Joining a long roster of freshened iconic-female CPG logos that includes Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima and Wendy of fast-food fame, Little Debbie is getting a modern makeover. The face of the snack-cake brand is being tweaked by owner McKee Foods for just the third time since the iconic logo was introduced in 1960.

The difference between Little Debbie and the other three females is that she's the only real person who is still working in a key role with the company whose eponymous logo she inspired. Debbie McKee-Fowler is still an executive vice president of McKee, a family-owned, Collegedale, Tenn.-based company that was founded by her grandfather, O.D. McKee. Grandpa was inspired by the angelic visage of his three-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter to make her the fresh and appealing face of his new food enterprise.Continue reading...

Not many people have called the University of Connecticut by its full name for years, so the school has decided to let it fall by the wayside and officially rebrand itself as UConn, the often-used nickame for the school.  

On Thursday, school president Susan Herbst officially announced the change in her State of the University address, pointing out that the rebrand would not just affect the athletic department, as many schools opt, but instead will reach as far as the school's letterhead, signage, advertising and websites. (Does that mean an 'Everything Must Go' sale at the bookstore?) The school will also be adopting an updated version of its beloved Husky mascot, Jonathan, thanks to a partnership with Nike, ESPN reports. The new Husky logo will be revealed on April 18, and while some are hoping that the pup is a bit tougher looking this time around, Herbst said the new logo will be "sleek and beautiful."Continue reading...

Despite being passed around to a few different owners over its lifespan, 64-year-old Saab has been around long enough to build up a strong brand. It went bankrupt back in 2010, but now is expected to be turning out a new breed of cars in the next few years thanks to the new ownership of Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), a partnership between China's National Modern Energy Holdings and Japan's Sun Investment.

NEVS will be turning Saab into an electric car, which likely won’t be on the market for a few years. But when it does, something will be gone from Saab that's survived all the other changes: the griffin on its logo.

The mythical creature that has the body and tail of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle will still be found on Saab trucks and planes, which are not owned by NEVS and will remain with their current manufacturers. For now, a griffin-less logo will represent the company.Continue reading...

How precious it is when a brand is unpretentious about its logo.

Google's "Doodle 4 Google" program, an annual event since 2008, invites U.S. students in kindergarten and all grades to redesign the Google homepage logo.This year’s theme: "My Best Day Ever." 

The winner will have their artwork displayed on the Google homepage, receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant, among other prizes. The competition runs through March 22.Continue reading...

The Miami Dolphins finished out the NFL season with a disappointing 7-9 record, but that hasn’t stopped fans of the team from getting very excited about one aspect of the team: its logo.

The rumor mill is buzzing that the Dolphins are busy redesigning the logo that has been around in one form or another since the team joined the NFL in 1966. Since then, the team has donned helmets that feature a dolphin wearing a helmet with an M on the side jumping in front of a fiery sun. 

It isn’t clear what is coming next but Dolphins CEO Mike Dee is happy to have his team getting some attention. On Dec. 24, he tweeted, “I hear all the logo buzz out there...I'll provide an update soon! Happy holidays to all. Be safe!” But Dee’s definition of “soon” probably doesn’t equate to a lot of the team’s fans. Two days later, he tweeted, “Lots of buzz re logos. Love the passion! We continue to explore a # of design alternatives...final decision by Draft. Happy holidays!” NFL execs won’t be walking the stage at Radio City Music Hall and naming their draft choices till April 25. 

So hurry up and wait, Dolphin fans. Until then, snap up whatever old Dolphin merchandise you can and speculate all you want.Continue reading...

Weight Watchers, established in 1963, is the world’s leading provider of weight management services through a complex points system assigned to every food and caps on their intake. 

With 1.3 million members worldwide, attending 45,000 combined meetings each week Weight Watchers produces its own branded food products, totaling sales of $5 billion last year. Their newest program, Weight Watchers 360°, launched this month along with a new identity designed by Pentagram’s Paula Scher.Continue reading...

"It really baffles me that, all of a sudden, one day, all these people decided to pay attention to the logo of the university system that manages their own specific university, which have logos of their own — which, by the way, are nothing to be graphically proud of — and that there is a sudden admiration of this system’s seal. I have never seen so many people so passionate about a seal. A seal that looks exactly like a hundred other university seals."

— Armin Vit of UnderConsideration's Brand New blog posts a rare follow-up to address the mob outcry this week over the new (actually, year-old) University of California corporate logo and visual identity. As Russ Hopkinson, interactive strategist at Team Detroit also tweeted today,"Has redesign of a known logo ever NOT sparked controversy?"

Nearly two years after getting a green light to acquire 51% OF NBC Universal from GE, Comcast is updating its logo to reflect its new identity.

No longer 'just' America's largest cable operator and provider of video, voice and data services, it has long been in the cable and broadband programming game with brands such as E! and G4 (soon to be Esquire Channel) and its regional sports networks.

But it truly became a player in the entertainment space as the majority owner of NBC's national broadcast services, the Universal studio and related brands and assets, and now it's strutting the tail feathers it inherited as part of the NBCU deal.Continue reading...