BBC Three – Rebranded
Gavin 23/01/08, 16:04
BBC Three’s new logo, devised by Red Bee Media
To be completely honest, we’re rather sad here in CR towers at the thought of the imminent demise of the cone-shaped blobby creatures (devised by Aardman Animation for Lambie Nairn’s original BBC Three branding package, delivered almost exactly five years ago) that moved and grooved to the sound of Three Is The Magic Number…
But time marches on - as does technology – and the need to identify the channel as something that will exist beyond TV – on the internet and mobile media – is main reason, apparently, for the rebrand, although we can’t really see why the current identity couldn’t be extended into other mediums and formats. “This is a rebrand which has multi-platform at its heart, not as an add on,” explains Charlie Mawer, Executive Creative Director at Red Bee Media, the agency behind the rebrand. “The challenge we felt for the rebrand of BBC Three, was to make it feel a more populated and alive place – to reflect that it is a world buzzing with new talent and offering genuine viewer interaction beyond the programmes. Youth brands today live or die by their openness to the creativity of their users or viewers”.
Red Bee Media have been working on the rebrand since June last year and have worked with Agency Republic and also Nexus Productions, who produced and animated the six new idents, six stings, and three promo-openers, as well as supplying additional web design.
The logo itself appears far more friendly and rounded in form than the previous chunky capital logotype – similar in style to another media channel logotype…
Heart FM logo, by BB Saunders
The new BBC Three idents will breathe life into the new logo as it takes on a tubular quality. They aren’t finished yet but here are stills from three of them:
“Overall I wanted the films to contain an energy and excitement but also to offer something quite delicate, even beautiful,” says Carolina Melis, who directed the work at Nexus Productions. “An exotic, unusual world where the surreally comic could mix with the dramatic, somewhere where anything could happen, somewhere with a tangible sense of possibility and potential.”
The launch strategy involves creating a teaser campaign for the channel in advance of the rebrand and also a ‘be on TV’ space on the BBC.co.uk/bbcthree website.
If, like us, you feel sad about the BBC three blobs leaving, here’s a montage of some of the best idents from the last five years:
…and there’s even an ident to say goodbye…
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