PBS logo 1971 & 1984
Herb Lubalin and Chermayeff & Geismar’s logos for PBS, 1971 & 1984.
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In 1971 PBS had a problem. Despite having over 200 TV stations across the United States viewers thought of these as being local rather than part of a national broadcasting network. As non-commercial and publicly funded organisation, developing a sense of scale and authority would be essential in positioning itself against those that were commercially funded as it sought to grow further.
To develop a more ‘national image’ the broadcaster worked with renowned American designer Herb Lubalin (ASICS) to create a new logo. This would replace the basic wordmark, set in an uppercase sans serif, and employing three colours that was used at launch in 1970. Lubalin explored a number of options.
An early idea presented to PBS was solid geometric initials tightly tracked, with stars used as counters, and red lines running through the lower half. PBS responded, saying that the concept appeared too much like the American flag, that removing the stripes and focusing on the letters and the stars might be better. With this direction from PBS the stripes were removed and stars added to the lower counters, but questions were raised as to why so many stars.
Starting again, Lubalin explored various iterations that used fewer or one star, but when these failed to meet with approval, then moved on to an eagle. Concerns were raised about the seriousness of the image, and again, further iterations were developed to address this concern, but failed to land. As well as the eagle and stars motif, a variety of other concepts were developed that combined the letterforms with arrows.
What Lubalin described as the ‘obvious solution’ came out of the name, ‘public means people’ and with this, turned the ‘P’ into a stylised face, creating the now iconic first nationally recognised PBS logo.
Lubalin’s design lasted over a decade, until 1984 when, to overcome what was described as a ‘serious problem with the prior identity’: its focus on the initials. With this concern in mind, a new PBS logo was commissioned.
This new logo, and the visual identity it would be part of, intended to further support the continued expansion of the network, which had grown to over 300 local stations. Simplifying and formalising all aspects, beyond the logo, was essential to conveying PBS’s position as a reliable national broadcaster
The logo devised by Chermayeff & Geismar, which would replace Lubalin’s, depicted a stylised profile of a human face repeated three times using positive and negative space. This ‘playfully’ put the ‘public’ in public television, replacing one figure with many, and in so doing, did away with the ‘BS’, as ‘no one knew the meaning of it’.
Despite the change, a clear continuity remained, with only subtle ‘cosmetic’ changes being made to the face and its direction. The familiar PBS image was described at the time as having been ‘refined and expanded to create a new profile for PBS and its member stations’ and ‘transforming the logo into a symbol’. The suggestion was that the new logo could work for PBS at a national image and, at the same time, be something that affiliated stations could comfortably adapt for use in developing their own identities.
Accompanying the logo, and adding to the corporate identity, would be a distinctive type style. This was set in ‘Lubalin Graph Demi Bold’, which would be later released in 1974 as a commercial font. As well as adding a corporate typeface, Chermayeff & Geismar also ‘limited’ the palette to a ‘few fresh vibrant colours’ that would insure a family resemblance without the monotony of ‘identical twins’. These were formalised within a new brand identity document that reached further than what had simply been a logo.
The effect of this would be the definition of a usable identity that a large number of local stations could easily use and play with, that would contribute to a larger whole.
Member stations could take advantage of a new ‘heightened awareness’ by using the symbol to enhance their own local promotional efforts, be used to generate greater overall awareness of Public Television, and to promote and support specific PBS programs that would go out nationally.
The change wasn’t without controversy. As a publicly funded broadcaster, the cost of $35,000 caused concerns. Bob Michals, of The Palm Beach Post described the previous logo as “vastly superior because the ideal corporate logo can stand alone without any additional text and still be readily identifiable by the public. The new logo simply consists of a silhouetted lace that the design firm of Chermayeff and Geismar Associate claims symbolically represents "everyone”. Despite this concern, the logo continues to prove its worth, and remains in use today, in an only slightly modified form.
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