Revisit

Remember, logo design by David Paranteau

The interpretation:

• The black signifies the grief and loss of our nation (The Pentagon, the date, and the WTC towers in place of the number 11 in the date).
• The white background represents hope of freedom, peace, and healing.
• REMEMBER that freedom is worth preserving and also that it has never been won without loss. We remember our friends, our co-workers, spouses, rescuers, children, business partners, military and government officials, visitors to New York and our nation. We will never forget our fallen heroes.
• The flag is our national emblem and represents the highest ideals of individual liberty, justice and equal opportunity for all. These ideals will help our nation cope with this tragedy.

I just read an article on USA Today which says that the NFL will be releasing a new logo next year. The logo will replace a design which is nearly 40 years old.

The redesign will not deviate from the established shield shape, but will be switching some of the interior components. The amount of stars will be reduced from 25 to 8. The original number of 25 is said to be arbitrary, but the new figure of 8 is representative of the 8 divisions which compose the league. The stars will be larger scale and will certainly improve the scaling down and reproduction of the logo for merchandising purposes.

Next to the stars is the redesign of the football, which is said to more closely mimic that of the Vince Lombardi Trophy—which was my first impression as well. Although I do think the illustration is an improvement, it’s my opinion that the more vertical placement creates an awkward interaction with the shield spire above it.

Moving on to the type, the new face shifts from a stylized serif, noticeable on the L, versus a slab serif. The change simplifies the type and makes it crisp. The increased white space surrounding the type also helps make this version more readable than its predecessors.

Finally, color. The new blue is darker and bolder which coupled with the current red, makes the mark very bold. For football, a bold impression is the key.

Other sports articles:

• Washington Capitals Logo Design
• Capitals Logo Follow-Up

In May 2004, Food Lion unveiled “Bloom”, a new brand that focuses on convenience and service through an easy-to-shop Bloom, A Food Lion Market store layout, a broad range of fresh products and home meal replacement products, and technology features that expedite the shopping experience. The Bloom experiment is the result of extensive consumer research, studies of best practices from retailers throughout the world and an intensive cooperation between different operating companies within Delhaize Group.

I selected Bloom for analysis because of the recent openings of several Bloom stores in my area. In my town alone there were three Food Lions, two of which have all recently been converted into Bloom stores. With this big influx and sightings of this brand popping-up everywhere, I decided to check the store out. In future articles, I will chronicle the full brand experience.

The Bloom logo is a successful mark. The symbol is perpetual and shows motion, while using white space effectively pulling your gaze inward. This white space shape makes a spiral, sun-like form. I believe it has a very organic quality which can be coupled with the border, which has flower-like edges. The two forms meld a very organic and conceptual symbol which portray a flower in bloom, which is directly linkable to agricultural growth, hence groceries.

The Bloom slogan is “a different kind of grocery store,” and the logo certainly has an abstract modern quality which aptly portrays this concept. The type also lends to this modern approach.

I identified the font to be Futura Medium Boldtype. This is an appropriate selection, as the clean lines convey the modern appearance. The selection also possesses a nice thick to thin stroke and dips below the baseline creating an organic flow for the letterform (see illustration).

The lowercase setting of the font helps the type to adjoin properly to the symbol, creating a unified logo. I also liked the fact that each character was kerned indiviudally and properly set to convey an even appearance.