Lambie-Nairn logo for BBC3 channel

Lambie-Nairn’s logo for BBC3, the BBC’s digital channel for young people, is unveiled exclusively in Design Week today, as the service prepares to go on air in February next year.

BBC3 was finally given Government approval late last month, after the broadcaster’s initial plans attracted criticism for not being distinctive enough from commercial channels like E4 and Sky One. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has insisted BBC3’s programming, which targets 25to 34-year-olds and replaces BBC Choice, ‘must be of a consistently innovative and risk-taking character’.

BBC3 head of marketing Claire Jullien says the identity needs to ‘make a statement’ about the channel’s values and personality. ‘Lambie-Nairn’s design has to sit with the BBC’s portfolio of brands, while creating stand-out from other channels,’ she says.

The group is currently developing stings and idents to bring the logo to life in an on-screen environment. Lambie-Nairn creative director Charlotte Castle says the logo – created by Lambie-Nairn designer Matt Penney – is only a small part of the BBC3 identity.

Castle adds, ‘Because the blocks [of the main BBC identity] need to be the same, we only had the three to work with. We wanted to give the logo some individuality and the potential to work in 3D.’

BBC3’s schedule will mix music, drama, arts, education and current affairs. Twenty per cent of its programmes will be interactive, Jullien says. This is likely to offer opportunities for designers, as the BBC’s in-house interactive design capacity is already stretched and a tender process for consultancies to work with BBC New Media is now under way (DW 19 September).