Reebok and the NHL are bringing a new type of attention to logos. They can never have enough! In a competition to be held at the NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, fans both watching TV and in attendance will have the opportunity to win Stanley Cup tickets. There will be one athlete on the ice without the Reebok logo on his jersey. If fans can identify that player and text the answer into a designated number, they will be entered into a drawing.

I have never heard of a competition so directly affiliated with paying such close attention to logos and their branding implications. While subtle, most professional and collegiate jersey include these little logo sponsorships. Nike’s logo is king at this practice but it is gaining more and more amongst other companies. Usually located on the left breast, the logos often go unnoticed. Here are some more examples:

Depending on the publicity brought to Reebok through this contest, I wouldn’t be surprised if other companies, teams, and sporting venues realized the extra marketing potential that can be yielded by logos. Gone are the days where you have to hope your target customer spots your logo somewhere. Now, they can benefit from searching for your logo? You’re happy, your customer is happy, your logo is probably happy, can it get any better?

Nothing tops a good old fashioned logo search.

Like most college football fans, I have little idea of how the participants in the bowl games are decided. Since even Obama called for change of the system, it must be flawed. But, thankfully, there are logos to save us. To be honest, who cares which team wins it all, as long as the patch logo on their jersey isn’t an abomination.

Here’s the logo that started it all, the beacon symbol of all that is not a college playoff. To be completely honest, I’m not a fan. I understand that this symbol is not supposed to have any affiliation to any team, so some boring contrast of colors can be expected. I cannot help but draw a connection however to the BCS bowl regulars that are Ohio State. The only unique portion of the entire logo is the image of the actual championship trophy in the top center. Other than that, I see clip art.

Maybe officially the worst bowl logo of all comes straight from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Especially after my previous praise of the AT&T logo, it pains me that they would put their image on such a troubled design. I see little to no substance in this brand and can’t help but notice the word art focal point.

Now here’s a logo that I really just cannot make my mind up about. I love the design above Tostitos. It reminds me of a mix between pop art and tissue paper. I think it gives off a really cool effect. The Tostitos logo I can let go because 1.The chips are delicious, and 2. Because they pay for the contest, they may as well reap the benefits of the advertising.

I am a huge proponent of bringing inanimate objects to life, so right off the bat the FedEx Orange bowl has an edge. To me however it seems that the oranges in the design don’t match the FedEx logo. It may be picky but if you’re willing to make the colors that close, you might as well match them. Overall however, the logo is clean, simple, and fun, what college football should be.

There she is. When I think college football championships, I think the Rose Bowl. Played in Pasadena, the Rose Bowl has always been a staple of college football. A game with so much history and prestige deserves a matching logo. They’ve got one. Maybe it’s the symbolism of the rose itself, or the confidence to not require a sponsor presence or even spell out the name of the bowl, but the Rose Bowl logo has something the rest don’t. If it were up to logo itself the Rose Bowl patch would be worn by every collegiate football champion. The rest of the bowls fail to compare.

A Raja, India’s Minister of Communications and IT has recently announced plans for a revamped postal service public. With changes in regards to service, technology, design, and structure, the India Post is implementing drastic changes. These changes can be clearly seen in the new logo design.

As an important part of any organization’s image, the new logo reflects the ideals in which the India Post aims to follow.

Take a look at the new logo, what do you see? First thing that comes to mind for me, an envelope. Whoa, surprising right? I like it. I believe that logos which depict the companies’ purpose in their design are on the right track. I also like how the design incorporates a more abstract approach to a courier service.

The three golden lines could also simultaneously represent a bird in flight. Furthering the idea of increased service, technology, and improvement, this soaring bird seems to fit. Either way, this new logo is leaps and bounds better than the older, rigid design.

Similar symbolism can be found in several other national postal services.

The United States Postal Service(United States) has changed quite a bit over the years. Starting in 1782 the US Postal Service was branded by the Roman god Mercury. This eventually changed into the image of a running pony(pony express) as seen below:

It wasn’t until 1970 that this image of an eagle was used.

Finally in the 1990’s the eagle of the 70’s lost its body, and the eagle head that is used today was the new face of the United States Postal Service. This recent logo incorporates many of the same themes as the new India Post logo. Both are rectangular shaped like an envelope. Both incorporate a bird in flight. Finally both give off the feeling of movement, which we all hope is exactly what our mail is doing.

There is also another interesting postal service who’s logo has undergone some changes for different reasons.

Royal Mail (Great Britain) is one of the more fascinating logos we find in the postage sector. The logo, rich in history, includes the Crown of Scotland first worn by King James the V in 1540. While there is no bird or envelope like the above examples, the essence of a “Royal” Mail alludes to only the highest of level of service. As with many pieces of British culture this logo is strongly intertwined with the history of its nobility.

This of course explains the shock when in 2002 Royal Mail spent over 2 million pounds in an effort to change the name and logo to Consignia.

This logo change was made in an attempt to complement the increasing international aims of Royal Mail, but was an unfortunate failure. This offered another prime example of the dangers of focusing solely on capitol in branding, and forfeiting meaningful design.

Here are some other Honorable Mentions for national post logo designs:

Canada Post

La Poste (France)

Like any industry, international postage demands a high quality logo. As seen in the above examples, this quality can either come from accurate symbolism, or a rich historical perspective. Personally, I’ll take symbolism any day. Which logo is your favorite, and more importatnly is there any room for an exciting Postal Service

You know his work even if you don’t shop for brand names. Titles such as “The Man with the Golden Arm” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” also boast his work. His revolutionary designs changed multimedia in America forever. My film interests aside Bass’ logo accomplishments themselves take are more than impressive. Let’s take a look at a couple of them.

Girl Scouts of America (1978)

Bell Telephone (1969)

While several of these logos were created many decades ago, they are still timeless. But unfortunately this is not necessarily true for all of Bass’ designs. Please don’t misunderstand me, I love each of his original designs, but apparently the ad execs and new management didn’t feel the same way.

There is a certain feel in several of Bass’ designs that reflects his era. This is to be expected, but does not seem to go over well with the newer generations. Lets now take a look at some of Bass’ original designs, and their current interpretations.

While the new AT&T logo is clearly cleaner cut and new age, the Quaker Oats logo actually uses a painting from 1957. It seems that many organizations are moving away from the style of Saul Bass’ design, to looks from older or modern artists.

Saul Bass is an influential artist, and the world of American art lost a great contributor with his passing. It appears however that his designs are losing their place in corporate America, and finding their home in the museums.

Im still searching for that next great logo designer. While the designs may not last forever, There will be another logo king of the 21st century. Do you know him/her? Is it you?