BBC Three gets a bold digital brand refresh

To help BBC Three reconnect with its audience, Studio Output has created a brave and beefed-up brand refresh for the digital channel. Following in the wake of a controversial new logo design for BBC Three that was revealed this time last year, this brand refresh is the perfect opportunity to build on that redesign and tweak the channel's online platforms so that they're fit for purpose.

• Designers react to the new BBC Three logo

As well as refining the channel's visual toolkit, the brand refresh also aims to define BBC Three's character. Having been through a few iterations, the BBC Three brand has proved to be a confusing channel to create content for. Thanks to workshops with people behind the channel, Studio Output arrived at a memorable character that can work across all touch points, from social through to broadcast.

Seeing as it's a digital platform, BBC Three is freed from some of the static guidelines that constrict traditional broadcast channels. This can be seen in the infamous and under-used 'Tricon' logo (three white vertical bars on a pink background) created by Red Bee in 2016. By liberating the design from the BBC blocks, the logo becomes a flexible brand asset that can work as a window into BBC Three content.

This flexibility extends to BBC Three's presence in social environments. By creating guidelines for the existing brand typeface, layout and framing, Studio Output have given the channel distinctive elements that will help BBC Three to gain attribution for its variety of content.

Acting as the branding equivalent of responsive web design, this new living identity will shape-shift to suit different content and platforms. To introduce people to the new brand and help them to use it, Studio Output has built an online hub filled with up to date downloadable assets.

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