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The BBC introduced their new Corporate Identity for BBC-1 and BBC-2 on Saturday, October 4th. But there was more to the new look than most viewers would realise, at least according to official statements issued to explain why the new-look was to cost over £5-million. Apparently, the change was to "put a clear stamp on all BBC programmes for the future, telling viewers more clearly than ever before that they were watching a BBC service".
Reasons For The Change
Over the coming months and years, that approach will be applied consistently to everything the BBC does, from letterheads to magazines, to promotions, multi-media packages, online services, and new digital television services (wide-screen BBC-1 and BBC-2, BBC Choice, BBC Inform, and the new 24-hour News service).
It was the impending launch of these new channels which made a re-appraisal of the BBC’s existing logo timely. Two projects came together. The BBC were already looking at how clearly and effectively they were identifying themselves in the increasingly crowded broadcasting market place. They had to develop a design framework for the new services. "We knew that if we came up with the right solution to these problems the benefits for the BBC would be great," said logo designer Martin Lambie-Nairn.
Head of Brand Marketing, Jane Frost said: "We must make sure that when our licence fee payers watch any of our programmes, or use any of our services, they make a link between that programme, that service, that magazine, CD ROM, website, whatever it is, and the BBC. Research shows that the BBC is not always getting the credit it deserves. An alarming number of people do not know that the programmes they like come from the BBC".
According to Martin Lambie-Nairn, the present logo simply isn’t up to the job. "It fails on four counts," he said. The reasons are as follows:-
Firstly, he believes, it doesn’t work on the screen or online. According to him, it’s a headache for graphic designers to generate the existing on-screen graphic (a DOG -the tiny labels that appear in the corner of the TV screen during trails and news and sport programmes) digitally.
Dave Howe, creative director in TV Promotions, said: "It was not designed with today’s screen uses in mind. In Presentation, where we use it more than anybody, it has been a real problem."
Reduced in size, the fine coloured lines underneath the boxes disappear, and so do the 'counters' (the little bits in the middle of the letters). Designers also think carefully about the colours that appear behind the logo if they want to avoid some strange effects. A saturated red on blue, for instance, will do what designers call ‘dance’ (appear to jump around on the screen).
A comparable problem applies in print. Printing colour on colour tends to obliterate at least one of the three underlines used for the previous B B C Ident. And then there’s the problem with the angled boxes. "'Diagonals are one of the worst shapes to deal with on screen," says Head of Graphic Design, Ethan Ames. Because the pixels which create the colours are lined up in straight rows and columns, like boxes in a crossword puzzle, diagonal lines do not fit naturally into the arrangement. They start ‘stepping’ giving them a jagged look so the graphics have to be ‘anti-aliased’. This is a method of filling in the pixels around the original shape in a softer colour (or greyscale) to give the impression of a smoother line. This technique was successfully used in 1993 for the digital Test Card "C" generators which were specially designed and manufactured for the publishers of this magazine. Other people have since ‘jumped on the bandwaggon’!
Secondly, the logo is (according to Lambie-Nairn) ‘dated’. He concludes: "As with all brand logos, the BBC’s has evolved over time, but its roots are still traceable to the italicised designs of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It has a period feel about it, so the typeface chosen for the new look is the robust and elegant Gill Sans created in the 1930’s by master type designer (and sculptor), Eric Gill.
He also created the friezes and the statue of Ariel and Prospero which decorate the façade at Broadcasting House. On both counts, his work has stood the test of time."
Thirdly, according to Martin Lambie-Nairn (who heads his own graphic design company and is responsible for producing the current BBC-1 and BBC-2 Identification Symbols), the design doesn’t work ‘tactically’. He explains: "Because the BBC’s logo has so many different jobs to do, it needs to fit easily alongside other information about the BBC. It must identify not only the Corporation as a whole, but also National and English regions, the directorates, commercial products, TV and radio networks, local radio, and so on. The problem with the present logo is you can never get the brand names to look comfortable alongside the diagonal lozenges." So, in future, Gill Sans will also be used for brand names, on-screen menus etc, to give an overall co-ordinated look.
Fourthly (the final excuse offered for the £5-million ‘new look’) is that the current logo ‘costs too much’! Lambie-Nairn continues: "Even a simple letterhead or compliments slip requires four-colour printing to produce. By opting for a black-and-white design, printing costs will be cut at a stroke."
Ethan Ames says: "Time will be saved in the design process for on-screen graphics because it will fit easily, anywhere it is used. It will be recognisable in any size, background colours will cease to be a problem, and it will work more effectively because the square shapes will be in line with the pixels."
