Recently Seattle's KIRO radio, one of the biggies and the way-back-when stations, kind of on a par with our own KGW or KEX moved from News/Talk to Sports radio.
KIRO 710 AM's logo, which I've expostulated on before, looked like this:
And here's the horizontal display:
I've also gone on at length about the simple briliiant genius of this design (follow the slant on the end of the red stripe to the down stroke of the R on the top version and the W on the bottom. This is pure inspiration.
I've enrolled in two schools of thought as far as this logo goes:
Technical Considerations: A logo that works. It's not spectacular though. It won't win any awards. But it does its job well with admirable economy. Most notable is the way the ESPN "font" (If there is such a thing) is translated successfully into the entire logo. The letterforms in the frequency and the city name harmonize very well with the ESPN logo, though there are places (the counter in the A and something I can't quite put my finger on about the S) that make it look like a font that was obliqued by the designer, which strikes a sour chord with me. The choice of the form to depict the 1 in the frequency number is well done, as that allows the 7 to snug in withougt looking forced on. The sound waves work alright, though the logo could do without them.
Emotional considerations: a real let-down. I fell in silly love with the KIRO 710 AM logo the second I saw it. I've explained before why. The internal structure, the artful sketch of the Space Noodle ... simple but clicks. Nails it nicely. This ... well, there's a great deal to be said for chain store signage. I think it looks awful on a broadcast station. At least they got the red and black from the old logo in there.
I'll expand a little on the thought in point 2, the "chain-store signage" thought. I've listened to radio an awful long time, and can't help (from growing up listening to local giants like KEX and Salem stations like the late great KSLM and KBZY as well as Corvallis's KFLY, which was an AM station back in the 80s) but identify a call-sign with a locality. It's part of the local personality. A skillfully-done local station identity becomes, to me, like part of the local heart and soul. It doesn't have to have such location-specific features but it does have to be unique.
Your local broadcast outlets are part of the local personality. Divest it of local identification and ... well, meh. No passion. No connection. Just the word "SEATTLE" is kind of pale in comparison with the artfully done Space Noodle sketch that expresses all sorts of Seattle intangibles. It signifies the heart and soul of Seattle.
So the re-branding will no doubt work, but it leaves something behind that's valuable. And that's kind of sad, I think.
(H/T to Ben, the gentleman from Seattle. Thanks Ben!)
It's amazing ... nobody realizes how strongly they feel about a station's look, until it gets changed. Then, watch out!.
John Christopher Burns has done a fine job of updating a look whose updating time had come and gone. The use of color, shape and font has me excited about watching KOIN again. The "KOIN Local 6" tag is kind of a courageous step. The brand has been freshened.
JCB has actually come to respond to the fray, and his response is dignified, poised, and paints a positive picture of the people he interacted with at KOIN. Some unfriendly comments were bandied and he fielded them and handled them with aplomb.
As for my thoughts, here they are from the OMI thread. I'll want to expound upon these at a later time perhaps:
As some around here have said "I'm no graphic designer", well, I am (I just can't get anyone to hire me, is all) and I'm going to come out in favor of the new look.
First, the color palette: with cool blues and greens, it is presumably meant to evoke "Northwestness" .... blue for water and mountains and sky, green for the forest. Moreover, the cool colors contrast well against the warm backgrounds that they use to show it off on.
The 'tetris'-y blocks of color fit together nicely, like a tightly-assembled puzzle, and create a sort of dynamic tension that wouldn't be there if it was all a nice, tight, symmetrical block.
The way the individual show brand ("@ 6:00") is shown by retracting the lower block, spinning it, and pushing it forward is kinda cute and allows the show branding to efficiently share the logo design. One of KOIN's big design problems has, in my opinion, been distinctive show branding. For a long time, I didn't really know that the AM program had a brand name, and even after I found it was Good Morning, Northwest, I didn't really care (the GM "Northwest" tag was also a little too vague to be compelling. Say what you will about KPTV, the show brand Good Day Oregon is at least a minor bit of branding brilliance, and they carry it off well, making it distinctive within the overall KPTV look).
I've seen the new logo and the comments about the multiplicity of fonts. I don't see all that many, only two really : the one used for the number 6, and everything else. The everything else, however, is carried forward in a number of different weights, and the chyrons seem to carry a condensed version of that font.
I actually think the minuscule treatment of the word "local" appropriate. Lower-case letters are 'friendlier' than caps, and connect with the 6 in a friendly way.
