Metro FM

Metro FM is the largest National Urban Commercial station in South Africa with around six million adult listeners tuning in from all across the nation. The station’s core genre, R&B, is the most popular music genre among South Africans between the ages of 16 and 34. Metro’s penetration within this market is 43 percent of the total market. (source)

I know next to nothing about this identity design (their marketing dept. never replied to my e-mail), other than to say that the typeface is the FF DIN family. Metro FM is an SABC radio station (SABC logo featured in Part 1) so it might be safe to assume that their design team are responsible for this one too.

I really like how the M letterform, resembling both an audio spectrum analyzer and cityscape, breathes life into the logo when animated, like the Sasol logo. Take a look at their website or TVCs to see the M in action:

Kalahari.net

Kalahari.net is the largest and most dominant e-Commerce platform in Africa offering a huge range of books, music, DVDs, games, electronics and gifts. First registered in April 1998, Kalahari.net offers top-selling products available on 24-hour delivery, various payment options, door-to-door delivery, wish list facilities, vouchers, free gift-wrapping, etc.

Kalahari.net is a division of Media24, a Naspers brand. The name links the brand to Africa by its association with the Kalahari Desert, a well-known African landmark.

Interestingly, they might have been called Kalahari.com by now, if they'd won a domain name dispute back in 2001. I really enjoyed the below extract (for context, I was employed by Electric Ocean a month before, just as they were entering a state of turmoil, so it comes as no suprise...):

On a date prior to June 9, 1999, the Complainant entered into an agreement with a company named Electric Ocean to acquire the registration of the Domain Name which was at that time held by Electric Ocean. However, before the transfer could be effected the registration of the Domain Name was cancelled on Electric Ocean’s failure to pay the fees. The Domain Name fell back into the public domain.

The logo was designed by Garth Walker of Mister Walker Design (formerly Orange Juice Design, who were later acquired by the design house of Ogilvy South Africa). Garth never responded to my e-mail either, but I had better luck contacting Kalahari.net themselves, and they had this to share:

In essence, it was our aim to capture the spirit of the organisation through the use of a 'symbol'. The 'symbol' itself is the man running with the sun/streamer and with the use of warm colours, the logo represents the spirit of our organisation. i.e. A happy, warm company within an African heritage. The logo is horizontal in format for web legibility with no use of vignettes or thin lines. Type is simple and complimentary to the logo's message.

My favourite part is the hypnotic ribbon. I'm not sure what the typeface is - the closest match I can find is Fiendstar Extended (UPDATE: it's Nimbus Sans Extended). The running man (Khoisan rock paintings figure) also features in the 2010 FIFA World Cup logo.

Kaizer Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs is a South African football club, founded 7 January 1970 in Soweto, Johannesburg, by soccer legend Kaizer Motaung shortly after his return from the USA where he played as a striker for the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL. (How about this for a classic moment in time.)

The team is nicknamed Amakhosi which means "lords" or "chiefs" in Zulu. The club is unarguably the biggest football club in the country in terms of success and popularity, estimated to have over 16 million (very, very, very fanatical) supporters - Nelson Mandela being one of them.

Kaizer Chief's brand manager responded to my e-mail request for information on the logo with the following:

Kaizer Chiefs logo was made in 1969 and the only changes that have been made have been tiny graphic details to make it easier for embroidery etc. At one stage we were called IWISA Kaizer Chiefs after a sponsor. The Chiefs insignia has always been there and the colours have always been the same.

After some more digging around I found the Atlanta Chiefs logo (1967 - 1972, altered slightly when the club briefly reformed in 1979), and so the origins of the Kaizer Chiefs identity became clear. The chief mark underwent some small cosmetic changes, the full "Kaizer Chiefs" name was added around the mark, and two footballs were added on either side.

I feel the footballs are unnecessary and redundant though, and I'm not a fan of the arc effect on the type either (although it doesn't bother me so much in the Atlanta Chiefs logo). And I'd always thought that the Kaizer Chief's chief had a visible eye line, but it turns out to be the beginning section of his headdress!

Sasol

I fell in love with the Sasol logo the moment I first saw it, which if I remember correctly was in an animated format online. It's almost hypnotic, I can stare at it for ages, and I have to say that it's one of my top favourites of this series.