According to director of Corporate Affairs, Colin Browne, savings such as these mean the cost of changing the logo, estimated at £1.7-million a year over a three-year implementation period, will be clawed back within eight years. He says: "Wherever possible, we will phase implementation with normal replacement and refurbishment programmes, to minimise cost. Once the logo has paid for itself it will continue to produce savings of around three quarters of a million pounds every year. The BBC is one of the world’s top brands. The best brand users (such as Coca Cola and Disney) have rigid rules to ensure their image is maintained. In consultation with Lambie-Nairn, the BBC is drawing up its own guidelines to help it do the same."
Meanwhile, Lambie-Nairn says: "Over the years, the BBC has become the proud owner of thousands of logos. If something has a name, it has a logo. If we continued to use the existing system, the BBC’s unique identity would be buried under a zillion more logos. The more logos you have, the more you weaken the core brand. In future, everything that comes from the BBC will have a distinctive ‘BBC look’ that could only have come from one Organisation."
Key advantages will be:-
But, Lambie-Nairn admits it is not the whole answer. He says: "The one thing this logo, or any logo, cannot do alone is project the new personality of the individual BBC brands. This we do by adding a ‘property’. So we’ll be keeping property of BBC-2 -the many expressions and antics of the ‘2’ Symbol. They reflect the personality of BBC-2 and the audience has grown to enjoy them.
The challenge now is to develop appropriate properties for the new channels, which must reflect and enhance the personality of these channels while maintaining the consistency of the new Corporate Identity. Meanwhile, having identified the zillions of BBC logos, the team is finalising a way of replacing them with a new, cleaner branding system that allows for the individual qualities of the many BBC products and brands to be reflected, and how this new system will be implemented throughout the BBC."
The basic idea seems to be that in future, the logo and the use of type style will become instantly recognisable. Once a branding need has been identified and the logo designed, all that will be left is to add the station’s ‘personality’.
Eye Wash!
So much for the ‘official’ reasons for spending over £5-million. But to dedicated followers of BBC graphics, it all sounds like ‘eye wash’, to put it very politely! Let’s just briefly run through the four reasons which Martin Lambie-Nairn outlined for the need to spend all this money:-
"For technical reasons, it is very difficult to generate sloping boxes and the ‘B B C’ Ident in italics for digital television".
Well, yes, it is true that diagonals and circles cause problems as they will appear ‘jagged’. But those very clever engineers at the BBC have overcome these problems with a technique called ‘anti-aliasing’. This technique has existed for a number of years so one would imagine that the problems have been solved. If not, every time a diagonal or circle appears on digital television programmes, the picture will be jagged in which case digital TV is a load of rubbish and not a patch on good old analogue television!
Obviously, digital TV is quite capable of showing diagonals and circles without jagged edges. After all, a digital 16:9 version of Test Card "F" has been developed, and there are an awful lot of curves and diagonals on the Test Card!
Martin Lambie-Nairn says that the ‘B B C’ Identification is "dated".
In that case, perhaps he could explain why he has opted for a 1930’s typeface (Gill Sans) for the ‘new-look’ graphics!
Martin Lambie-Nairn says that the previous ‘B B C’ Ident does not give a "co-ordinated look".
Maybe he could explain in more detail how the straightened form of ‘BBC’ lettering, as opposed to the previous ‘B B C’ style, will make everything more ‘co-ordinated’. Most people had become accustomed to the ‘B B C’ Ident, with the lines either in colour or in monochrome!
And so to the final weak excuse for the £5-million facelift: "the cost". Apparently it costs too much to have ‘B B C’ printed in the three colours (blue for Scotland, red for Wales and green for Northern Ireland).
Well, you would have thought that someone at the BBC would have realised that back in 1987 when the coloured format was introduced. And if it was so terribly expensive to use the coloured version, why not stick to the monochrome identity which had been adopted using black lines (or white, depending on the background colour) to underline the ‘BBC’ lettering?
Also, if he is so cost-conscious, why has his company designed no less than ten different BBC-1 Ident Symbols when one has been quite adequate in the past?
No, unfortunately the four excuses simply do not wash! Some keen followers of BBC graphic design (including some BBC Staff) see the changes simply as a way of producing more work (and revenue) for the external graphic design company.
What Do You Think?
We would be very interested to hear your views about the new BBC Corporate Identities. Do you like them, or loathe them? Please write to the following address with your honest opinions:-
Keith Hamer, BBC Test Card Club, HS Publications, 7 Epping Close, Mackworth Estate, Derby DE22 4HR, England.
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