BBC Rebrand 1997 vs BBC Rebrand 2021

[Brekkie]

If the new logo can be rolled out to Doctor Who it can be rolled out to every other programme produced to air after 20th October, and any other brand using the BBC logo on screen.

Looking back to the big change to Reith in July 2019 and with the exception of the BBC Newsline titles that was rolled out seemlessly across all national and regional news programmes in a single day with updated titles and graphics, which was arguably a far bigger challenge than what we've seen so far from this BBC rebrand.

It really does feel that where the contributors to this rebrand see problems they've been looking for excuses instead of solutions.

[Cando]

What is the joke?

You can't just flip a switch and change multiple systems to start using a new logo, nor can you run two systems at once before tests etc. It all takes time, every channel rebrand has resulted in cross over.

The thing is you can - it's just designers behind this rebrand have convinced themselves and management that it just isn't possible.

It's not as if they're even that far off completing switching out the blocks - it's a few more small steps rather than giant leaps which are required to make this look more like a complete effort.

Do you have experience with projects on this scale?

Don't you know that the armchair experts on TV live forum know more than the actual professionals. The thread is ridiculous

[CantGetIn]

If the new logo can be rolled out to Doctor Who it can be rolled out to every other programme produced to air after 20th October, and any other brand using the BBC logo on screen.

Looking back to the big change to Reith in July 2019 and with the exception of the BBC Newsline titles that was rolled out seemlessly across all national and regional news programmes in a single day with updated titles and graphics, which was arguably a far bigger challenge than what we've seen so far from this BBC rebrand.

It really does feel that where the contributors to this rebrand see problems they've been looking for excuses instead of solutions.

Why would there be a solution? it was never planned for there to be a total rebrand all at once. We know that the major brand BBC News is rebranding in April 2022 give or take. That's really all we are talking about here. The other content will be updated as it is produced and is already being done. Do you have any idea how big the BBC is and the number of systems which are in use, tie in the departments, people, workflows that are involved? It just takes time.

Sure not impossible to do it all in one day, but it would take a lot of resources etc and people are busy as it is. Clearly they have decided to go with a more cautious approach, given that logo wise this is really a light rebrand (it is still three blocks) then it seems acceptable to me. Remember BBC News is a brand in itself. Changing a font is not the same thing. It isn't just the actual work of changing the logo either, there is a brand image to maintain. Lots of the BBC News brand is used abroad and overseas offices etc all of that has to be done as well. In 1997 it was likely far easier with lesser visual stuff going on. There is so much more that people see now.

[IanJRedman]

It does feel sloppy that the 1997 logo is still so prevalent. I know full rebrands of various departments (beyond just the logo) are in the works, but it surely wouldn't have been too tricky to at least swap out the BBC logo on the existing News/Weather/Sport graphics? Hopefully we'll start seeing the new logo on more shows, too (again, why deliver new shows with an old logo? Doesn't make sense).

[Rob]

Things are getting a bit out of hand here.

Either stop the arguing or stop posting in this thread.

[DTV]

A bit late to this thread, but, although I do think the 1997 BBC logo is very good, I've never been particularly enthusiastic about a lot of the surrounding branding and I do feel that both rebrand's obsession with uniformity does go too far.

Obviously there are real advantages to having similar styles across all of your products, but there are occasions when you need to let each subbrand have a personality of its own that somewhat deviates from the standard look. The 1997 logo system worked well for television because the logo is subordinate to the idents in terms of branding, so there were alternative means to get across the individual brand of each channel. But in things like radio, the logos just ended up bland and meaningless as there was no surrounding presentation to convey the character of each station. I'm also not sure that the rigidity of the logo system worked well for CBBC.

This is why I generally prefer something along the lines of the 2007 BBC Radio rebrand. All the radio stations had a clear, individual style, but were also clearly related and it easily fitted alongside the wider BBC brand. It's also why I'm not as opposed to the 2001-onwards boxed logos as many other forumers. Although I think they were, in some cases, poorly executed and the BBC logo should have been more prominent, giving each channel a signature colour (and possibly even font) was not a bad idea.

In all, my reaction to the question 1997 vs 2021 is somewhat mixed. I definitely prefer the logo of 1997 and I do have a fondness for Gill Sans (though not Gill Sans Bold and I'm not anti-Reith, it's just not for logos). And sure, 2021 is making some of the same mistakes. But 2021 is also eschewing total uniformity and, although few of them are self-explanatory, I do think that the symbols for services idea could be interesting. 1997 was certainly better executed (both in timing and quality of the work), but rigidity isn't always a strength. It's a hard call.

[BBCMeridian]

A bit late to this thread, but, although I do think the 1997 BBC logo is very good, I've never been particularly enthusiastic about a lot of the surrounding branding and I do feel that both rebrand's obsession with uniformity does go too far.

Obviously there are real advantages to having similar styles across all of your products, but there are occasions when you need to let each subbrand have a personality of its own that somewhat deviates from the standard look. The 1997 logo system worked well for television because the logo is subordinate to the idents in terms of branding, so there were alternative means to get across the individual brand of each channel. But in things like radio, the logos just ended up bland and meaningless as there was no surrounding presentation to convey the character of each station. I'm also not sure that the rigidity of the logo system worked well for CBBC.

This is why I generally prefer something along the lines of the 2007 BBC Radio rebrand. All the radio stations had a clear, individual style, but were also clearly related and it easily fitted alongside the wider BBC brand. It's also why I'm not as opposed to the 2001-onwards boxed logos as many other forumers. Although I think they were, in some cases, poorly executed and the BBC logo should have been more prominent, giving each channel a signature colour (and possibly even font) was not a bad idea.

In all, my reaction to the question 1997 vs 2021 is somewhat mixed. I definitely prefer the logo of 1997 and I do have a fondness for Gill Sans (though not Gill Sans Bold and I'm not anti-Reith, it's just not for logos). And sure, 2021 is making some of the same mistakes. But 2021 is also eschewing total uniformity and, although few of them are self-explanatory, I do think that the symbols for services idea could be interesting. 1997 was certainly better executed (both in timing and quality of the work), but rigidity isn't always a strength. It's a hard call.

Well what I love about the 1997 BBC Rebrand is that everything was perfect, all of it's services had corporative logos including CBBC, if only it stayed that way had it not been for the people who were in charge of presentation by 2001 messing up the logos and made it a complete mess.