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75 Years of BBC Television

(November 2011)

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IM
IM
I'd like to see a mock design for a 97 style BBC One logo using that font.


Your request has been granted.

*
IS
Inspector Sands
Pete posted:
Those BBC branded cassette tapes very were guilty of that


Oh I forgot about those, what a strange concept that is these days, you'd never imagine a BBC branded DVD-R or USB Stick for sale.

The BBC weren't the only broadcaster to do it though:
http://www.hssproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Sky%20Tapes3.jpg

The BBC blank tapes were of that time when they licensed the BBC logo and the BBC Sport globe to all and sundry... View From clothing had it as their logo for ages
DO
dosxuk


And in one image you have summed up exactly why that logo needed to go - it's so terribly dated. The italics, narrow text and unnessecery colour just shouts 80s.

http://home.vis-is.co.uk/data/bbconelogos.png
JO
Jonny
Yep, no contest. The 80s logo was just that, an 80's logo that had simply outstayed its welcome by 1997.
VM
VMPhil
I'd like to see a mock design for a 97 style BBC One logo using that font.


Your request has been granted.

*


Thanks for that! I don't know if you'd already done that or if you'd just mocked it up, but thanks a lot.

Okay, so maybe it looks outdated and I do agree that the 97 logo is much better technically, but you've got to agree that it looks classy, and would fit perfect on a 90s ident.
VM
VMPhil
Pete posted:
Those BBC branded cassette tapes very were guilty of that


Oh I forgot about those, what a strange concept that is these days, you'd never imagine a BBC branded DVD-R or USB Stick for sale.


I think we had some that were even branded BBC Sport. Quite what the point of that was, I'm not sure - and as you said that branding was all wrong too!

Found a picture of one: *

Mind you, I've seen radio hats (http://www.sportschannel.org/index.php/products/test-match-special/test-match-special-radio-hat.html) that had the post-1997 BBC logo terribly mangled quite recently.


I could swear I have seen one of those cassettes! I remember seeing one in my parent's home, growing up. Maybe I can find it, if they haven't thrown them out.
VM
VMPhil
Sorry for the triple post. Just seen the trailer in question. It really does look very PowerPoint/Keynote-like. Just ditch the film effect on that first logo, and the blur fade in.

The BBC Television logo should just be in normal Gill Sans, and slide in next to it (admittedly that would also look very PowerPoint-like but that's how I think the logo should be like, not with Television underneath).
NE
Neil__
And in one image you have summed up exactly why that logo needed to go - it's so terribly dated. The italics, narrow text and unnessecery colour just shouts 80s.


To be fair, one of the three (narrow fonts) is very now.

Gill Sans and Century Gothic are going to look very dated one day, even if they are extremely prevalent now.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
I'm not sure which came first, but that was what the 3 dashes represented - and of course red, green and blue only applies to TV


Or did the red, green and blue tea bars come first?
VM
VMPhil
And in one image you have summed up exactly why that logo needed to go - it's so terribly dated. The italics, narrow text and unnecessary colour just shouts 80s.


To be fair, one of the three (narrow fonts) is very now.

Gill Sans and Century Gothic are going to look very dated one day, even if they are extremely prevalent now.


Century Gothic already looks dated. Gill Sans will never look dated. It was created in 1926 and still looks great today.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
So any chance of a retro (or Dave Jeffery recreated) ident into the One Show?
DO
dosxuk
And in one image you have summed up exactly why that logo needed to go - it's so terribly dated. The italics, narrow text and unnessecery colour just shouts 80s.


To be fair, one of the three (narrow fonts) is very now.


I don't think it is really. Obviously there will be exceptions (as is always the case with design), but I can't think of any logos with narrow fonts which look good today. Tight kerning is very in, but not compressing the letter forms, especially when mixed with superwide kerning.

Gill Sans and Century Gothic are going to look very dated one day, even if they are extremely prevalent now.


I think it depends on usage. Gill Sans has become a "classic" font - it doesn't look dated, but it does add age to a design. You wouldn't want to use it for something hip, trendy and ultra modern (Century Gothic would have been perfect for that up till a few years ago, it's already lost that. Gotham being the new boy in modern looking typography), but for something you want to add an air of "we've been here a while, and we're not going anywhere" (like the BBC) it still feels fresh.

I think we're starting to come towards the end of our obsession with sans-serif forms being "modern", there's a trend been forming over the last few years of more and more usage of serifed and cursive fonts, even on branding which replaces sans-serif based design (Burger King comes to mind). Maybe the day will come when the BBC rebrands with a logo based on something like Georgia.

http://home.vis-is.co.uk/data/bbconelogos_future.png

[As long as Comic Sans never ever ever ever gets used...]

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