The swoopy 6 is definitely in a different font, and it stands out in its swoopiness. The number 6 is a huge brand around there on the TV, and it wouldn't do to make it uniform with the rest of the design. In the light weight it's in, though, it stands out but not too much, and keeps the logo one happy family. It also adds a little looseness to a very structured logo.
...oh, wait. I just saw an over-the-shoulder graphic which uses what appears to be some form of Officina. A little strange, that. Not what I would have chose. It does harmonize with the sans-serif used everywhere else though, since it's simple and bold like the rest of it.
I will insert a disclaimer here that I've not yet seen an entire KOIN 6 newscast. When I do my opnion may change somewhat but I don't think too much. After all, compared to the previous graphic look, with this strange big rotating machine-thing that did an abrupt 45-right turn in this hot red airless space, it's a vast improvement. It's not that I didn't love the look, but it left me scratching my head. It was well done, but what did it mean?
All that said, it's not as compelling as the Swan 2, but that one hit it out of the park. KOIN's new look is a solid triple, at least.
If I could change one thing about that review, it's probably that last sentence there. I'd say the new KOIN look hits a home run. The more I look at it, the more I like it.
He has hinted that he will perhaps discuss his process at a later time. I certainly hope so! Watching creativity explain itself is almost as much fun as simply being creative!
A gentlemanly acquaintance in Seattle radio has let slip to me that one of the big FM outlets up that way, FM 97.3, KBSG (K-BattleStarGalactica?), popularly known as B97.3, a classic rock with personalities format, has given up music programming in favor of simulcasting Seattle stalwart KIRO 710 AM's talk content.
In order to bring the change home the station has rebranded KBSG. Formerly it was B97.3, "More Music, More Fun"
This logo tells you a lot about the station – big fun, big happy, good music all the time, the sort of frequency you want to tune to when you want to feel good.
KIRO 710 AM is one of the old-line Seatlle stations. If it were in PDX radio, it would be up there with KXL, KEX, KGW (if it still existed as such, altho the name KPOJ has a respectable history). It's the "everybody's" radio station, judging by most of the talk hosts, and is home to the unappreciated genius that is Dave Ross (I've not heard his CBS Radio commentary in so danged long ...).
Heres the two standard logo treatments for KIRO 710 AM:
KIRO 710 AM RADIO LOGO-VERTICAL
KIRO 710 AM RADIO LOGO-HORIZONTAL
This is one fine logo. I'll explain why:
It's complex without being complicated. The Space Noodle, which could be considered a fait accompli in Seattleized broadcast design (well, it is a signature landmark, yes) is rendered at its absolute essence and really really well. It forms an anchor for design and yet, despite its ephemeral quality, wins your attention against the bold type. I just totally enjoy this rendering.
Bold type – it looks like Franklin Gothic – makes a bold statement. Note how the 1 in the 710 is the capital I, not the numeric 1.
The slanted edge of the red clips the lower corner of the 7 in an interesting way. That's play going on there.
But here's the real genius of the logo, and the biggest reason why I enjoy it. Note the slanted edge on the red stripe on the vertical edition. Follow it down. Notice how it aligns exactly with the left hand side of the leg on the R? This forms an implied structural line. Moreover, after you attention is captured by the Noodle, and your eye is led into the heart of the design by the slanted axis line. Graphic designers talk about eyeflow, about engaging the eye and guiding it with the structure of the design itself. This is eyeflow in action. The designer even reproduced the effect with the horizontal version, causing the slanted line to align with the W in the NEWS•TALK tagline. In this case, it creates unity in the design but doesn't divert the eye off of the KIRO; the heavy weight of the call sign keeps it in play.
Whoever came up with this logo really understood what they were doing, and took advantage of the type to create a strong unified piece out of disparate elements. Wish I'd of thought of this one!
Now, I told you all that to tell you this.
KBSG has begun, as of August, to rebroadcast KIRO's content. Consequently, they've rebranded themselves 93.7 FM KIRO News•Talk. Here's that logo.
KIRO 97.3 FM RADIO LOGO-VERTICAL
KIRO 97.3 FM RADIO LOGO-HORIZONTAL
Same general design, yes. But it makes me cry and die a little inside.
The stacked FM in the logo jumps right out at you ... kind of like a sliver in the eye. Ouch! All that horizontal unity messed up with a touch. In school they taught me that the stacking type was a big design nono. This is why. It also is a visual shout that the type was just kind of shoehorned in there.
