2 to 5

The two dollar shop — not to be confused with the shop formerly known as Just $2 (now Just Incredible) — has recently undergone a change in prices, therefore a need for a identity change.

So the addition of $5 dollar products, creates a need to create a logo with the two numbers. I think the mark is quite successful and I assume, with out actually visiting a store, that products would be marked with the colour that responds to the price — ie blue for $2 & orange for $5. The addition of the old mark (also an altered $5 one) seems unnecessary though, but hopefully that will be removed later on.

2n'5 Dunedin Grand Opening - 11 September 2010. Photo courtesy of Radio Network.

Garden of Eden

Eden Park is main sporting stadium in its biggest city in New Zealand, Auckland. The stadium also has the largest capacity in here too and will host the Rugby World Cup final and Semi finals in 2011.

Rather than regurgitating information, I suggest reading this post from Idealog's Design Daily. Also, Eden Parks press release.

Now down to the logo, the design was done by Auckland based studio Lemonade Design. A design trend that some designers now cringe about, is the overuse of Hoefler & Jones' Gotham. I am still a fan of the typeface and seeing as Auckland could be considered New Zealand's Gotham City there could be a connection there, although we don't have the terminal building which was the inspiration. Anyway, I enjoy the change away from the overly slanted Avant Garde-ish type even if the difference in weights of Gotham is a bit distracting.

DINZ 3.0

Over a year ago I covered the change of the DINZ logo. This year another change, the new logo has featured in DINZ events and in the advertisements for Pro/Design, although website is still sporting the old....

More info to follow.

The Stars are back

Two years ago BNZ changed from its Colin Simon designed logo to the one above labeled 'old'. That previous change was covered in a few places UnderConsideration having a good review and some good opinion. It was also covered on Design Assembly with added new points of view over the recent change. Again the redesign was handled by DNA. More information can be found here on the press release.

At first glance I feel it is a nice change. The four star southern cross is uniquely New Zealand. The word-mark retains it bubbly friendliness, while refining the edges to be more square.
The above word-mark is an alternative logo drawn by Kris Sowersby. It is " an optically corrected ’sloped Roman’ based directly on Serrano". Serrano — the font that is used by BNZ on all its collateral — also designed Sowersby.

Supe Doope

The SANZAR annual rugby competition has changed numbers from 10, 12, 14 and now — for the 2011 season — to 15. So finally someone decided to change the name to move away from the amount of teams in the competition. The use of numbers as a competitions name is only really seen in NCAA College sports in the US and that also has had some unique design problems (Big 10 having 11 now 12 teams).

Before I get into the logo design, the logo itself has to be able to work as a patch on a playing jersey, as logo on related ephemera and have room above to connect with each countries competition sponsor, like the previous. Which was designed by Australian studio Coast Design.

I was never a fan of the name Super 12 or 14, but Super Rugby seems worse at this current time. Colloquially — Super 15 is being used — so maybe the number of teams helps people remember the number of teams and connect it more with the history.

Now onto the logo design, there is not really a comparison between the new and the old. They seem 'worlds apart'. The Previous logo packed in everything; a rugby ball, the countries in the hemisphere the number 14 in your face twice all into a round emblem, that seemed like overkill. The new is clean and clear with a strong image. And at a time when sports logos seem to get the whole 9 yards (3D effect, shadows), the minimal design is a nice change.

The biggest let down is the type, the condensed Gothic characters are a good solid choice, but the application of these characters is were it goes wrong. The dropping of one 'R' in favour of enlarging the remaining, is not a choice that reads well. The changing of scale also confuses legibility.

But overall I like the logo change I probably could do without the gradient, but I imagine it just being the symbol on the sleeve of a red and black jersey with Richie lifting his ever tired trophy wielding arms. ;)

Batter up

I couldn't find a good summary of what Pink Batts are. So if you don't know have a look around their site, but the main product is a type of pink wool-like home insulation. So focusing just on the logo, the change of font from Helvetica rounded Black to what I thought was modified Bauhaus, but is Harry Pro. The tag has also changed from the ever popular condensed gothic to the logo-types Harry Pro as well.

