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Iwate Broadcasting Co.,Ltd (株式会社IBC岩手放送, Kabushiki-gaisha IBC Iwate Hōsō), also known simply as IBC, is a television and radio station affiliated with the Japan News Network (JNN). Their headquarters are located in Morioka, in the Iwate Prefecture of Japan. IBC was founded in 1953 and began airing regional news and programming three years later in 1959.
Over a thirty year period, IBC had established itself within the prefecture, and been around long enough to have experienced change across the media landscape. In 1984, at time in which change seemed frequent, it was felt that the time had come to change ‘body and mind’, in an effort to keep the station moving forward and its employees united under a shared vision for the future.
IBC worked with renowned Japanese designer Ikko Tanaka to renew its visual identity. This would be based around four key ‘understandings’ which were defined by the ‘31 Committee’. This represented the interests of all IBC employees and stakeholders.
The ‘IBC Basics’
1. IBC is a prefectural media.
2. IBC strives for regional development.
3. IBC acts boldly.
4. IBC thinks youthfully.
Key questions were also raised by the committee around what was expected of IBC at the time and would keep it moving forward. The answer was a renewed internal and external cooperation and a new code of conduct. The new visual identity intended to unite IBC employees, outwardly express a common goal and communicate to the general public that IBC was modern and forward looking. Based on these ideas, Ikko Tanaka devised a new IBC logo and logo type.




The logo was based on the IWATE's initial "I". Above it, an elliptical shape with an upward-sloping motion sought to give the impression of a parabolic dish, reflecting an aspect of the new media age. When looked at on a larger scale, Tanaka suggested that this slanted eclipse also called to mind the solar system rotating in space. Further, the upright rectangle, forming the base of the ‘I’ also worked as a symbol of IBC's stability, a company rooted in the earth of Iwate. The ‘B’ and ‘C’ follow the same typographical logic of the previous logotype, maintaining a form of continuity between old and new.




In order to ensure that the new logo and logotype concepts were properly understood and their application consistent, Tanaka developed a basic usage standards guide. This showed the logo implemented across signage, business cards, vehicle livery and stationery. The guidelines also defined the various lock-ups, and divisions of TV, Radio and Sport in both English and Japanese. Helvetica was then used as the corporate typeface.
As a small detail, a silver metallic ink was used to layer in technical details and grids throughout the graphic standards manual.
As noted in the introduction to the manual and speaking to employees, the IBC director of the time noted that these rules were there to ‘enrich the corporate image of IBC’.




IBC continues to broadcast today, and has adapted to the online era of new media. It also maintains the logo and logotype designed by Ikko Tanaka in an unaltered form.
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