Monday, January 7, 2013

PLUS ONE. VH1 goes 'plus one' as it changes its logo and adds a '+'; is a VH1 Classic logo change coming as well?


VH1 which MultiChoice dumped from its DStv channel line-up in mid-November 2012 to replace it with VH1 Classic (DStv 323) is getting a logo change and brand identity revamp - will the VH1 Classic logo be changing soon as well?

Viacom unveiled a brand-new purple VH1 logo which incorporates an iconographic "+" sign visually ambiguously in the letters of its new channel and brand logo, although VH1 Classic has so far remain unchanged.

I've asked Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) which ran VH1 on DStv and now VH1 Classic since November, whether the VH1 Classic logo would be undergoing a visual upgrade as well and I'm awaiting word on whether there would be a change or not for what South Africans see.

UPDATE 8 January 2013: VIMN Africa tells me there will be no changes happening to the VH1 Classic logo.

The new VH1 logo was created by the design company Gretel and the "+" symbolizes not just the larger social networking connectedness of modern TV viewers but also VH1's programming expansion into genres wider than just music videos the past decade.

MultiChoice "exchanged" the increasingly pulp reality-driven VH1 provided by VIMN Africa for the more "golden oldie" music video driven VH1 Classic, the logo of which has a more curvature 80s appearance.