BY Armin

Three Disjointed Logos from UKTV

Britain’s UKTV is a network of nine channels providing every kind of content from gardening to drama, while providing a range of those channels with +1 timeshifts, meaning the same programming runs one hour later from its original. I mention this since the logo above is the new name and identity for what used to be UKTV Gold +1, and is one of three channels getting a new name and logo to be broadcast this coming October.

Until now all UKTV channels — except for the Dave channel which dances to its own beat — followed the same brand architecture formula of using the lovely UKTV logo locked up with the name of the channel in Gotham, and when necessary, the “+1” identifier. I have to admit that I am not familiar at all with the content of these channels, nor the associations viewers make with them, so I will have to defer to our British counterparts to ascertain the appropriateness of these changes (or to correct me of any wrong assumptions I make). As far as logos, well, the feelings are global I think.

At first I thought the Watch logo was supposed to be focused on reality TV, running every single Big Brother episode ever; the name and watchful hidden camera icon make it seem overly voyeuristic. Instead, from what I can gather, it just runs a few drama programs and bills as its flagship the Richard & Judy show which is moving from competitor Channel 4 to UKTV. It’s an eye catching logo for sure, and is somewhat hypnotic, so as a reaction I like it, but I’m not sure I get it. The typography seems needlessly futuristic.

Alibi will be devoted to crime shows and other drama programming. I kind of like this one, specially with the play of the missing dot on the first “i”. And the typewriter typeface adds to the private investigator mood.

The absolute worst in this new package is for the comedy channel Gold, with a very unpleasant typeface in a very uncomfortable curve. There is no hierarchy, no distinction between tag line and name, and it sure as hell isn’t funny. Well, it’s funny like watching someone fall flat on their face.

Unlike Discovery, which has been making some hits and misses with their rebrandings but have, overall, maintained a certain simplicity throughout, these UKTV channels — developed by UKTV’s marketing team with Red Bee Media — are very disjointed and appear to dilute the brand with highly dissonant logos.

Thanks to Paul Lloyd Johnson for the tip.

\n\nBritain's UKTV is a network of nine channels providing every kind of content from gardening to drama, while providing a range of those channels with +1 timeshifts, meaning the same programming runs one hour later from its original. I mention this since the logo above is the new name and identity for what used to be UKTV Gold +1, and is one of three channels getting a new name and logo to be broadcast this coming October.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners