BBC Three reveals new logo and switchover date, face criticism over new look

A new logo has been revealed for BBC Three ahead of its move online, with 16 February announced as the date for the channel’s switchover.

The new logo is made up of two white bars and an exclamation mark on a pink background.

It has been criticised on Twitter for the fact it seems to say BBC 2! in Roman numerals.

BBC Three’s head of marketing, Nikki Carr, acknowledged the critics but added she was “not worried”.
“Some people are resistant to change and we wanted to be bold and create something that looks forward and will be around for years to come,” she said.

She added the logo needed to work both on TV and as an app icon, saying: “Look at Snapchat. They’re doing okay without having Snapchat in their logo.”

Ms Carr admitted following the BBC’s satirical show W1A, “we’re cursed at the BBC when it comes to marketing”.

Many have pointed out the new logo looks similar to a sketch in W1A where the team came up with plans to replace the BBC logo with three bars.

But Ms Carr explained the three bars were chosen because the new channel is founded on three principles which underpin everything it does.

“The first is ‘make me think’… The second is ‘make me laugh’… The third, the exclamation mark, is ‘give me a voice’, which is what we will do for young people,” she said.

Ms Carr said the BBC will make young people part of the decision making process at the channel and include them as content creators.

In the next few weeks it is launching a collaboration with 50 young creative people.

Content will range from short form films, blogs and animation, to picture-led stories and will be delivered daily via soon to be launched products.

In November the BBC Trust approved proposals to move BBC Three online as part of cost-cutting moves at the corporation.

It was agreed on the condition the channel’s long-form programmes would be shown on BBC One and Two, which is likely to account for around two hours a week.

On 16 February BBC Three will become more of a promotional channel letting people know about content that can be found online.

The BBC Three TV channel will go dark in the weeks following.

  BBC Three, Branding, Criticism, Design, Digital, Launch, Logo, Marketing, Media, New Look, TV, UK