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New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo recently unveiled a new campaign logo at a press conference that was designed like his pandemic-era briefings when he was New York governor, complete with a video screen he used for a PowerPoint presentation. The new logo is “supposed to symbolize a new phase of the campaign,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi tells Fast Company. The mark was designed to both evoke a rising sun and resemble the Statue of Liberty’s crown. Azzopardi says it’s no coincidence the brand’s blue-and-orange color palette is the same as the New York City flag. “Cuomo, to build a new NYC,” the logomark says in a sans-serif typeface with soft rounded edges that resembles Calibri, the font that Microsoft used as default on Outlook and Word until replacing it with Aptos in 2023. (Cuomo’s campaign could not verify the typeface used.) [Image: Cuomo Campaign] Cuomo’s new logo might not win any graphic design awards, but it’s an improvement from the nondescript, under-branded logo his campaign used in the Democratic primaries. What’s more, it signals Cuomo’s campaign has realized paying attention to its visual rhetoric matters in a race against New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, whose unconventional, well-branded campaign identity stood apart in the primaries. [Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images] Cuomo’s old primary logo, a blue block that said “Cuomo” stacked on top of a red outline of a rectangle that said “for Mayor,” was generic. Change the name and office, and it could be used for political campaign, and it relied on the candidate’s name instead any sort of interesting or memorable visual element. In a race where his opponents made clever use of typography as both a branding mechanism and tool to drive home campaign messages, though, it was clear Cuomo’s old logo also didn’t have much to say. Like a consumer packaged good brand that redesigns its packaging as a response to dipping sales, Cuomo’s new logo is a new wrapper over an established political quantity. It’s a new-look-same-great-taste sort of rebrand that was designed to look optimistic and fresh, even as Cuomo emphasizes many of the same talking points he did in the primary, namely his experience. At the press conference where he first used the new branding, Cuomo unveiled his plan for improving and reforming the city’s policing, and questioned whether Mamdani would be able to deliver on his promises. Cuomo suggested voters ask themselves which candidate would deal with the city’s “operations and the systems in a way that’s going to help me,” and not “just give me promises and slogans.” “We’re running a different campaign in the general election,” Azzopardi says, calling it “more nimble” and “affirmative.” Still he adds, “We never are going to out-Mamdani Mamdani.” Mamdani ran a bespoke campaign tailored to him that was well suited to reaching young people online. His logo was inspired by city street signs and vintage Bollywood movie poster type. That helped communicate and reinforce his campaign message of newness and change. Cuomo’s not that kind of candidate, but he is responding to Mamdani’s primary win with brighter graphics of his own, though with a boring font you might have found in old emails and PowerPoint presentations. That’s a far less exciting visual reference than those Mamdani’s campaign drew from, but it also reinforces Cuomo’s message of experience and getting stuff done. For a candidate known for his PowerPoints, it just might have been the smartest choice.
