 50,000 members across the United States. Earlier this month, SF introduced a new logo designed by Los Angeles-based 72andSunny.

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Opinion BY Armin

Arts United Unites

Originally named the Fine Arts Foundation when it began in 1955, Arts United, as it was renamed twenty years ago, is one of the oldest non-profit art funds in the United States, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Its mission is “to provide support to arts and cultural organizations and to unite and coordinate arts efforts in northeast Indiana.” Arts United also manages the Arts United Center, built in 1973 by Louis Kahn and serves as the main performing space for the Civic Theatre, the Youtheatre, Fort Wayne Ballet, Fort Wayne Dance Collective and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. This month, Arts United introduced a new logo designed by local Fort Wayne agency One Lucky Guitar.

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Opinion BY Armin

The Pulse Felt Around the World

In July of 2009 Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, announced plans to launch the Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System (GIVAS), in order to “mobilize our full strength for better real-time data on the impact of the economic crisis on the poorest nations.” In June, almost a year later, GIVAS changed its name to Global Pulse, citing that the acronym was hard to pronounce, the name too long to remember, and it signified a top-down rather than a bottom-up approach. Global Pulse’s vision is to “Close the information gap between the onset of a global crisis and the availability of actionable information for decision makers” and its mission to “Harness innovation to protect the vulnerable.” To accompany the launch of the new name, New York-based Zago created a new identity.

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Opinion BY Armin

Follow-up: the Y

Whenever we reach over a hundred comments in a single post it’s typically an indication of not just the popularity of a given brand but also of the attachment (positive or negative) we have to the identity of that brand. Last week’s the Y discussion fit was a good representation of this with plenty of strong opinions. As a follow-up, that will either change or further cement your opinions, Siegel+Gale’s Co-President, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer, Howard Belk, has shared some additional clarifications and intentions behind their work.

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Opinion BY Armin

My Name is Y… the Y

I had my first swimming lessons at the Y — well at “La Guay” since that happened in Mexico — I also saw my older brother get kicked in the face by a girl during a Karate championship, his nose bled; I played dozens of basketball games too in various locations in Mexico City. It wasn’t until I was old enough to party that I learned that the Y’s full name was actually YMCA through the Village People, and it wasn’t until later that I learned it stood for Young Men’s Christian Association. Being Jewish it baffled me for years that they allowed me to swim there or that they allowed my brother to get kicked in the face — being Jewish in Mexico means young Christian men don’t swim in your JCC (Jewish Community Center) and they don’t get their noses kicked there either. Needles to say, I am not the only Jew or Christian or other religious denomination individual to have done something at one of the 2,600 locations in the U.S. alone. Far from it: 45 million are part of this global non-profit organization whose mission it is “To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.” After 43 years with the same logo, the organization is introducing a new identity system by Siegel+Gale and is adopting the moniker the whole world already has for it: the Y.

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Opinion BY Armin

This is not your Mom’s Girl Scouts

With more than 2.4 million girl members, supported by nearly a million adult members working as volunteers, the Girl Scouts of the USA is the world’s biggest organization dedicated to girls — all girls as their description clarifies. Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts now counts with 100 councils across the United States that help girls find a troop to join, and even outside of the U.S., there are 90 countries helping 16,000 girls stay connected. But what we all know about the Girl Scouts around this blog is that its logo was designed by Saul Bass in 1978 and, like the rest of his identity work, it summed up brilliantly and succinctly the mission of the organization and the history behind it. Yesterday, the Girl Scouts unveiled a new identity by the newly formed New York design firm, Original Champions of Design (OCD). [Disclaimer: I worked for two years with one of its founders, Jennifer Kinon, while we were both at Pentagram.]

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Opinion BY Armin

Something Fishy’s Going On

Last week, the newly formed volunteer organization desigNYC — a “group of designers and design advocates with the mission of helping nonprofit and community groups in need of design services connect with professional, pro bono design resources” — had an opening reception for an exhibit that showcases the progress of its first twelve pilot projects, which range from scopes like a master plan for a 100-block ecological corridor to a children’s play room for domestic violence survivors. Among them was also redesigning the identity for the Bronx River Alliance, a nonprofit organization that works to “improve and restore the Bronx River corridor so that it can be a healthy ecological, recreational, educational and economic resource for the communities through which the river flows.” In charge of this project were Felix Sockwell and Tom Vasquez, who worked with Steven Heller, a desigNYC Team Advisor.

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Opinion BY Armin

Walk this Way

Established in 1973 Transportation Alternatives (TA) is a New York non-profit organization whose mission is to “reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.” If you ride your bike in New York and feel a little safer with every passing day, it’s probably thanks to TA, who is also responsible for campaigns to free Central Park and Prospect Part in Brooklyn from cars, as well as championing the controversial congestion pricing initiative that would charge cars for the priviledge of driving around certain parts of the city. This week, TA introduced a new identity created by Doyle Partners — fitting since it’s not rare to spot Mr. Stephen Doyle bicycling around town in a suit.

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Opinion BY Armin

People for Water for People

Working continually in eleven countries — Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and India — and providing support to more than forty countries throughout its nearly twenty years in operation, Water for People “helps people in developing countries improve quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities, and hygiene education programs.” A big part of the Denver-based organization’s focus is not just establishing new facilities or resources, but making sure they keep working and are self-sufficient years later. This past March, Water for People introduced a new logo designed by Duffy & Partners.

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Guest Opinion from Steff Geissbuhler posted BY Brand New

Have Mercy on My Logo

Ed.’s Note: This post strays from our typical format in various ways: It is not a new identity, it is not a before/after comparison, it is not an In Brief, and it is written by the person that designed the identity (can you imagine if we let everyone critique their own work?!). Nonetheless, this is an engaging story to post with a good lesson for everyone to learn. At least I enjoyed it and I’m happy to make an exception to the rules. End of note.

A typical identity project involves plenty of personal creative investment, hours upon hours devoted to rounds of sketching, revisions, and the pain-staking final tweaks to create a singular, perfect end result. Once the identity is complete and leaves our hands, though, we can’t protect the precious qualities of what we delivered, and it’s at the hands of clients to see if it remains in its intended form as time goes on. Yet, during a routine check-up call — something I do from time to time with previous clients — one of my logos definitely strayed from any branding guidelines, but, surprisingly, done so to the betterment and even salvation of populations living continents away.

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