Graphic designer to create a project where he designs "brands" for them. more ›

The news that Wilco is launching its own record label on top of everything else they've been slapping their name on lately (not to mention Jeff Tweedy's mayoral endorsement) smacks a lot of a branding strategy. We got together over the virtual water cooler and came up with some other products Wilco could possibly endorse. Check it out. more ›

The Big Ten unveiled the names and logos for the new football divisions that will go into effect once Nebraska joins the conference next season. Let's just say the Oprah Winfrey Network logo may have a competitor for sheer "UGH!" Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said that the names of the divisions — "Legends" and "Leaders" — reflect the past and future of the conference. We'd guess that these logos were designed at the T-Shirt Deli, but that store does pretty damn fine work. more ›

Just in time for lazy gift-givers across Chicago, Wilco is launching its own brand of Intelligentsia coffee. (You can pre-order the "Coffee Lovers Bundle" here.) As the AV Club points out, this is just the latest in a recent trend of Wilco transcending itself as a critically acclaimed alt-country band, into a powerful marketing brand that trades in comestibles. Unfortunately, if you stop for gas on the Eastern seaboard (and Chicagoist hears they serve coffee there, as well), Jeff Tweedy won't see a single penny of your purchase at a Wilco Travel Center. (They're privately held, so it's not even in his 401(k).) more ›

With his endorsements, his appearance in the NBA 2K11 video game and the continued frenzy (and sometimes homicides) over his shoes, Michael Jordan as an international brand is as hot as ever. Earlier this week, Deadspin excerpted a chapter from the Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History, from the writers behind the wonderful basketball website Free Darko. The chapter, from Bethlehem Shoals, dealt with a young Michael Jordan, just launching his professional career, and how Jordan was considered rebellious, even edgy, at the time. more ›

Oprah Winfrey unveiled the logo for her Oprah Winfrey Network yesterday and it looks like other media aren't happy with the color scheme, which uses colors largely ignored in the Crayola big box. more ›

With the Big Ten expanding to twelve teams in the 2011 season with the addition of Nebraska, there are rumblings about the necessity of a name change for the conference. Crain's Ed Sherman notes that there is a precedence - when the conference rebranded itself the Big Nine after University of Chicago left the conference in the 1930s and became the Big 10 again in 1949 with the addition of Michigan State. Of course, the conference kept the name - even though it altered the logo - once it added Penn State in 1991. So what happens next year when it adds its twelfth team and the Big 12 falls to 10 teams (Colorado is exiting for the Pac-10 which rename itself to the Pac-12)? Sherman talked with a trio of marketing experts including one who said, "In many ways, as patently stupid as its name would sound, keeping it Big Ten and changing the logo, as they did when Penn State joined, might be the best of a number of bad options." So we're guessing that's a no, then? more ›

Of course you’ve seen Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” design on posters, buttons, the cover of Time Magazine, even as a bad tattoo. But Fairey isn’t the only independent artist who was compelled to create in support of then President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign. Now you can see more than 100 works (prints, posters, photos, and videos) from artists, designers, and the Obama ‘08 campaign at Officially Unofficial - Inspired Art for Obama,” opening April 1 at the Chicago Tourism Center. more ›

Fascinating article in the NYT Magazine yesterday about a Chicago company that revives old but they hope not forgotten brands like Brim, Salon Selectives, Eagle and Nuprin. After megacompanies merge, sometimes name brands get folded together. And that's where River West Brands comes in. more ›