Full speed
This week, work by Bleed and Think, plus the finest historical logos added to LogoArchive.
Roll with Us
Opinion by Richard Baird
Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, the Ambassaden’s angular modernist stature holds a striking presence in the heart of Oslo. When it opened in 1959, it functioned as the US embassy until its closure in the early 2000s. Fast-forward to today – the building has been reopened and its programming altered. It now operates as a multi-functional space that includes music venues, restaurants, coffee and wine bars, offices, a gym, co-working spaces, and a rooftop terrace.
The building’s diverse programming presented a challenge for its positioning as a public space for a multitude of people and activities – as did the shadow of its original purpose. The physical projection of a foreign power still resonates in the urban landscape, along with the memory of its closure.
The notion of ‘identity across time’ became the driving force behind the creation of Ambassaden’s visual identity, designed by Bleed (also based in Oslo). The intersection of identity, the projection of American ideals abroad (the embassy once housed a library of American pop culture), and the host city’s reclamation and repurposing of those ideals for its own citizens all come together in this space…
→ Continue Reading
Be a better logo designer faster, learn from history’s greatest.
LogoArchive is the world’s largest online historical logo book with 4000+ examples, with more added every day for endless inspiration. Above, some of the recent logos added to the archive.
→ Join LogoArchive
Logo: Bancomat
Italian bank Bancomat’s first logo, designed in 1983 by Pier Paolo Cornieti depicted a seagull intersecting the initial ‘B’ inside a blue diamond, an allusion the freedom of withdrawals and payments outside bank opening hours with the introduction of ATMs. This has been updated throughout the years, in 1995 and then again in 2021 and 2025 with Landor stepping in to work on all aspects of the brand. Acknowledging the equity built around the composition of the ‘B’ and bird, this was kept, refined (given a more dynamic forward momentum) and accompanied by a new custom typefaces, and the addition of two extra blues.
→ More Logos
Logo: Norwegian
As the flag carrier, projecting a clear identity on the tarmac of other countries is important. Perhaps more so, is the continuity of this identity throughout a vast number of surfaces. Few industries have quite as many and as varied range of collaterals. Take for example, the thermal printing of tickets, the large scale of plane liveries, not to mention embroidered uniforms, laser engraved cutlery, and the strange specificity of airport ground equipment. Anyway, the point being made here is that a functional logo is paramount; that it be legible at different sizes, across different mediums and maintain recognition when see up close and from a distance, static and in motion. Try’s revised logo for Norwegian, the flag carrier of Norway, better addresses these needs by making the plane and trail more compact and solid, expanding the ease of its deployment, either alone or as a punctuation at the end of a new Norwegian wordmark. I have no doubt it took a lot of time and care to get the motion, counters and balance right on this.
→ More Logos
Full speed
Opinion by Ruby Lynskey
Since 2020, engineers-turned-mushroom entrepreneurs Vathana Len and Daniel Vogt have been growing the fanciest mushrooms I’ve ever seen, from their shiny urban greenhouse in Montreal. From Pholiote adipeuse to King eryngii (I don’t know what those are either) and everything in between, Full Pin’s mushrooms are cultivated with meticulous precision and at an impressive rate – over 700 pounds per week.
‘Full Pin’, French Canadian slang meaning ‘to go full speed’, initially focused on providing Montreal’s top chefs with their ‘racing mushrooms’. The duo is now looking to broaden their reach to a wider, yet still discerning, audience. Creative agency Rethink came on board to create a brand that encapsulates Full Pin’s commitment to excellence, executed at lightning speed…
→ Continue Reading
Brand Archive: Ito Gin
Be inspired by the industry’s latest and best. Brand Archive has the logos, colours, typefaces and applications from some of the world’s best brands. It’s a resource like no other. New additions this week include Ito Gin, Legence and MASP.
→ Visit Brand Archive
Logo Histories
Discover the story of John Casado’s 1978 logo and Doug Tompkins, Tamotsu Yagi, Oliviero Toscani and Roberto Carra’s corporate identity for Esprit. Find this and over 150 other stories of logos from the past on Logo Histories.
→ Discover more
Quick links:
Thank you for subscribing to the BP&O Newsletter. If you enjoy reading this you may also enjoy these resources from the same team:
New! Wittl – Job posting and applicant tracking tool for design studios.
Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.
BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.