As with the usual change in using all lowercase, the friendly approachable feel is what is desired. But I feel the change is a less successful logomark. Baring the oddness of the tag line, the overall logo feels less like a home made of Pink Batts. The ascenders are a bit too high, the loss of the rounded edges makes it seem too stark and the connection of the underline to the descending stem of the 'p' also removes the illusion of the 'Kiwi home'.

Look out for the red square

Put up by popular demand :). Another Foodstuffs company Pams, a staple on the shelves of Pak'n'save, New World and Four Square. There is so much to cover in the packaging, website, illustrations. I will just focus on the logo, which makes it easy.

The old logo was ok, it had the feeling of an Aunty Pam with its handwriting and tight kerning of the P and a. But the logo has dated (maybe adding charm to the brand?). But they have changed their logo and definitely for the better. The American Typewriter font set small and tightly within large red tilted square makes pam's products instantly recognisable from afar (as below). The small lowercase type plays on the New Zealand underdog mentality and the heart within the negative space is a nice touch to add to the homely Aunty idea.

The change was done by Brother Design.There is also some nice discussion here

Land-scape change

Another Liquor company changing it's image, this time a much more dramatic change and it would seem a completely different positioning point in the market. Liquorland is as it name suggests a liquor retailer with over 70 franchises all over New Zealand.

It seems that the brand has moved from 'the local corner swap-a-crate liquor shop' to Wine dinner party suppliers at a good price. The change from the workman like extra bold clunky and uneven characters with the colours of Yellow and Red – representing quick, cheap and easy — to the soft green with a gradient and embossed black Century Gothic (ish) font, changes its brand.

Also, the positioning statement or tag line has changed no more stencil type and now the same bold geometric sans serif in italic. Changing from the known "There's no land like it" to "here's to you." also re-affirms the movement to a new brand image.

The three new icons represent the three main products wine, beer and spirits (the wine glass, the long neck bottle and the martini glass). Another element is the use of the negative space in the 'o' but all the elements seem rather underwhelming. The changes are ok (Still not a fan of gradients and embossing effects), and the re-positioning is interesting it will be interesting to see future ephemera and advertising media.

Changing cases

"Glassons is New Zealand’s most visited women’s fashion store, and has identified an opportunity for growth in the Australian market. Glassons is renowned for its fast fashion, vibrant stores, and winning value."

I'm not too familiar with this brand, as at anytime someone I am with walks into this store I either wait near by or go for a walk in a different direction. My general opinion is that it supplies cheap clothing that fit into the current trends for women (girls). I assume it generally sits somewhere between Supre and Just Jeans.

Anyway, the logotype has changed and a new logo put into action. The significant difference is a change from lower case — well almost all — to upper case. The previous font looks to be Eurostile Extended. The changed one looks quite similar with geometric almost monospaced characters with more angled cuts on the ends. I generally like the change, mainly because I am adverse to the changing in size of the former logo's 'G', also the fact that Eurostile and especially in an extended form looks dated.

First, but more of the same

"First National Real Estate is one of New Zealand's largest real estate groups. With offices New Zealand-wide our customers are in the unique position of working with a local real estate agent with local property knowledge, combined with the support and systems that a national network can provide."

Well in newsletter news...

"If you traveled around the country over the Festive Season you might have seen some First National offices and signs that are, well, different! That's because, across Australia and New Zealand, we are changing the way we look! That means over 550 offices, tens of thousands of signs and well, gazillions of business cards plus all other stationery."

So a new logo and a removal of the red from the colour palette and in comes a grey. The original logo has become distinctive and I always thought of it as a symbol of someone circling the right house that they wanted — job in the paper idea — and the new image keeps all the icons shape but removes the colour and added in is a rounded edge rectangle to reverse the graphic.

The logo is nice the same as many other the past few years (serif to sans). A move away from using Times (or something close) changed to Century Gothic . It would have been nice to see them try to keep the type in a serif typeface and resist the urge to do the usual. Also, the idea I mentioned earlier of circling is kind of lost with the colour change. The kerning seems all over the place especially in the 'national'. Although this just may be the image of have because the website logo looks a little less extreme.