Notice the proportions have changed? To fit into a certain footprint, presumably, after the red stripe was stuffed with the new letterforms and the stacked type. The KIRO is bigger. The red strip is narrower (notice that the Noodle doesn't quite nicely tuck underneath the red bevel as it did before).
The changing of proportions destroys the harmony which made all the parts work together as a unit. The clever red slant now connects to absolutely nothing. Everything just kind of sits together, uncomfortably. The stripe doesn't even line up in the horizontal display anymore, another victim of the stacked FM in the red.
Taking a well-done logo and breaking it really makes me sad. But wait! I hear you saying that well, wise unemployed designer guy, can you do it better?
Well, I don't know. But here's a possiblity (Note I used Impact here, as that's the font that harmonizes closest to the Franklin Gothic for purposes of the logo (we don't own a copy of Franklin Gothic but would if we could ... it's mad useful):
... just get rid of that horrible stacked type.
Yep. No "FM". Why should there be? The AM logo doesn't say "710 AM". The decimal point in the frequency spec should be all the giveaway anyone needs.
Update: I mentioned Dave Ross and lamented not hearing him before going out and doing a little research. Someone as savvy as Ross naturally has a website (DaveRoss.com), and releases his commentary not only on the MyNorthwest.com omnibus site but also can be subscribed to via iTunes (information on the web site). You can also download for absolutely free an armload of his laugh-out-loud funny songs.
I wish Portland had someone like him. You lucky freakin' Seattleites get three hours a day five days a week of Dave. Pfui on ya's! But, seriously, if you don't like Dave Ross, then something's the matter with you. Seek professional help.
1496. A couple of cool logos lately have caught my eye, and I couldn't help but share.
A co-worker in The Salt Mines brought in a beguiling paper coffee cup. It's nothing that wouldn't look out of place anywhere in Portland; but I'd never seen the logo before. It was playful and clean, modern and intriguing; a place I'd not heard of before called Seven Virtues. I found out about it from a blog I just stumbled on called Portland Coffeehouse Journal, a blog which is such a damned neat idea that I'm adding it to the blogroll anyway.
Anyway! The logo was very playful and energetic but the energy was contained constructively. The swirls around the outside make for a sort of "pinball" effect that returns the eye to the highly neat abstract representation of the lotus flower in the middle. Using Futura (that type looks like Futura, anyway) adds a clean modern dash to the whole thing. This is a great logo, and I enjoy it muchly.
We'll try to visit it soon, and get a better read on the place. They have a website here; just hours and location. Looks funky and cool, for what that's worth.
What trying to find out about Seven Virtues got me, though, was here: The website for the Tap Project:
I could say this is a cool logo, but that would be redundant. Blue, the color of fresh water and simple but effective graphics add up to create an accessible presence that communicates almost without words (though the words that are chosen are chosen rather well. The whole approach speaks volumes about appropriate use of color, type and semiotic communications.
If this doesn't win an award somewhere, I'd be shocked.
1417. Noticed in passing; it's not been really promoted or announced.
This is the logo the various Providence facilities, and well known in the Portland area. The spare, hypermodern Latinate cross referencing the religious founders of the Providence network; the cool blue, a color frequently found in graphics referencing hospitals; the use of two fonts to differentiate the system name from the facility name (also divided by the bar).
Providence logo, before (largest graphic I could find:)
Providence logo, after
This works really well. The type is easier on the eyes, and therefore more friendly; the blue still is with us, but what really brings this alive is the warm yellow in the arc which gives impressions of sunrise, rebirth, new day, positive images and warm and friendly connotations.
The new Providence identity is warmer and friendlier in its rethought name: Providence Health & Services, which is more personal and less intimidating than the idea of a Health System, which can have negative, cold and impersonal connotations in today's world.
This is a success. I respond to and enjoy it. Wonder which agency?
1410. It is my pleasure to announce that last night I signed a contract to develop a logo identity for a local entrepreneur.
At this point I'm not yet at liberty to say exactly who or what (this is a client confidentiality issue at this point, not some matter of national security or anything like that). I will say that the client is a local blogger of some fame whom I also admire for their witty and respectful but irreverent approach to reality.
A designer bridges the gap between the client's desire and making that desire as real as possible. We are problem solvers. We are also learners. I learned some surprising and neat things at our meeting. And it's my full intention to translate those desires into as firm and final a product as can be had.
I'm going to give them the best possible service I can. Because that's the way I roll, yo.
And, during development, as far as the client will allow, I'll give a peek into the process, because this open public notebook is as much about how I develop things (and how they develop me) as anything else.
