tagged: Advertising, TV

Iconic Trademark Celebrates 60 Years

Posted by Patrick in Advertising, CBS, TV

The CBS Eye made its debut sixty years ago today, becoming one of the world’s most recognized symbols and a case study in simple, yet powerful graphic design.

On October 20, 1951, America saw the giant round eye for the first time on the CBS Television Network. Its designer, William Golden, a staff graphic artist, based the design on Shaker art and hex symbols, like the all-knowing eye, painted on farms in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

The original concept was an eye in motion:  several concentric eyes appeared and as the camera dollied in towards the center eye, its pupil opened, revealing itself as a camera shutter.  After flashing the network identification, it closed to a black screen, cueing affiliate stations to air local commercial breaks.  That first year, CBS immediately began plastering the eye on everything from rate cards to ash trays to curtains in the various studios.

The alternate version of that first year’s logo featured it over a cloudy sky with the words CBS Television Network superimposed over the pupil. The network’s biggest stars would do voiceovers promoting their shows while viewers looked at the new logo.

But all of this widespread use left Golden, as the story goes, with a big problem:  what was he going to do for the next year?

The network’s then-president, Frank Stanton, removed all doubt, ordering Golden not to ditch the design.  And the rest is graphic design history.  It is one of the few logos in history with this long of a use that has not undergone any redesign.  While its settings and backgrounds have changed year after year as CBS rolled out different graphic looks and animation packages, the eye itself is the same design it has been since day one.

In the world of graphic arts, that’s impressive.