New logo for Free TV Australia by CRE8IVE

Free TV Australia is an industry body which represents all of Australia’s commercial free-to-air television licensees through advocacy, innovation and strategic advice. The members of Free TV Australia are Seven West Media, Nine Entertainment Co, Network 10, Southern Cross Austereo, Prime Media Group, WIN Network and Imparja Television. The organisation provides a forum for discussion of industry matters and is the public voice of the industry on a wide range of issues.

“We are at an inflection point for the future of our industry, both in terms of changing viewer behaviour and the resultant pressures on our regulatory framework. With these changes in mind, the time seemed right to revitalise our brand.

“The inspiration for our new logo is television without borders, which reflects the fact Free TV Australia is a modern, future-facing organisation. It also highlights the vibrant and innovative future of the commercial free-to-air television sector.”

Bridget Fair, Free TV Australia Chief Executive Officer
Old logo for Free TV Australia
Old logo

The old logo had a tried-and-true composition of icon and type, with each balancing the other visually. The icon looked like an eye, but I can’t speak to the relevance of that. The lines, though, hinted at “television” as they gave the impression of scan lines. The type was suitably set (in FF Dax), establishing an appropriate hierarchy between “FreeTV” and “Australia”. The “TV” ligature and rounding off of the uppercase strokes were also a nice touch. It’s hard to go wrong with a blue colour palette and the old logo was no exception. Overall, it was a fine logo.

The new logo is described as a “television without borders”, but if you’re trying to convey a TV shape in a logo, the borders are the TV. With those two arbitrarily selected segments removed, what’s left looks more like a couple of square brackets rotated 90 degrees. Oh, and they’re not even square. The bowed edges are reminiscent of an old tube TV, rather than your modern flat panel. Not very “future-facing”, is it? And we only know it’s meant to be a TV because of the name. Why not add more lines to depict a TV stand, for example, and make it obvious?

In terms of the type, the word “AUSTRALIA” feels rather disconnected as it floats outside those thick, dominant borders. Placing the word inside would have allowed the logo to have a cleaner overall shape.

Evidently, the use of a rounded sans-serif typeface and a gradient of analogous colours lend the logo a more casual and friendly appearance. But when considering which logo appears more fitting for the peak body of an industry, I don’t think there’s a contest here – the old logo wins out.