The international award-winning Sasol rebrand was launched in 2001 (I bet you don't remember their previous logo).

Sasol (originally Afrikaans for Suid-Afrikaanse Steenkool en Olie - South African Coal and Oil) is an innovative and competitive global energy company, engaged in the commercial production and marketing of chemicals and liquid fuels; with a growing interest in oil and gas exploration. Established in 1950 by the South African government, Sasol employs more than 32 000 people worldwide and remains one of South Africa’s largest investors in capital projects, skills development and technological research and development.

Via Sasol's Corporate Identity page:

Sasol's identity owes its inspiration to what is at the core of what Sasol does - chemicals. It suggests the essence of the products, and businesses working in harmony in order to create something new and dynamic. The central sphere denotes stability, while the six rotating 'business units' suggest a force greater than the sum of its parts - strength through synergy.

Well that's the short of it. Clifford Boobyer, Creative Director at Firedog (then creative lead at Trademark Design), was responsible for the Sasol global rebranding project and identity design. I exchanged a few e-mails with Clifford, who was very accommodating to share some insight into his creative processes:

It was a mammoth project, with a very simple easily sold creative burst right up front.

At this stage of my career, I had just moved on from fiddling around with an application that shipped with early Macromedia called Extreme3D onto the more serious 3D Studio Max. I thought I might try build an identity around a 3D application - this was still before the trend of 3D marks we see so readily today, and it felt kind of cool to do something different.

So I got to grips with the Sasol business and soon worked out that all their business related back to organic compounds one way or another. Whether it be oils, gas, or any other compound - they all seemed to be built from the same building blocks: Hydrocarbons. And when you start looking at modelling around hydrocarbons - you can really get to understand where the brand mark started to develop. So I guess it was the geek in me (before Wikipedia, mind you) which became fascinated behind the science of the brand.

Chemistry in Motion

I asked Cliff about the animated logo that applies to digital environments:

Coupled with the new application I was learning, this journey of discovery inspired me to create a very progressive and animated mark. So I recreated the model in 3D Studio Max, based on a very basic layout sketch that I did. I think because what I wanted to do was so singular in it's idea - I didn't spend long sketching.

I dropped in a large Silver carbon atom and created a series of coloured hydrogen atoms that rotated on paths closely around the core. I remember the mark being multiple colours, red, green, blue, yellow etc. - we changed them all to shades of blue later on client consultation. It was then just a case of bringing the hydrogen atoms to life and making them move around the core, without bumping.

Because it was early days in 3D - there was no Flash output. I laboured one of the junior designers of the time with the process of recreating all the frames of the end animation in vector Flash. It turned out nicely at least!

So, I think it was one of those rare occurences of a brand identity that started with an animation. And moved on from there. The client bought the idea and the pitch in one go.

I think it was in the studio for 18 months and the brand guidelines generated in the end topped 750 pages.

More reading: Sasol re-brand at Firedog, and Sasol's Electronic Brand Book (2.3mb SWF)

Wimpy

Up until I started this series, I'd always assumed that Wimpy is a uniquely South African brand. As it turns out, Wimpy was founded in London in 1954 while the brand (originally called Wimpy Bars) was originally created as early as the 1930s. By the early 1970s the business had expanded to over a thousand restaurants in 23 countries.

Wimpy UK, which comprises 194 outlets across England, Scotland and Wales, and operates a further 20 restaurants under a master licence arrangement in Ireland, is the largest independently owned franchised restaurant chain in the United Kingdom. The business owns the Wimpy trademark in 15 European countries.

Wimpy opened in South Africa in Durban in 1967. Today, Wimpy is one of the leading restaurant franchise groups in South Africa with more than 400 restaurants.

Famous Brands, owner of the Wimpy franchise in South Africa, acquired Wimpy UK in February 2007. Having acquired the brand, Famous Brands rebranded Wimpy in the UK to bring it in line with Wimpy South Africa.

The bun logo in use today is apparently one used by Wimpy UK from the 1960s until the 1980s. After a bit of digging on Google and Yahoo's image searches, I came across the following Wimpy logos, although I have no idea when and where they were in use.

My understanding is that the logo currently in use evolved from previous revisions and has since found its way back to the UK. So not strictly a South African logo, but a South African-owned brand and a real icon which I feel deserves some recognition. I love how the logo captures the essence of the brand with such simplicity.

Neotel

The much anticipated Second National Operator (SNO) for fixed line telecommunication services in South Africa, Neotel is licensed as South Africa's first alternative infrastructure-based telecoms provider, capable of delivering a broad range of wireline and wireless data telecoms services on a national and international level. It launched in August 2006.

The Brand Union, a global brand agency with 21 offices worldwide, were tasked with a full brand creation which began in November 2005. I hope they don't mind that I've borrowed some images from their photo journal to illustrate how the logo mark was conceptualised:

You can view a comprehensive case study on their website. What follows is a short extract:

The primary identity is composed of two points connected by the energy of communication. These "points" could represent people, places, ideas, even business opportunities. But overall, the symbol stands for Connectivity. Communication. Possibility.

This uniquely South African symbol draws from a warm, rich palette and resonates with the exuberance of a South African sunrise. The dawn of something new. Ultimately optimistic, the symbol is reflective of a future of hope. The activated orange creates a dynamic plane of colour in which the identity lives and advances. This creates the impression of the symbol living on, and beyond the page, advancing towards the customer. This upward, dynamic movement suggests aspiring to new heights.

Etc, etc, etc. See the logo in action on the Neotel website and in their first television ad:

Continued: Part 3

I've mostly sourced information online, which I've found difficult for some, so if you have anything to contribute please do so in a comment, or contact me directly if my information is incorrect, and I'll amend my post accordingly.

Which are your favourites, and why? Spend a few days thinking about it.

The logos featured are listed in no particular order. Here are the first 3:

SABC

Simple. Attractive. Brilliant Concept.

The SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) is the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa and provides 18 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as 4 television broadcasts to the general public.

A snippet from their downloadable Corporate Identity Usage Manual (PDF):

Our identity encapsulates the original colours of South Africa’s rich heritage and national flag. The design depicts a clean SABC font for legibility, the broadcast signal of radio and television, radiating outward is paired with the shape of the African continent.

The SABC type is based on the Frutiger typeface. It bears witness to our self-image - no frills, but by no means ordinary, state-of-the-art but not artificially claiming to be new.

And more from their full CI Manual (which I found here, 2007 version):

The pay-off line "Vuka Sizwe!" ("Nation Arise!") drives the SABC as a Public Service Broadcaster. This verbal expression informs all SABC decisions - it says: Rise South Africa! Let's build a winning nation together.

Designed by Switch Design.

Sharks Rugby

Cape Town's roads are ruled by two brands. What I mean by that is: with the exception of a few surf brands and English footy teams, you're more than likely to spot a car proudly adorned with one of two stickers. One is an apple (sometimes upside down, but always identifiable). The other is black and white, and belongs to The Sharks.

This is all the more impressive when you consider that Cape Town is home to the Stormers, whose supporters are nowhere near as passionate when it comes to showing off their team's "S" wrapped around a lightning bolt (ooohh, so intimidating).

This mascot is what sets the Sharks miles apart from their competition:

The Sharks are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super 14. They are based in Durban and centred around the Natal Sharks union, also based in Durban and drawing players from all of KwaZulu-Natal Province.

In late 1995, after being informally called the Banana Boys for a substantial amount of time, the Natal Rugby Union adopted the Shark as their official mascot and namesake for the team. The Sharks mascot was launched in 1995 but the rebranding went into full swing in 1996.

Via Sharks (rugby club) on NationMaster:

The Sharks branding was the brain child of Terry Kukle, the owner of Tag International. After assessing international marketing trends, Kukle presented this strategy to the council of the Natal Rugby Union. After many meetings a decision was finally made to go ahead with the new branding.

The local press at first were very hesitant to accept the new name and branding and fans were polarised by the radical proposed change that flew in the face of rugby tradition and convention. After much controversy in the media (which very rapidly brought the proposed brand to everyone's attention) and a very successful season supported by great products and promotions the Sharks were embraced by all.

The Sharks' marketing has been widely acknowledged in marketing and rugby circles as best practice and included as a successful case study in many marketing text books.

More reading: The Sharks Brand at sharksrugby.co.za, and The Sharks Brand at Wikipedia.

(The Sharks are one of two sports teams that I'll be featuring, try and guess the other!)

University of Johannesburg

I've featured this one on my blog previously, if you missed that post then here it is again:

Established in December 2005, the University of Johannesburg is the result of a merge between two of Gauteng's premier academic institutions - Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) and Technikon Witwatersrand (TMR) - and some Vista University campuses. With over 40 000 full-time students and 2 700 permanent employees, it's one of the largest residential universities in South Africa.

In a joint venture, Interbrand Sampson and Zanusi Brand Solutions were appointed to develop the brand. Code collaborated to design the logo as well as separate sports brands and just under 100 applications on everything from letterhead to signage and sports wear.

If you're curious you can read Interbrand Sampson's press release which goes into extreme detail regarding the design process and outcome, view more designs at Code's website, or read more on UJ's website.

My favourite part of the logo is the book. Via the press release:

In the centre of the logo, through the creative use of space, the illusion of an open book is created, representative of the book of knowledge. It is up to the beholder of the logo to notice that the space between the birds takes the shape of a book, thereby experiencing that learning and knowledge generation imply an interactive process.

The birds are unmistakably the colourful African Hoopoe, which is depicted more strongly in their Sports Bureau logo, visible in action at www.uj.ac.za/ujsport.

The typeface is Avenir.

Continued: Part 2

The Protea is King.

Download original size (1680 x 1050)

After catching the final seconds of their new TV campaign this evening, I hopped on over to Reebok.co.za (shockingly poor site) and Reebok.com, which both feature their new logo and associated brand elements.

They've dropped their historic mark - an unfortunate move because I quite like it (whatever it's supposed to represent), but I imagine it will survive in their products - and have adopted a new typeface.

It's really confusing when you get into it. Admittedly, I began this post with the impression that they were undergoing an RbK transformation since 2002. But after some digging around, I now realise that I never understood their marketing efforts. RbK is simply just a niche sub-brand aimed at the urban youth market. It didn't help that their Wikipedia entry contains the RbK logo and that RbK.com now redirects to Reebok.com.

I can't find anything on the history of the brand either. Brands of the World returns 14 search results, and based on my own recollections of their logo over the years, I've compiled the following rough logo evolution (RbK included):

Can't say I love any of them - the typeface always seems to let them down, and their new logo is no different. It's too conservative (read: "boring" and "uninspiring"). And before anyone suggests it... no, that's not the Facebook font.

This rebrand marks the 50th anniversary of their name, which incidentally has its roots in South Africa:

The name comes from Afrikaans/Dutch spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope/gazelle. The company, founded in Bolton in 1895, was originally called Mercury Sports but was renamed Reebok in 1958. The company's founders, Joe and Jeff Foster, found the name in a dictionary won in a race by Joe Foster as a boy; the dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling.

For some related logo fun, check out Logo Mashups and Logo Equations (both via Brand New).

My previous design lasted for almost half of that time. Despite its shortcomings (lack of a feature-rich CMS) and obvious design flaws, and given the amount of recognition that it received, I became hesitant to change it much. Until the waves of spam attacks began.

Since my blog was running on a bespoke system, it became increasingly difficult and time-consuming to manage, which partly explains why I haven't been posting as regularly.

So after a tricky data migration and clean-up (the volume of crap I've written in the past 6 years is embarrassing), a tiresome metadata capturing process (adding titles and tags to 770+ posts), and a couple of design revisions later, this blog has undergone a complete overhaul and is now powered by WordPress 2.5.1 with a super collection of plugins.

I had a couple of goals for this new design to improve on my previous one:

• Readability was top of the list. I ignored all instinct saying that bigger text is less aesthetic and am now happily using a large font size for primary text content. I've decreased the number of words per line, and colour contrasts have been tested to meet the W3C's accessibility guidelines. But I'd also love to hear your honest feedback.
• I actually started off with a white background in mind, but never quite got it right in any of the conceptual designs and ended up with what you see now. I quite like it, but it still feels unfinished in places - especially if you compare the home page to the rest of the site, so I might work on it a bit more.
• Another goal was for the design to be more elastic and scalable, ie. by adjusting your browser's text size, the grid remains intact while page elements resize accordingly. I still need to make a few tweaks to get this right.

I've adopted a progressive enhancement strategy:

• The behaviour of this site is designed to downgrade - disabling JavaScript doesn't numb any functionality. I'm using the jQuery library - sorry mootools, I gave you a good chance, but I'm just not that into you!
• The presentation of this site is 100% contained in external CSS files - the way it should be.
• The better your browser, the better this site will look. I'm using PNGs with alpha transparency for all images. For the 10% of you visiting my site with IE6, you get crappy JPGs. I'm not going to use ugly PNG hacks that are too limiting in any case, so may I suggest that you get a real browser.

Some other big changes worth noting:

• You might have already noticed my new logo in the header, which I redesigned earlier this year.
• Permalink and RSS feed URIs have changed, but permanent redirects are in place, so hopefully there won't be any hiccups. Please let me know if you experience any weirdness.
• If you're subscribed to my RSS posts feed, you can now also subscribe to comments, or individual posts.
• I have a tag cloud! I think this is the most efficient way to navigate a blog. A lot of designs - my previous one included - use a calendar view or lists of months and years, which don't engage or captivate. Tag clouds provide a quick and accessible overview of the blog's content, so fare much better. Together with the "Related Posts" list on individual post pages, these two features have really shaken the dust off my archive.
• I have a blogroll! If you're linking to me and you're missing from the list, please let me know and I'll hook you up.

The rest of this site has also undergone some big changes (most noticeably the new "splash" home page and omission of my "weblob", "projects", "words" and "links" sections), but I'll leave that for another post.

An appreciative hat-tip to Grant for his awesome photography on the home page, to Craig for his Flash expertise, and to Avi for his blog icons.

I caught a glimpse of the new Mugg & Bean logo on tv the other night and was curious about the rebrand, but I haven't been able to find anything about it online.

Their previous logo did nothing for me - Copperplate Gothic type shaped in an arc with a yellow outline - pretty boring and hardly memorable. As bland as their menu, infact. In the new logo, they've kept the Copperplate but reduced the weight a little, removed the outline, and dropped the redundant "brand" word. I bet the change would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the introduction of a new star above the name. But why a star?

I could understand - if they're trying to refresh their image to appeal to a trendier market and compete with the likes of Vida e Caffe - that the introduction of a unique mark to their name would go some way to breath new life into their brand. But that's just me guessing, and a solid star is just too generic. It adds zero value and says nothing about their business.

The only explanation I can conceive is that their creative team spent too little time brainstorming in their studio and too many late nights at Mavericks! Even their splash pages are strikingly similar in layout and content. ;)

Via FIFA.com:

Bright, vibrant and celebratory, the colours of the poster are inspired by the South African flag, but also draw upon the African continent. The strong yellow background symbolises the sun as the source of warmth, energy and life.

I noticed that the design has changed ever so slightly since the voting process: the shoulder has been removed, and the text inside the head has been enlarged. I still prefer this poster to the other two finalists, but the solid yellow background bothers me in that it doesn't pull the elements together, and gives the poster an incomplete feel.

The unique shape of the continent almost naturally lends itself to the shape of a man's profile, while the face represents every single African supporter from Morocco in the north, Gambia in the east, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia in the west to South Africa in the south.

I wouldn't say that's a fair statement - I've never imagined the profile of a head while looking at the African continent - and saying that discredits the whole creative process, when the reality is that the concept is completely unique. Well, to me anyway! (see Africa brand on Flickr).

More 2010-related design - the eThekwini municipality in Durban has launched its unique 2010 FIFA World Cup logo:

Via BuaNews:

In the logo, two arches come together expressing our unity in diversity, the colours reflect our oceanic backdrop, green for our recreational environments and the golden beaches which mark us as South Africa's outstanding tourism destination.

They fail to mention that it also resembles the design of the King Senzangakhona Moses Mabhida Stadium currently under construction. Note not "Mabidha" - naughty naughty, Wikipedia. Very dynamic, I like it!

See Cape Town's logo.

UPDATE: and even more! Official emblem of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 unveiled in Durban via FIFA.com

UPDATE [03/12]: Switch behind 2010 poster at BizCommunity

Established in December 2005, the University of Johannesburg is the result of a merge between two of Gauteng's premier academic institutions - Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) and Technikon Witwatersrand (TMR) - and some Vista University campuses. With over 40 000 full-time students and 2 700 permanent employees, it's one of the largest residential universities in South Africa.

In a joint venture, Interbrand Sampson (hey okes, a BizCommunity press office doesn't qualify as a website!) and Zanusi Brand Solutions were appointed to develop the brand. Code collaborated to design the logo as well as separate sports brands and just under 100 applications on everything from letterhead to signage and sports wear.

Via 'RAU and Tech merge into University of Joburg':

After much workshopping and consultative forum discussion, it was finally agreed that a bird would form the core of the design", says Giles Shepherd of Interbrand Sampson. "There was consensus that the bird's connotations of flight, achievement, freedom, independence, dignity and mobility best represent the education opportunities offered by the University of Johannesburg.

If you're curious you can read Interbrand Sampson's press release which goes into extreme detail regarding the design process and outcome, view more designs at Code's website, or read more on UJ's website.

My favourite part is the book. Here's a snipped from the agency press release, there's a good rationale in amongst all the creative waffling:

In the centre of the logo, through the creative use of space, the illusion of an open book is created, representative of the book of knowledge. It is up to the beholder of the logo to notice that the space between the birds takes the shape of a book, thereby experiencing that learning and knowledge generation imply an interactive process.

The birds are unmistakably the colourful African Hoopoe, which is depicted more strongly in their Sports Bureau logo, visible in action at www.uj.ac.za/ujsport.

Whilst the commercial and academic face of the institution must be more serious, the symbol worn by the UJ's sporting teams, can afford to be more relaxed, fun and even cheeky. [...] This led to the development of a unique and distinctive character for sport that can easily be adapted for each discipline. This logo effectively creates a UJ mascot which the masses can identify with, while its expression of determination and tenacity sends a message of strength, spunk and being a winner.

Great stuff!

South African residents are being invited to make their voices heard from today by voting for one of three designs to become the official poster of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is the second time since the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany (see those poster designs) that the residents of the host country are actively involved in the selection of the official event poster.

From a total of 16 creative entries, all submitted solely by South-African [sic] based agencies, three proposals have been pre-selected by a jury.

Go choose your favourite, and stand the chance to win two FIFA World Cup tickets provided by MTN! The deadline for voting is midnight on 30 September 2007. You can also vote via SMS or phone.

Unfortunately it seems as though FIFA need to work on their geolocation sniffing because on attempting to vote, I was presented with the following error message:

We are sorry to inform you that you cannot take part in the voting because either your point of access does not appear to be in South Africa or you do not reside in the country.

They'd better correct this ASAP otherwise the exercise will be a huge failure.

Also it's a pity the posters can't be viewed at a larger resolution, and why only 3 final designs? And why only 16 entries? Was this an invitation-only competition? I suspect details of the process will be revealed later and I'll be interested to hear how this was handled, because I can imagine a number of designers and agencies calling "foul" again.

I like them all for different reasons, but prefer the middle one, because it has more impact and I love the face/continent combination - although the plain yellow background is a little boring and feels incomplete. The first one doesn't say much to me and doesn't have much of an African feel (it might be losing detail at that resolution?), while the last one is well executed and clever, but perhaps overly so. There's something about it that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Judging by the similarity in colour, I suspect they were all subject to strict FIFA guidelines, as with the official logo.

Which is your favourite?

UPDATE [12/09]: The voting page has been updated with the following:

Please be aware that you have to perform the following steps to submit your vote on FIFA.com:

1. You need to access FIFA.com from South Africa (reflected by your IP Address).
2. You need to create a FIFA.com Club Member Account (registration is quick, easy and free).
3. You have to be a resident of South Africa (reflected by the choice of country in your FIFA.com Club profile).

I doubt this will encourage many to vote... how disappointing!