Logo round-up: April 2018

We had a quite eventful April when it came to new logos, including no less than three airlines. The most notable by far was Pentagram's refreshed badge for American Express, but most of the over three dozen projects featured here are interesting in some aspect.

From 1967: When ABC split into four radio networks

Back in January 1968, the American Broadcasting Company effectively split its radio network into four different ones based on different programme formats. My understanding is that as ABC weren't really allowed to operate four independent networks, they were usually not on air at the same time. Instead, the main ABC feed would shift between the four networks over the hour. Therefore, these four "networks" differed mainly in timing and style of their news programmes, with the remainder of the time programmed by affiliated stations.

The changes allowed ABC to have multiple affiliates in each market, which in turn allowed them to use their resources more efficiently. It was however quite a daring branding exercise, as the established ABC had to be replaced by unfamiliar and cumbersome names.

The four "networks" were given distinct symbols, designed by G. Dean Smith. In 1963, he had designed a "circle 7" logo for KGO-TV Channel 7 in San Francisco that was so striking that it was adopted by other ABC affiliates on channel 7 and is still in use today. The four radio symbols manage to summarise the programming for the intended networks in an abstract form:

Streamlined circles for TV4

TV4 is Sweden's leading commercial TV channel. In addition to the main channel, it also operates several additional channels including Sjuan ("the Seven") and TV12. These two channels are dedicated to general entertainment and used to have distinct identities, but as linear television is giving way to streaming, TV4 decided to focus its resources on one brand.

Therefore, on April 10, TV4:s three main channels launched a common new look with Sjuan and TV12 being given new logos more in line with that of TV4. The new look was developed as a collaboration between Bold and Dallas Motion Agency, both based in Stockholm. New idents feature images of cityscapes and nature from around Sweden. The graphics are designed to give a sense of flow to announcements and junctions between programmes.