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When London-based Weareseventeen took on the branding for the BBC’s new offering – BBC Nordic and BBC Nordic Plus, a rollup of BBC Brit and BBC Earth in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland – it chose to look on the bright side.
“Our strategy for BBC Nordic/Nordic Plus is built on insights from our Scandinavian audience and their culture and the channel programming,” wrote Weareseventeen on its website. “Conceived to capture the multi-faceted nature of the channel, the brand idea ‘The Bright Side’ conveys intelligence, wit and contrast.”
With The Bright Side as its brand anchor, Weareseventeen, working closely with BBC Studios, went on to identity BBC Nordic’s brand pillars. It landed on Bright Entertainment, signifying the channel’s “spark and optimism; Warm Connections, indicating the connection between the UK and Scandinavia; Illuminating Moments, signaling documentaries and factual programming; and Cultivating Contrasts, to capture the entire spectrum of programming offered on the channel and its accompanying on-demand streaming service.
Once all of that was determined, Weareseventeen set about exploring how it could present light in a surprising way. The agency developed the idea of prisms, which eventually became both the core of logos for both BBC Nordic and BBC Nordic Plus and for the complementary palettes of both services.
The heart of the identity, according to Weareseventeen, is a glowing diagonal stroke, drawn from the line at the center of the letter “N” that slices through the screen.
Sticking with the “N” as the logo’s centerpiece, Weareseventeen cleverly incorporates the letter into the negative space of “Plus.”
The color palette is also centered on the ideas of light and dark – or dawn and dusk – with BBC Nordic crafted in pastel and gradient hues of teal, blue and purple. The selected shades are also reflective of stark Scandinavian landscapes and clean Scandinavian design.
BBC Nordic Plus takes on the complementary hues of radiant orange, leaking into rosy shades of yellow, pink and purple, like the sun coming up in the morning.
“BBC Studios have worked closely with the team at weareseventeen to bring BBC Nordic and BBC Nordic Plus to life,” said Sarah Johnson, lead creative at BBC Studios Creative EMEA, in a statement on weareseventeen’s web site. “Using our audience insight-driven creative approach, coupled with weareseventeen’s strong design expertise, together we’ve built a bright, warm and inviting brand identity across all platforms.”
READ MORE: Design Taxi
CREDITS
Client: BBC Studios
Agency: Weareseventeen
Executive Producer: Jade Annaw
Executive Creative Director: Stephen Simmonds
Strategy Director: Craig Wood
Creative Director, Brand: Nick Bentley
Creative Director, OSP & Idents: Gary Roberts
Producer: Stuart Neilson
Design Lead: David Davies
Senior Designer: Chris Barker
Motion Designers, Brand and 3D Development: Mario Ruggerio, David Davies, Jason Drew, Gabor Ekes, Serhat Goktas, Marcos Savignano, Joseph Winston, Arran Bish, Alban Contrepois
Head of 3D, Idents: Jason Drew
Creative Leads: Mario Ruggeri, Gabor Ekes
Motion Designers, Idents: Gabor Ekes, Mario Ruggerio, Jason Drew, Joe Maker, Dan Fitzgerald