More4, a digital television channel in the UK run by British broadcaster Channel 4, has a new brand identity and on-air look. Channel 4’s communications company, 4Creative, teamed with design and motion studio, ManvsMachine, to create a flexible logo that morphs from one triangle of color into another through a series of flips, folds and reveals.

Inspired by the intriguing ever-changing logo, 4Creative saw its possibilities as installation art and collaborated with Jason Bruges Studio and students from Middlesex University to design and build over 400 individual flipper units that would work together as a single mechanical system. The three-dimensional piece was set up in different environmental settings –- an interior staircase, an abandoned fishing boat on Dungeness Beach, a tree trunk in Victoria Park –- and filmed on location. It made for a memorable on-air debut of More4’s new identity. It also is further evidence that logos are not static graphic forms anymore. In the digital age, more and more logos are designed to be interactive, dimensional and animated.

PBS, America’s public television network, has been running a 13-part, bi-weekly web series on experimental and non-traditional art forms. Produced by New York-based production company Kornhaber Brown, the “Off Book” program features interviews with well-known designers and artists working in various creative disciplines, including typography, interactive art, book illustrations, product design, indie music, fashion design, videogame art, steampunk, and more. Running between five and seven minutes, each “Off Book” segment lets innovators explore the process, motivation, meaning and relevance behind their work. This segment is on typography. To see other topics in the series, go to PBS.org/arts.

Since the DC Comics logo (the DC stands for Detective Comics) first appeared in April 1940, it has gone through more quick changes than Superman — four logo revisions in the 1970s alone. Now DC Comics has unveiled yet another logo update. This time designed by Landor Associates.

The new logo, which launches in March, shows the “D” peeling back to reveal the hidden “C,” suggesting the dual identity of the DC Entertainment superheroes. Designed to look three-dimensional and be adaptable to different media, the new logo allows for color changes and texture and image changes within the “C.” It is easily animated and quickly customizable too.

What’s interesting about the DC logo is that unlike, say, the Starbucks logo that has gone through several iterations over the years but remains instantly recognizable as Starbucks, the DC logo seems unrelated from one version to the next. The most memorable of the lot is the “DC Bullet,” designed by Milton Glaser, which served as the mark from 1976 to 2005. The redesign in 2005 kept the circle and star, but altered the look so dramatically that brand recognition was lost. That seems to be the case with the new logo as well. Maybe over time people will begin to associate it with DC Comics.

In a town renowned for its spectacular architecture, the new Aqua Tower has become the latest attraction in Chicago’s skyline. Designed by Jeanne Gang, principal of Studio Gang Architects, the 82-story mixed-use building is much more than the standard straight rectangular glass tower. The contoured façade appears to undulate, rippling between waves of concrete balcony overhangs and organically shaped areas of glass that mirror back the sky.

Although this undulation seems random as if formed by nature, it was designed to serve an environmental purpose. The balcony overhangs shade the interior from the scorching summer sun keeping interior temperatures fairly even, and they protect the building from Chicago’s heavy winds — so much so that the building doesn’t require a tuned mass damper to stabilize it against wind vibrations and sway. Built to LEED certification, Aqua Tower incorporated many other green and energy-efficient features, including an 80,000 square foot rooftop garden and six different types of window glazing to cut solar load on the exposed glass.

Aqua Tower earned another surprising milestone distinction: This is the tallest building in the world designed by a woman. Given that we are in the 21st century, it’s about time.

French communication agency W Atjust and director Thierry Poiraud gave a new twist to the tilt-shift photographic technique in making this commercial for the French railway network, Reseau Ferre de France. Tilt-shift uses special lenses and unique angles to capture a real life scene as if it were in miniature. In this case, the video combines tilt-shift photography with models and 3-D animation and adds a giant human hand making improvements to the railway network. Nice touch.

For home remodelers weighing whether real hardwood or Pergo XP laminate will wear better on the floor, check out this marketing video, produced by Atlanta-based ad agency, Fitzgerald+CO. Pergo XP foregoes the standard product performance demonstration and shows a cast of odd characters performing unspeakable acts on the flooring. Fitzgerald+CO wisely chose to film the ad in Venice Beach, California, where even bikini-clad roller skaters and Mr. Universe muscle men don’t cause a stir — just another day at the beach.

How do you market a product that is viewed as a commodity in most parts of the world? Taipei-based Green in Hand sought to elevate the perceived value of rice grown locally in Eastern Taiwan by presenting it in stylish, contemporary packaging. Touting its brand as a “life style proposal of exquisite agriculture,” Green in Hand packaged its organic rice in an earthy plain brown paper bag with a natural twisted twine handle and hand-drawn calligraphy label to create a simple and sustainable look.

Colorful gift packaging reinforced Green in Hand’s message that it “provides service for those who care about the relationship between human and land.” The floral design looks pretty enough to be a ladies’ handbag. The packaging program won both the Red Dot and Hong Kong Design Council awards.

When motion pictures were first introduced in the late 19th century, people were enthralled by the fact that the images actually moved. It didn’t matter that there was no plot, no acting, no attempt to design the set. It was entertaining in itself, until it stopped being a novelty. In many ways, that has been the case when 3-D mapped projected light shows were introduced a few years back. Crowds oohed and aahed over the display of multi-colored lights on a building, the special effects of crumbling pillars and giant silhouettes of people strolling across the exterior walls. It was dazzling, magical. Now people have become blasé. Been there, seen that. The next generation of 3-D mapped projections needs to have a customized theme, a message, and an artistic sensibility.

That’s why we like the projected light show that San Francisco-based Obscura Digital made to mark the United Arab Emirates’s 40th anniversary as an independent nation. Projected onto the façade of the Sheikh Zahed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the show was designed to suit the occasion, integrating historical themes and cultural motifs with the architectural elements of the mosque. Aladdin’s genie couldn’t have done it better, but in the case of Obscura, it required 44 projectors, totaling 840,000 lumens of brightness, to cover the 600×351 foot surface area of the mosque.

Canal+, the French television network and film production company, promoted its familiarity with every aspect of the filmmaking business, in every genre including porn, by creating a detailed flow chart of the process. Developed by Euro RSCG, the Canal+ infographic/advertisement is fun, fascinating, a great primer for novice filmmakers, and a convincing argument for why filmmakers would benefit from Canal +’s knowledge and support.

We don’t know how to wish you a happy new year in multiple languages, but we found several cats that do. From the team at @Issue, we wish you all the best in 2012 — peace, friendship, health, great collaborative clients, a free flow of creative inspiration, and many many moments of joy and laughter. Thank you for following @Issue throughout the year.