New TV Shows = New Logos

It’s the start of a new season (it’s suppose to be Fall but still feels like summer) and with it comes new TV shows on all networks big and small. After interning at FanBolt, I’ve rekindled my love for American TV shows and have been finding lots of gems out there. Of course while I’m watching, the graphic designer within me won’t stop analyzing everything! So here are some new shows that I keep running into and my thoughts/review on their logo.

I personally haven’t designed one yet, but from what I know here are my criteria for a great TV logo: 1) Expressive: at least shows a little what the show is about. 2) Pragmatic: these logos are not only used for TV but on marketing material from media kit to posters so they must be versatile enough for everything. 3) Distinctive and Memorable: last but most definitely not least, it must be distinctive to grab attention to get people watching.

1. Charlie’s Angels / ABC / Overall: C-

A revival of the TV shows from the mid 70s. The new angels are modernized with new clothes, gadgets, and looks but their logo was left behind it seems. Marketing material mainly shows an angular typeface with the dreaded gradient effect (in a nice sunset like color scheme but it’s not doing much). Personally, I hate gradient logo.

 

2. Hart of Dixie / CW / Overall: C+

I could not find a single picture on Google of the logo without Rachel Bilson somewhere nearby. When a logo can’t stand on its own for most companies, that’s usually a bad thing. Not sure if that applies to TV logos, but I do find it a little weird. The show is about Dr. Zoe Hart (Bilson), a doctor, who moves from NY to AL. There’s a country twang to the show and the logo attempt to mix professional with southern charm via serif and script fonts. It’s not very eye-catching but it’s not bad either.

 

3. Once Upon a Time / NBC / Overall: B

The show is yet to be aired, but revolves around a town in Maine called Storybrooke where characters from fairy tales are real but they don’t remember their stories. The typeface is a beautiful serif that’s also extremely modern. You can’t even see the serifs unless you look very closely. It’s a very good translation of the show into type. I just wish they incorporate some sort of illustration into it as well. It’s fairy tales after all! That butterfly isn’t cutting it.

 

4. Pan Am / ABC / Overall: A

Pan Am is a real airline during the 1960s and still operational today I presume. Sony Pictures Television, who produced the show, actually licenses the logo from Pan Am Systems to use for their show (Source: Wikipedia). The logo definitely has that years-gone-by look from the past. Not to say that it’s dated, but I just get a feeling that it’s been around for a long time like the IBM logo. The swept serifs is a great part of the logo. Overall, I think it fits the show very well.

 

5. Revenge / ABC / Overall: C

Amanda Clarke moves into the Hamptons as Emily Thorne and begins her plan for revenge. It’s speculated that most of the people there has done something that ruined her family and she’s gonna ruin theirs. The “g” in the logo is turned into an “infinity” symbol turned sideways. It represents something Amanda’s dad told her in the past and can also represents that circle of hatred revenge causes. Quite a clever use of symbols in the logo, but the rest is a bit uninspiring. I do enjoy the show though.

 

6. Ringer / CW / Overall: A-

Sarah Michelle Gellar is back! She stars as twins and her character tries to take the identity of her twin sister. Unbeknownst to her, her twin sister has some shady characters in her life as well. The double “N” in the logo ties in with the twins aspect of the story. It would’ve been awesome of the characters’ names both start with N as well but alas that is not so. The type face is really, really angular and sharp looking. It gives you that edgy feeling at the climax of scary movies which I love about this logo.

 

7. The Playboy Club / NBC / Overall: A

One of the most recognizable logo on the planet. No matter what color, type, or picture it accompanies, this logo ALWAYS stands out and gives the rest of the design that particular “Playboy” feeling. The show centers around employees at the Playboy Club in Chicago around the time of 1960s. The typeface for “Playboy” was taken directly from the magazine and the connection immediately puts the show under Playboy’s branding image. The other text is noticeably less obtrusive in a thin typeface. It’s a great logo.

 

8. The Secret Circle / CW / Overall: B+

This is one of my new favorite show this season. It’s a revival of the witchcraft genre Charm helps put on the map and centers around 6 teenagers with awaken witchy powers. The logo has that creepy factor to it with the irregular letters. The branches stemming off is actually a great touch in my opinion. However, with some of the serifs and the branches being so thin, this will be one of those logos that won’t work at small sizes.