a round-up of branding links

if you’re looking at that parking sign and thinking it looks a lot friendlier than any you’ve seen recently, it’s probably because it’s a typographic breath of fresh air. pentagram has been asked to help redesign new york city department of transportation signage, and i like the samples that have been released. see more of the collection here.

as a tea drinker, i noticed the new tazo packaging in my market’s tea section as soon as it was stocked. i always thought the designers who did tazo did a nice job with it, even though the type styles ended up looking dated [mostly due to overuse of typefaces like émigré’s mason in the 90s]. thedieline.com gets the whole scoop here. i think it’s a refreshing look with just enough historic reference.

two different blogs take a look at what happens to some global american brands when they go overseas. one gets nicer while another gets a lot cooler:
mcdonald’s new global packaging
7-11 goes to sweden

more in-depths on brand strategy

“farm-to-fork” drives consumer packaging
5 classic strategies for growing your brand equity
boost your freelance brand 100 percent with your expert status
helicopter branding: why it’s bad and how to avoid it