The music and reality TV channel launches a new logo to explain its new brand identity better. But is it a success?
You may remember VH1, which originally stood for 'Video Hits 1', as a nostalgia-tinged, adult-oriented music video channel, an alternative to the up-to-the-minute pop and teen focus of MTV. If you haven't watched VH1 lately you may be surprised that, like MTV, it now features a mixture of music programming and trashy reality shows like 'Mob Wives' and 'Single Ladies'.
The minimal new logo incorporates a plus sign to indicate a broad range of programming
As a way of putting a positive spin on its apparent identity crisis, VH1's new logo design features a plus sign. This, the channel says in an explanatory video (below), signifies how VH1 has become "the ultimate mash up of music + pop culture + nostalgia".
It's the first change to the channel's logo in 10 years, and greatly simplifies things, settling for a simpler, single-colour typeface that's a world away from the complex, mutli-coloured design of old (below).
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The new logo is now in use on VH1's website, and hovering your mouse over it brings the 'plus' to the forefront to ram the point home. Here's the promo spot to promote the channel's new identity and logo:
One issue may be that people will think the logo represents an entirely new channel called 'VH+1', which is separate from the main 'VH1' channel. That's exactly what two of us in the Creative Bloq office assumed on seeing the new logo - it will be interesting to see how many other people make the same mistake...
Is VH1's new logo a masterstroke of brand reinvention or a desperate sticking plaster over a muddled identity? Let us know your views in the comments below!
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