College TV station logo

[ryanmclaughlin]

Our school's Communication Studies major is split into three parts, the radio station, the newspaper, and the television station. The first two have a strong identity already, and the TV station has kinda wavered between a poorly-run club and the station. This year I and a few others have finally made it to the top of it all and are pushing for a stronger identity and branding for the station and all of our shows, to get more prominance funding and most importantly more students entering the major.

So... we need a (new) logo. The number one constriction is that it will be a "bug" as well, which is the little icon that goes in the lower right corner of all programs. So it needs to be recognizable, but not necessarily perfectly legible, at a very small size. And can't have too many colors/detail due to the horrible artifacting it will go through when broadcast.

We are a college station, but while there should be a certain amount of edge and youthfulness, I don't want that to come at the price of professionalism and class. I tried a few things with graffiti-type fonts that just looked too immature.

Here are two idea's I've come up with. I feel the first one is a little too bold and contrasty, but let me know what you think. The second one has a little bit of an older MTV feel to it, which I like. Does it bother anyone that the "SSU" on the second one is just floating there? If so, any ideas on how to anchor it?

[Satchel]

I like the first one better... I really dont like the font or the fuzzy tv on the second one. I think the first would be recognizable really small, like you need. Not sure what other ideas you've come up with but out of these two I like the first one the best.

[Craig B]

This is more of a quesiton, but does the old TV set bother anyone. It might just be me, but not many people have the old tube set with two dials (UHF, VHF anyone?)

I htink a TV set is too obvious and unneccesary. Take a look at how other stations handle their identifiers (even the larger ones like ABC, NBC, CBS, Showtime, HBO, Fox, ESPN ... whoever.)

I think if you free yourself from using a TV in your logo you'll open yourself up to some other great ideas. Keep kicking it around. Sketch some ideas out on paper (keep sketching until you can't any more ... then take a break, look at it a few dys later and sketch some more.)

[Satchel]

I dont mind the TV being actually inside a TV but I know a lot of people hate literal logos... I could go either way, but Craig is right... lots more options without it.

[ryanmclaughlin]

This is more of a quesiton, but does the old TV set bother anyone. It might just be me, but not many people have the old tube set with two dials (UHF, VHF anyone?)

I htink a TV set is too obvious and unneccesary. Take a look at how other stations handle their identifiers (even the larger ones like ABC, NBC, CBS, Showtime, HBO, Fox, ESPN ... whoever.)

I think if you free yourself from using a TV in your logo you'll open yourself up to some other great ideas. Keep kicking it around. Sketch some ideas out on paper (keep sketching until you can't any more ... then take a break, look at it a few dys later and sketch some more.)

The only thing I am thinking about is that we are always lumped together with our paper and radio station. I want it to be obvious from our logo what we are.

The way things are now, no one knows that we even have a TV station, and if they just see random letters in a logo around campus, I'm afraid they won't think twice about it and not notice it.

[budafist]

I like the first one better too. I like san serif font, but it's a bit boring, there are some subtle but more interesting sans serifs out there. Have a hunt.

You have a good reason for using the TV, I would try simplifying the tv some more.

What I have in mind is a local station we have: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=59720282

[the_punisher]

I completely agree with what Craig has said. Look beyond the obvious. Don't restrict your mind by simply thinking about how you can make a TV look like a logo. Personally, I love the NBC logo, looks GREAT in color and good in black & white as well.