NateTharp.com

The Y’s new name coincides with its efforts to emphasize the impact its programs have on youth, healthy living and communities.

I hope this works out better than The Shack.

We can only hope that this is just a temporary placeholder while they put something more permanent together. Because right now this just looks like a bad joke.

[via Brand New]

Shitty branding + shitty music + shitty graphics = Aol. brand videos

It just keeps getting worse. I will admit though, that the last one is kind of cool.

[via Brand New]

As if having to support the Phillies, Sixers and Eagles wasn’t bad enough, now Philadelphia residents will have to suffer through seeing the city’s new brand plastered all over the place. John Gruber doesn’t hold back.

Sickly… Don’t get me started on the Trebuchet.

AOL’s new logo is out, and it’s lame. The reaction to the announcement has spanned the emotional spectrum from stupefied and frustrated to supremely amused and disappointed. I think it can be summed up in one word. Fail.

Update: This may explain some of it.

And it looks like Coca-Cola learned from the failures PepsiCo made with the rebranding of Tropicana.

Trademarkia makes searching the annals of U.S. trademark filings since 1870  much easier and more enjoyable.

[via TechCrunch]

I’m often intrigued by the redesigns of large brands done by big agencies that end up being little more than tweaks. ITT Corporation‘s rebranding by Landor in 2007 comes to mind. It ended up boiling down to the change of a single Pantone® number and expanding the kerning of the letters in the logo. More recently there’s the rebranding of Pfizer by Siegal+Gale, which is nothing more than a typeface change, tilt of the oval and introduction of a gradient.

The most striking part of these types of rebranding, and these two examples, is how significant of an improvement these small changes make. They’re sometimes scoffed at and criticized with arguments similar to the “my six-year-old could’ve painted that” barbs that are often hurled in the direction of work by artists like Jackson Pollock. But to an objective eye, they’re perfect examples of just how important every little detail is.

Some thoughts on art, teaching, citizenship and aging from Milton Glaser.

[Via Swiss Miss]

And some thoughts from Paul Rand on the importance of graphic design and the value of designers to the business world and what he loves about his job.

Then there Jobs, Steve, on Paul Rand.

[Via GraphicHug]

An image comparing the brand history of Pepsi and Coca-Cola with a slightly skewed and historically inaccurate perspective has brought the cola war back as a topic of discussion. As usual, you can count on Brand New to straighten things out.