It might just make me famous ... it will make me happy. I was chosen by a fabulous client.
1272. KGW is now in HD, and it looks very much like the station has remodeled its logo look to go with it.
This doesn't appear to be a radical redesign, as the recent KATU re-ID was. Rather, this seems to be a refinement of the older logo, integrating the typography they've been using of late in the chyron space (the lower third of the screen).
KGW's Wikipedia page has the old logo, and the entry itself has been edited to say that it was the logo used until 21 January 2008:
Today, posted in this entry on OregonMediaInsiders, fellow user Myhousemf posted this image to an open thread (and we've got to give him the credit ... we've been all over the KGW.com site and haven't found it anywhere):
What comes immediately to the eye is the depth. There's a hint of the drop shadow lifting the 8 above its background shape. What is most remarkable is the shift in the typography (though not in the 8). As pointed out, it now matches the chyron typefaces.
What I find most encouraging about this redesign is the re-introduction of the call-sign KGW into the logo, though. I'm old-fashioned in a way – when I was growing up, child of the TV generation, a TV station's corporate ID wasn't complete without a reference to the call-sign. Latterly, that's not been the case; witness all the FOX and CW stations that ID themselves as part of the network, and the CBS Mandate (which I've referred to here before). I like this not. And the Northwest NewsChannel 8 ID didn't work terribly well for me; made it sound more like a pay-tv channel.
The return of the K, G, and W to the Channel 8 logo brings a fresh bit of locativity to the logo. Having a three-letter call is something to be proud of.
1259. I just realized I had a Channel Surfing chapter of the 10's up and I've not posted it. Bad me! So, without further ado, here we go.
Wichita's channel 10, KAKE, is on your side. When I was a kid, if you had cake on your side, you were a messy eater due for the bath (and maybe with a cuff on the head)...
And now, Channel 10, Goodland KS. KBSL ... nothing much original here. Coverage you can count on, familiar sliver-crescent that looks more like a bowshock with the little flare of light along it. I guess that CBS eye also doubles as a navigational deflector ...
Next we have KENV, Channel 10, Elko NV. Yeah, I know ... I thought a place like Elko was too small to have a station, but it does. It, like many micro-market stations, provide entertainment by broadcasting an adjacent large-market station's content (in this case the feed is from Reno's KRNV Channel 4). It bills itself as the only local station serving northeastern Nevada, and we believe them at that. But thier "little engine that could" newscast really won me over with its heart and charm.
How small is KENV? I never noticed any reporters, as such – the people being interviewed usually held their own mikes. Looks like the news photog was the only person in the remote crew. You can view thier entire newscast at the KENV home page here, but be warned ... the volume is a little loud.
Next, we have KFDA Channel 10, Amarillo – burly 10 filling the frame, CBS eye completing the square by pinning down the corner. This works well. And they're channeling news with a burshed-metal sheen:
KGTV is SanDiego's NBC, Channel 10, who hides the call under a bushel as so many do. But they do bring the sun motif, which is in character for a Pacific coast city at that latitude, into the design very well. Dynamic tension is provided by allowing the 10 to touch the side of the circle, opening it up:
Down in hurricane country, KLFY, Lafayette, LA, embraces the whirlwind with a logo that looks derived from the meterological symbol for them:
KMOT, Channel 10, Minot ND, serves Williston on satellite channel 8. The similar logo treatments are another example of consistent branding. The obliqued numerals and the off-center parallellogram are playfula and energetic:
KTMF, Channel 10, Helena MT is being included here because it's Channel 10 ... definitely not due to its design-free logo (Couldn't they have made it Helena's The CW? Couldn't afford an apostrophe-s? What? And apparently they used up the design budget before all the letters in HELENA were properly kerned):
KOLN 10, Lincoln, co-brands with KGIN, 11, Grand Island NE, for a cool unified logo that also reaps the whirlwind (though being Nebraska, we're thinking tornado instead of hurricane):
KOLR, channel 10 Springfield MO, depends on the heavily obliqued bold type to get the impression of energy across, and blue and gold never go out of style:
KSAZ, Phoenix's FOX station, gets points for making the zero in the 10 look just like the O in FOX, which unifies the design. However, since I've said before I hate that zero/O, I take the points back, making it a wash.
KTEN has the luck of having the best call sign a channel 10 could have. Serving the mythical land of Texoma with a brushed-metal dominance, the two glyphs merge into one:
The flat color on the peacock tail feathers (in the coverage you can count on position) is interesting; mostly stations tend to give them a highlight to make them look 3D.
