It may have escaped your notice that the BBC have quietly updated their radio station logos.
It’s been six years since the last major overhaul, and this attempt has been along the same lines as the TV logos – to standardise the format.
The first I noticed of the change was an advert for the Asian Network revealed a new “wavy A” in a circle. I just assumed a rebrand of the one logo until I spotted a new look on the Russell Howard/Jon Richardson podcast on 6 Music.
The new logos haven’t been fully rolled out yet, but the designs have been disclosed.
Radio 1
As you can see, Radio One has seen little in the way of a change. The black sticks, and the only addition is the serif ascender to the top of the number one. Smart and minimally altered. I still like it, and probably still the strongest radio brand.
Radio 1Xtra
Being Radio 1’s sister station, the redesign has keeps the two brands close, and 1X adopts a slightly thicker font to match the Radio 1 branding. Minimal change and understandable, although should 1Xtra be attempting to differentiate itself from Radio 1 more? There has been a paradigm shift over the past few years which has driven the focus of each station further apart – and now 1Xtra pretty much covers all RnB, HipHop and Urban where Radio 1 almost exclusively has removed those genres from it’s playlists since it’s launch. I suppose it is the age of the demographic that still keeps these two stations ‘linked’.
Radio 2
In my opinion, a backward step for Radio 2. For the most popular station in the UK, the logo should have reflected something more exciting than a version of the Radio 1 logo, and in a colour that doesn’t seem to have related particularly with the station in the past. Even if the colour were to stick, I think they have been far too cautious here with a design that could have afforded to be one of the more exciting departures.
Radio 3
Radio 3 provided probably the most interesting and different logo before the revamp. There was something Matisse and incredibly arty about it. I don’t know any Radio 3 listeners, but I always thought it suited the sort of person who would listen to it.
The new look is tamer, based on a clef mark, and is more obvious than the previous incarnation. However, like Radio 2, I think they could have afforded to be a little more avant-garde with this one too. I’m not entirely convinced about the lower part of the number either – it looks like it has been drawn on, where as the upper part has been typographically balanced.
Radio 4
Maybe the one with the least flexibility, Radio 4 listeners are notoriously resistant to change. I really like the colour used here, and it does echo of the previous version. The form of the number is good too, but although the use of the quote mark is in line with the application of motifs in the other logos, it doesn’t feel like it was designed in – much like my issue with the Radio 3 logo. I just feels like it was ‘dropped’ in. It might have sat in better if it had a thicker tail.
Radio 5 Live
I can’t help thinking this is slightly imbalanced. Although the number is very strong, the addition of live makes me see the word Olive which is not intentional and distracting. Perhaps this would have been better below, or within the circle?
Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
Much like it’s sister station, the five branding is strong and the colour completementary, but the positioning of the ‘sports extra’ text this time appears unbalanced – offset oddly from the circle.
Radio 6 Music
From what I have read, the new 6music logo is meant to represent a turntable and stylus, or an iPod clickwheel – playing on the strong music focus and technical-interest nature of the audience. I like the logo, more so than the old one, and the colour also seems a sensible progression.
The inset sans serif typography might have also worked well on the other rebrands too. Despite the musical allusions, I think it would have been better if the hole in the 6 had been truly centred – another case of slight adjustment that could have made it more eye-easy.
Radio 7
The change at Radio 7 is a little more than the logo. Previously BBC 7, Radio 7 is a much more sensible name for this station and reflects it nature as a radio station and not so likely to be confused with the BBC 1, 2, 3 and 4 television services.
I always thought the prior logo for seven was as best quirky and at worst weak when compared to it’s counterparts. The new one strikes me as similarly odd, but therefore maybe fitting of a station I find hard to understand – providing little in the way of new material and mainly a place for repeats of old BBC radio productions and comedies.
The seven has been rounded, unlike with any other of the logo numbers and the colour has pretty much stuck. If you know what Radio 7 is about, you’d probably guess the relevance of the smile but maybe not otherwise. Even so I think it a sensible even obvious step forward.
Radio Asian Network
My favourite of all the logos is this one, although I’m not entirely convinced by the lettering reading top to bottom, at least, not on one line. I always liked the old logo too, and this seems probably the most radical but also most appropriate update.
Overall
Clearly the BBC has attempted to consolidate an eclectic mix of logos. When the last lot were devised in 2001, I did wonder why they had chosen to synchronise the look of the television channel brandings yet set apart the brandings of the radio counterparts.
Whether is this a good thing, I’m undecided, as I think this very much echos of the direction of the BBC branding devised nearly a decade ago. It may have been better to have been more forward-thinking with the designs. I’m also unsure of the timeless nature of these – for me I’m struggling to place them as a reflection of the past, or as forward looking.
Quirkiness is a clear thread that runs through all these logos. Radio 1 and 1Xtra are the least affected in the changes building on their existing already strong brand. Radio 3, 4, 7 and to some extent 6 make literal descriptions of their content with varying degrees of success. 5 Live, Sports Extra and the Asian Network have made the most significant departures from their prior design
The launch of the new identities has one more final but subtle change attached – several of the stations have been renamed. 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra have ditched the word ‘Five’ in place of the numeral to match the existing lineup of stations, and all the stations are now prefixed BBC Radio, meaning a change in name for 1Xtra, 6music, BBC 7and Asian Network also.
Although I’ve levelled criticism at most of these designs, I think overall they do work and will enhance the strength of the BBC brand umbrella. Whether it is progressive enough shift or whether it really shows the truly diverse range of content on offer, I’m not entirely convinced.
(Also, it might be worth noting, I think the overall impact is enhanced when they are displayed together as above – I reviewed each one individually with the others removed).
Damn it Andy! You beat me to it again! I was looking at these (after a quick Google search) after I noticed that the 5 Live and Radio 1 logos had been altered.
I must say, they look great as a set, but on their own most of them are pretty weak.
Ordinarily, the logo is only a small part of the brand, and it’s the entire implementation that makes a logo great. Looking at the artwork for all the podcasts however, it would seem that the associated styles for each of these logos is incredibly unimaginative also. Lots of wavy lines, and circles etc. Sigh.
For me, alongside other recent identity updates at the beeb, this confirms that the <span class=“caps”>BBC</span> is no longer the bastion of great design in the broadcasting industry. Aside from last year’s idents for <span class=“caps”>BBC</span> One, and the updated graphics for News 24, every other refresh has been one for the worst.
1997’s corporate re-brand put a stake in the ground. Every single logo within the organisation was brought in line (not all of them good, but certainly consistent), and cross media promotion and marketing just worked really together as a result. But in the years that have followed, this consistency has been slowly destroyed – inevitable I know, I’ll just have to deal with it.
In that respect, it’s great to see consistency brought back across the radio services, it’s been long overdue. If only in terms of naming – the mixture of ‘BBC7’, ’6 Music’, and ‘Five Live’ always annoyed me, so I glad to see this issue resolved (although I’m sure on air they will still be referred to with their more colloquial names – Radio 1, <span class=“caps”>BBC</span> Radio 4, 6 Music etc.).
But this is a really poor outcome. You are right in your assessment of Radio 2’s logo – must have taken all of 3 seconds to come up with that one. Why is it orange you ask? It’s obviously so that when all the logos are placed together, it stands out more (if it where blue/purple, there would be three other similarly coloured logos). I do believe that Radio 2 logo was orange in it’s distant past however.
I will of course give these some time to settle in, and see how they are applied to the web-sites and such, but for me, this is yet another botched branding attempt from Auntie. Any coincidence that this decline in quality comes alongside privatisation of the formerly in-house BBC’s creative departments? I think not.