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E-Commerce
Shares of Intel slumped Thursday after President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the chipmaker’s CEO needs to resign. The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately, Trump posted on Truth Social. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem! Trump made the post after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over CEO Lip-Bu Tans investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the Peoples Liberation Army, and asked the board whether Tan had divested his interests in these companies to eliminate any conflicts of interest. Cotton specifically called out Tan’s recent leadership of Cadence Design Systems in the letter. The tech company admitted in July to selling its products to Chinas National University of Defense Technology in violation of U.S. export controls. In March 2025, Intel appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO,” Cotton wrote in the letter. “Mr. Tan reportedly controls dozens of Chinese companies and has a stake in hundreds of Chinese advanced-manufacturing and chip firms. At least eight of these companies reportedly have ties to the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. U.S. companies who receive government grants should be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and adhere to strict security regulations, Cotton wrote on the social platform X. Intel had been a beneficiary of the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, receiving more than $8 billion in federal funding to build computer chip plants around the country. Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The demands made by Trump and Cotton come as economic and political rivalries between the U.S. and China increasingly focus on the competition over chips, AI and other digital technologies that experts say will shape future economies and military conflicts. Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has raised concerns that Chinese spies could be working at tech companies and defense contractors, using their positions to steal secrets or plant digital backdoors that give China access to classified systems and networks. On Thursday the Arkansas Republican wrote to the Department of Defense urging Defense Secrectary Pete Hegseth to ban all non-U.S. citizens from jobs allowing them to access DoD networks. He has also demanded an investigation into Chinese citizens working for defense contractors. The U.S. government recognizes that Chinas cyber capabilities pose one of the most aggressive and dangerous threats to the United States, as evidenced by infiltration of our critical infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and supply chains, Cotton wrote in an earlier letter calling on the Pentagon to conduct the investigation. National security officials have linked Chinas government to hacking campaigns targeting prominent Americans and critical U.S. systems. Shares of the California company slid 3.5%, while markets, particularly the tech-heavy Nasdaq, gained ground. Founded in 1968 at the start of the PC revolution, Intel missed the technological shift to mobile computing triggered by Apples 2007 release of the iPhone, and its lagged more nimble chipmakers. Intels troubles have been magnified since the advent of artificial intelligence a booming field where the chips made by once-smaller rival Nvidia have become techs hottest commodity. Intel is shedding thousands of workers and cutting expenses including some domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities as Tan, who took over as CEO in March, tries to revive the fortunes of the struggling chipmaker. Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
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E-Commerce
First things first: Whenever possible, science says don’t have so many meetings. Here’s why: A meta-analysis of more than a decade of research shows employee productivity increases by more than 70% when the number of meetings is reduced by 40%. A study published in Journal of Organizational Behavior found that meetings that start late don’t just waste time: Meetings that start 10 minutes late are one-third less effective in terms of both actual and perceived outcomes than meetings that start on time. A study published in Transcripts of the Royal Society of London found that people placed in small groups asked to solve problems experience an individual IQ drop of approximately 15%. Walk into a meeting, instantly get dumber. So yeah: Stop having so many meetings. (Besides: A full calendarespecially a calendar full of meetingsis never a proxy for productivity.) But what if you really need to have a meeting? How can you make that meeting as focused and productive as possible? Borrow a move from Oprah Winfrey’s leadership tool kit. Start with intention Brendon Burchard, the author of High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way, says Oprah starts every meeting by asking three questions: What is our intention for this meeting? Whats important? What matters? The premise behind that approach is simple. High performers constantly seek clarity. (And employees who aren’t high performersyetneed clarity.) They work hard to sift out distractions so they can focus and continually refocus on what is important. Clarity? It isn’t something you get. Clarity is something you have to seek: You gain clarity, and focus, only when you actively search for them. Keep in mind the same holds true on a personal level. Successful people dont wait for an external trigger to start making changes. Successful people dont wait until New Years, or until Monday, or until the first of the month; they decide what changes they want to make and they get started. Now. Thats why no meeting agenda should include words like recap, information, review, or discussion. Bringing everyone up to speed, whether formally stated as an intention or not, is a terrible reason to have a meeting. And if information is required to make a decision during a meeting, share it ahead of time. Send documents, reports, etc., to participants in advance. Good meetings result in decisions. What. Who. When. Clear direction. Clear actions. Clear accountability. And stick to that intention That’s why the most productive meetings typically have one-sentence agendas: “Set product launch date.” “Select supplier.” “Determine roll-out responsibilities.” Those agendas are much easier to accomplish when you start a meeting the right way: by clearly stating intentions, and then sticking to those intentions. Try it. The next time you hold a meeting, kick it offon timeby answering the three questions for the group. State the intention. Explain why it’s important. Explain why it matters. If you find yourself in a meeting that’s drifting, help everyone focus by asking the three questions. Ask what you’re really trying to accomplish. Determine why it’s important, and why it matters. While it might feel awkward, everyone in the meeting will thank you for it. Because no one likes an unproductive meeting. And nor should you. By Jeff Haden This article originally appeared in Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
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