KTTC, Rochester NY, hides its channel number rather than its call:
KTVE, Monroe LA, has a dramatic presentation that's almost chirascuro. There is chrome, naturally:
I enjoy KTVL, Medford OR's, logo. It works on a level that's a little hard to put into words, but the interplay of shape and color just are nicely done here – as is aligning the CBS eye to the crook in the shoulder of the 1, and the use of Eurostile:
KTWX, Waco, TX, presents two eternal Texas verities; the red-white-blue color scheme, and the Lone Star. The two numerics are merged into one shape, and the star stands smartly at the center of the circle:
KXTV, Sacramento, doesn't make use of the cool call sign with the X (for 10) in the middle. It does have a pretty decent treatment, though, with the businesslike letterforms:
The backwards barb on the underline is an interesting visual reinforcement.
KZTV brings Action News to Corpus Christi with cool blue and metallic type all nailed down with the eye in the middle:
WALA, Mobile AL, gets originality points for making the channel number a fully-minuscule "ten" which has the audacity to sidle up against the "you will be assimilated" FOX logo. Like many FOX stations, though, the call is absent ... and when you have a fun one like WALA, that's just unfair:
Albany, GA, gave us the musical group REM and a whole musical school which emanated from there through the 90's. Something about the 10 in the logo seems to make sense with the musical sensibility down in those parts:
Coverage you can count on provided courtesy of the Peacock, of course.
WAVY, Channel 10, Norfolk VA doesn't display its call sign. It doesn't have to. This is brilliant work ... the way the design is unified by the eye completing the wave shape:
WBIR TV, channel 10, Knoxville TN, does a clever thing with the heart that connects the 1 and the 0. Their slogan happens to be Straight From the Heart ...
WNBS, Channel 10, Columbus OH ... Just the facts, just the 10:
The logo of Channel 10, WBUP, Ishpeming MI (on the Upper Peninsula) look very DIY, but they work. I'd not oblique the call if it's going to live in the same circle as the number though. And if I ever get rich and famous, I'm giving $100 to the best non-serious explanation of what an Ishpeming could be (other that what it really is, some native American word for something or other):
WCAU, Philadelphia, brands itself as NBC 10 ... the logo is a simple thing, notable because they use Copperplate for the letters NBC rather than the house style:
On the Iron Range, it's WDIO and its sister WIRT serving Duluth and Hibbing, MN. They too combine thier numbers into a distinctive look that works hand in globe with the ABC logo (and I enjoy the whimsy with the curvy slash)
WGEM, Quincy IL, gets its message across with lustrous gem-tones ... but no "10" ...
WHEC, Rochester, NY: News on the vertical, 10 on the horizonal. This adapts no doubt very well to mic flags, demonstrating appropriatenss of application:
WILX, Lansing MI's Channel 10, has a logo that works as a jacket patch:
WIS, channel 10, Columbia SC – we've seen this "knocked-out" 10 elsewhere, but this is a different take on it, with no obliquing and 3D shading that I find kind of funky:
WJAR, Providence RI, has the same design as Philly's WCAU:
WKNO, Channel 10, Memphis, is eductional ("W-Know") and does us the dignity of including the channel number:
I enjoy the "raster-scan" lines there. Nice touch.
WPLG, Miami, goes the "Miami Vice" route – rich color, dynamic presentation with the swoopy swoosh. The color bars further iconize the merged-numeric 10:
WSLS, Roanoke VA ... sliver crescent, "on your side" ... yawn ...
WTAJ, Altoona PA, has a very cool look ... the grooved parallelogram, the unexpected and cool detailing in the numerals bringing it very much alive:
WTEN, Albany, NY, also plays it straight though the green and yellow color scheme is more of what I'd expect of a sports team rather than a news team:
WTHI, Terre Haute IN, has a type style that looks the same but does a cool cut-out parallelogram thing with the 10 which I enjoy (and gives the eye a place to be):
WTSP, Tampa, does a WAVY-type thing, in that a water-reference is used well (not as cool as WAVY, but well done ... nothing personal, WTSP, but nobody can out-wave WAVY):
And lastly, WWTV, Channel 9, serves the eastern Upper and Northern Lower Peninsulas of Michigan from Cadillac, and has a satellite station WWUP to cover its market, which is reputed to be the largest market in area in the US:
Join us next time on Channel Surfing, where one and one will make eleven. Take us out, baker man:
