What’s on the menu? The food company, Kraft, has revealed their brand new company identity. Kraft is responsible for bringing us great food items and companies like Velveeta cheese, Oreos, Jello, Oscar Meyer products and so many more. The company is a giant in food industry and has been merging and growing with other companies for years. A while back, Kraft took over the Nabisco Company and merged with Post Cereals and General Foods.

Along with their new logo design, Kraft has also added a slogan, “Make Today Delicious.” The slogan, which is something they never had before, sits under their name, leading into the logo. The logo itself is a tilted red smile ending in seven colorful “flavor bursts,” each standing for a different division of the company. The company feels that their change is about evolving and taking the next step to bigger and better things. It seems that, that is a common thought with most companies today. When times are tight, change can be beneficial.

I think that the logo is nice, but not necessarily for them. A little too “meh”. It is a softer look with the lowercase text as opposed to the large bold lettering it had before. The original bold, capital letters had a fierce, strong feeling. The company is large and not afraid to show it. The new text is not bad in any way in promoting the company, but it does open up to a lighter, less serious feel. It’s a nice design, but it looks more like a logo for a daycare than for a food company. I think it’s the colored flower-like look that gets me. It just doesn’t make me want to open a box of Oreos and that’s not a very hard task.

Due to popular demand, the staff here at logo blog has voted on bringing back our past rating system. If you are new to logo blog, like myself, I will briefly explain. In the past, we had the option for readers to post comments about their experiences with well known logo design companies, thus creating rankings to help others decide where to go for the best logo designs and services. Here at logo blog, our mission is to provide consumers with fair and accurate reviews of popular logo companies and to provide the latest design news and enjoyable stories based on graphics, artwork and of course great logos.

If you want to review a company on our top ten list, we ask that you provide proof that you have worked with them to ensure accuracy and fairness. You may use an invoice, receipt or email. Any of these are acceptable. We will not send anything to the company so no one has to worry about that. We please just ask that you give honest feedback. Thanks everyone for your great support and comments! Please, keep them coming!

Some blog posts get a lot of views and a lot of comments, and then there are others that don’t. I got to thinking, what makes a blog post popular, or in some cases, not?, It seems that most posts that deal with current events or topics that people feel strongly about get the most hype. Since I am still a new writer on staff here, I decided to check out some of our older posts that were written by, Kevin. Turns out, his recent post about Barack Obama’s logo about Obama and the new Pepsi logo seemed to receive a lot of comments and mostly from people who disagreed.

I think that a strong opinion is great and isn’t that why blogs exist? Everyone wants to express themselves and no one should be denied their opinion. I thought I would follow up on that blog post and write an opinion of my own. As we all know, the economy is just plain awful right now and we are all suffering in some way, however President Obama inherited this mess along with countless others. It’s hard to ignore the fact that is has been over 35 days since his inauguration and things seem to be getting worse. The stock market dropped again recently, roughly 834.31 points within the last month, resulting in a roller coaster of ups and downs since the year started and even before. No one knows where to make investments and a daunting credit freeze has paralyzed the world economy. Obama’s stimulus plan is another attempt to fix things, but how can it fix anything in the long term when all it is doing is bringing down the value of the dollar by printing more money and driving up the threat of inflation. According to US News and World Report, the plan will ultimately cost 3.3 trillion dollars, only bringing the country further into debt. It’s obvious that changes are being attempted but are they really intelligent or effective changes? So far, the public is still unhappy. According to Fox New polls (I know, I know) Recent polls show that Obama’s approval rating has dropped 5 points in the past 3 weeks. We know that changes are not going to happen overnight, but where is all the hope and optimism the nation felt in the weeks following the election? It seems these concepts have given way to frustration. Are the American people starting to lose hope in our new president?

