BBC logos:
The first attempt at a proper brand image came in
1953, when Abram Games was commissioned to design an on-air image, probably
hastened by the imminent arrival of commercial competition. Games, who designed
the logo for the Festival of Britain in 1951, created the logo nicknamed the
'Bat's wings' logo, an elegant and rather ethereal image which captured the
spirit of the times. In reality, it was an elaborate mechanical brass
contraption, with a tiny spinning globe in its centre – for BBC Scotland, the
spot in the middle was replaced by a lion.
By the
early 1960s, the 'Bat's Wings had been superseded by the BBC TV logo within a
circle, behind which would appear a map of Britain split into broadcast
regions. This set the style for a succession of circular images, which became
the BBC's recognisable on screen identity. The channel's most famous emblem,
the globe, appeared in its first guise on 30 September 1963. The first such
ident featured the continuity announcer speaking the words 'This is BBC
Television' over a spinning globe while a BBC TV caption would appear.
The first colour pictures in the UK were broadcast
by BBC2 in 1967 when it covered Wimbledon, to be followed by BBC1 in 1969. Then
BBC 1 introduced the first version of the now famous 'mirror globe' – a
rotating globe with a flat globe as visual behind it. The inclusion of the word
'colour' in the station ident could be viewed as a subtle reminder to the vast
majority of the rest of the viewers still watching in black and white to buy a
colour TV set. This BBC 1 colour globe was frequently seen in Monty Python's
Flying Circus, which featured spoof continuity announcements.
By 1985, computer
graphics technnology had progressed sufficiently to retire the mechanical mirror
globe in favour of a new computer-generated globe, which showed a
semi-transparent blue globe with golden continents and gold BBC 1. Created by
the BBC graphics and computer departments, it was launched just before Wogan, a
new chat show presented by Terry Wogan. Twenty-four hours later, it introduced
a new soap called EastEnders.
In 1988,
mainly because of growing commercial competition, the BBC decided it needed a
stronger, more unified corporate brand image – to be used on and off air, and across
all its commercial product. The new image (designer, Michael Peters) looked
back to the traditional BBC logo but updated it by slanting the boxes and
adding three coloured flashes unbderneath the logo blocks. The latter colours
represented the phosphors on a colour television
(the primary colours of light).
In 1997,
the globe was dramatically reinvented through a sequence of hot air balloon
images, filmed on location around the UK. Over the next two and a half years,
no fewer than 59 different variations of the BBC One balloon were produced. The
thinking behind this new on screen identity was to take the consistently used
BBC globe image and to reinvent it as something both local and national. As
ever, these idents became a feature of the British media landscape, and were
cleverly parodied in the opening titles of The Ben Elton Show.
A change
in BBC One Controller saw the BBC One balloon image replaced by a sequence of
new idents, 'Rhythm & Movement', featuring a new multi-cultural theme, with
a range of dancers dancing to different musical styles. Some viewers
accused
the BBC of being overtly politically correct, as one of the dance numbers
involved disabled dancers in wheelchairs, while other users were dismayed that
the longstanding globe motif had been abandoned after 39 years.
After
six years, the idents were replaced by a new circular motif, with content much
more diverse than previously seen: swimming hippos, motorbike stunt riders,
kites, and surfers. Launched in 2007, the then BBC One Channel Controller,
Peter Fincham saw the new branding as both a clear recognition of the BBC brand
story and of the channel's heritage as well as a new symbol of people coming
together – in the way that BBC One brings audiences together.
Further
creative excursions around BBC on air branding have included regular Christmas
interpretations, often with direct links into famous BBC brands or programmes,
such as the witty and playful interpretations around Wallace and Grommit in
2008.
The story of the BBC brand is – like most brands –
one of consistency and reinvention. Over the years of its history, it has
become one of the most distinctive brands internationally, now used across a
variety of platforms and recognised with immediacy and clarity by millions of
people around the world.
