Which was our best logo of all time?
The CBC’s logo has remained remarkably consistent in our history, but there have been changes.
Incidentally, CBC Archives has an outstanding site called Days to Remember with schedules from CBC eras gone by. I especially am in awe of the 1942 radio schedule, with such shows dedicated to updating school children on the war, then, later, a discussion group about what to do after the war.
The CBC logo (its official name is “the gem” though many of us still call it the “exploding pizza”) is protected by all sorts of rules set down by the corporate logo police. They include:
- Do not stretch or distort the logo
- Use approved colours (red, white, black or grey) only; no purple, no green, no blue, no orange, etc.
- Do not reproduce an isolated part of the logo, or outline the symbol; logo must be used in its entirety
- Do not reproduce the logo at an angle
- Do not place the logo on a heavily patterned background or complex photograph
- Do not put anything (including type) over the logo
- Do not make the logo dimensional (i.e. do not make it appear 3D in a 2D application)
- Do not encase the logo in another shape that may be mistaken as part of the logo.
- Though tempting, the 1970s version of the logo should never be used as the hidden image in one of those Magic Eye graphics
(Fine, I made that last one up.) But it’s all for good reason. Here are just a few of the various logos that existed prior to Fall 2001 when the new logo rules came into effect:
If you had to design a new CBC logo, what would it look like? Feel free to make one and email it to me: tod {at} insidethecbc.com.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:23 am CST
I voted 70’s but I much prefer the current one and wouldn’t change it.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:26 am CST
Where’s the “dot” logo?
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:38 am CST
Paul: Yeah, I couldn’t add it since the voting widget I use only permits five choices. Hmph.
Dwight: Huh? What’s the dot logo?
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:59 am CST
It must be nostalgia, but I think the ‘Flying Wings’ logo is the ‘coolest’ of them all. Somehow it catches the idea of radio waves ‘flying’ across the country in an almost art deco-like fashion.
My first job with the CBC was in Prince Rupert. I arrived just before the studios on Stiles Place were sold, and in cleaning out the place we found this huge (about 5′X5′) chunk of wood with that logo printed on it.
It was shipped down to Vancouver and mounted outside the radio tech offices…is it still there????
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:36 pm CST
Being an archives guy, I also have a soft spot for the “wings” logo, and the 70s one has a nice retro feel. But as far as being iconic, you can’t beat the current logo. It’s the easiest to carve into a pumpkin!
(Oh, and is the poll closed, or is it regarding me as the same IP as someone who has already voted? I only see the results.)
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:06 pm CST
Hmmm… I think I’m going to have to change poll providers. I think it believes everyone at the CBC is coming from one IP address (which, technically, I suppose we are).
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:03 pm CST
The dot logo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CBC_logo_alternate.jpg
You can see it on the museum cameras in near the Wellington St. entrance to the broadcast centre.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:18 pm CST
People have forgotten the beautiful elegant *original* logotype for Newsworld (N flowing into W). Superb.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:19 pm CST
And in fact it was too good for design-hostile Canada and the skittish middle-aged pipsqueaks at Newsworld, who amputated half of it and replaced that half with the “gem.”
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:20 pm CST
Tod: An example of the “dot” logo adapted for the TV arm exists here. There was a variant for “Radio” as well as one without either subscripted legend. I believe I posted a photo link to an old souvenir glass with that last on Ouimet’s blog once a few months ago.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:46 pm CST
The butterfly says so much and says it with such flare. Even the map speaks to the vision of the CBC. The last three logos appear to be committee-approved branded corporate graphics lacking in any metaphor or vision.
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:19 pm CST
Joe, I still remember the original animated “globe logo” that Newsworld started out with, before the stylised “NW”.
January 4th, 2007 at 1:54 pm CST
70s and the current logo are in a tie with me, which might just be speaking to my personal style rather than any kind of design sense. That unfolding animation of the 70s logo used to trip me out so much as a kid.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:18 am CST
Er…
/me peers suspiciously at the “inside the CBC” graphic at the top of this page….
January 5th, 2007 at 2:17 pm CST
Paul: Shhhhh…