So after the political update, let’s get back to the point. This is Logo Blog and here we discuss logos, no matter what form or situation they may be involved in. Logos are everywhere and we love them, so let’s take a closer look at the logo surrounding the politics of our country. As Kevin posted before, the Obama logo is an iconic design both among graphic artists and most Obama supporters. It implies a flag-like path leading to hope and happiness and a rising “O” in the dawn of a change filled horizon. Since we are in the early days of the Obama administration and in the heart of a recession, does that path still mean the same thing? Have the people turned their back on this originally hopeful design? I don’t think anyone has yet, but there sure is possibility.

How might a revised version of the Obama logo look to reflect these uncertain times? Designers, let’s see what you think. Has anyone seen a less optimistic version of the Obama logo? Would you be willing to go as far as to create your own? What are your opinions on this topic? Share it with Logo Blog Time to speak up designers! Let’s get a discussion going!

The very well known financial company, Citi Group has decided to turn in their classic umbrella Citi Group logo and change over to a simple colored arch over their name. The classic red umbrella has been sold to Travelers, the insurance company who had already been using the logo. Citi group finalized the sale recently, with an upbeat attitude about their growth and change. Citi Group still has a large steel structure, resembling its former logo, outside of New York’s investment bank. The structure was not a part of the deal with Traveler’s, however Travelers is hoping it will sent over. The deal was not a mere simple transaction, considering that its monetary value was in the millions, but both companies are satisfied that it is finally going through. It is claimed that the changeover has been an ongoing 15 month process, but it is questionable as to whether or not this is a direct result of the recession. We certainly know there might be a logo recession! The company is not saying anything about that; however it seems easy today to blame almost everything on our economic crisis.

Citi feels that their company has progressed and the umbrella just doesn’t fit them anymore. Their representatives think that an umbrella relates more to insurance than banking;

After mocking the company’s logo in Logo Blog’s recent post about logo changes during the time of a recession, it is an ironic twist how the announcement is made public to change their corporate image right after. The situation draws up questions on how the economic decline has affected logo designs. It may be better to change a company’s brand identity to bring about the idea of newness and change, which is something our new president promises and something Americans all hope for.

As a huge fan of the show “Lost,” I base my Wednesday nights around watching it. I get home and make sure I pack my bag and lunch for the next day, do a quick work out, shower and have my pajamas on with a bowl of popcorn promptly by 9:00. The next hour is total enjoyment watching my favorite characters attempt to figure out what is happening to them and how to deal with their current situation.

As I was watching the most recent episode, I got to thinking about the marketing aspect of the show and of course, the show’s logo. I must say I am sure they wont be using a travel logo to advertise this show. Advertising is of high ranking importance to all TV shows and since “Lost” is a show that has an abnormal season length, ABC must pay for more advertising to ensure that its fan base can hold out for the next, exciting episode.

The show’s logo has become quite distinctive. There isn’t much to it, just capitalized letters in a very plain text with some cracks to look like ruins, but the surrounding images add a great deal to it as well. There are so many variations to the surrounding images and yet major fans know them all very well. The above is a classically seen version where the main cast is standing above the letters surrounded by palm trees and some ominous clouds. Beneath the letters is the ocean water with a very distinct reflection of the L.A skyline, in which the majority of the characters strive to revisit.

Other logo variations include the cast in a desert like silhouette or an island setting with no cast at all, although each one has a very dark sky with what looks like a brewing storm. The dark clouds are not always present though. Sometimes there is a brighter sky, however this doesn’t work as well to describe the nature of the show. The show is not always set in darkness, but the island itself is a character which takes on a more villainous personality. It does sometimes allow good things to happen, like in the case with John Lock’s ability to walk, but it is more responsible for horrific deaths and mind games.

Another logo within the show is the dark 3D logo which separate airtime from commercials. It’s a slight change from the show’s still logos, but is a quite classic image to fans. Dharma is also a big symbol. The Dharma logo is an example of a more internal logo. It does not represent the show itself, however when seen, fans know what it means and who bores the symbol.

The lost logo seems to be a quite successful part of the show, but not all TV shows share its success. Is it a logo that makes or breaks new shows? After all, if it doesn’t catch your eye from the start, why would you watch it?