Take the case of the strapline:

It’s a cool and composed challenge. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really say anything to you.

But what if you put a powerful symbol just above it. Read the rest of this entry…

Glad to see old companies I loved keep up with the times.

The most delicious panda bears in the world.

Here’s the new Meiji Logo from Brand New.

Old vs. New

Personally, I think it’s a huge improvement. The old logo was some obscure, fat, Bodoni-like font that had figures blown out of proportion and whacked out spacing. The new one does have some issues with kerning (the “eiji” needs to be loosen up a bit to compensate for the fat m and e) and letter weights (the “m” is a bit too heavy), but it’s sexy, Asian and will definitely look good on my Hello Panda.

You all know the Puppy Dog Face. It has mesmerized you. It has made you go madly in love for even at least a moment in your life. Admit it.

Go to your local pet shop and watch all those grown, bearded, smoking men go soft and gay. When they start entering that section with the wagging tails and round, googly eyes silently calling out to them, “Take me home!” It’s over. They’re practically sold. And it doesn’t make it any easier to resist if they’re with their kids.

If, however, through some catastrophic practical or financial decision they suddenly don’t decide to buy the puppy, they leave with a heavy heart.

Puppies have this strong, pulling, magnetic power that people just can’t resist. The good thing is, we can explain and learn from it. Read the rest of this entry…

I recently discovered that UCPB is the next to follow in the rebranding battle of local banks in the Philippines.

BDO was the first to execute the full rebranding package. Clearly, through changing the brand identity, internal culture and innovation in bank operations, they turned their brand around and successfully changed the whole banking landscape. Such a significant rebrand by BDO was so successful that all the other banks were threatened. This led to BPI following in their footsteps with relative success, and now, UCPB.

The Official UCPB (lengthy and difficult to read) Logo Brief

The Old United Coconut Planters Bank Logo

This is by far, one of the most ineffective redesigns I’ve ever seen in a large multi-million company. For starters, their new identity looks like a Chinese restaurant mixed with baby accessories. Read the rest of this entry…

I’d definitely buy these even if they weren’t working.

Image from DesignyouTrust

When traditional fire extinguisher manufacturers brainstorm on how to best sell their products, the answer is quite simple to them—increase functionality! In order to kill the competition, let’s make our extinguishers faster, better, and stronger!

The sad thing in that kind of situation is that the race for functional superiority has an end. There will come a time when the technological limitations of all these brands will only allow them to produce fire extinguisher features up to a certain point. When that limit has been reached, then all of them will be left with a boring, homogenous product.

This is where design can come in and start selling for you.