In Brief: December Miscellany

For a slight change of pace today, I have a few interesting tidbits worth posting. Earlier this month a story broke out, first on Popsop, that the Russian police was rebranding as part of its name change from militsia to politsia. A full-on website at newpolice.ru made it quite convincing. Turns out, as Design Week found out, the brand exercise was just that, executed by SmartHeart. And, yes, it looks a lot like Studio Dumbar’s work for the Dutch police. Some interesting books: The title of Identify: Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic Trademarks of Chermayeff & Geismar leaves little to the imagination. It’s exactly what it says and it’s fantastic. Indie Brands is a lovely designed new book that takes a look at 30 independent brands and what makes them w