In the blink of an eye...
Monday, Feb 12, 2007 @11:51am CST
In the
blink of an eye......
On Oct. 17, 1951, CBS unveiled its new logo, the CBS Eye -- which was
destined to become an American icon, recognized and respected around the
world, and one of the best crafted, most identifiable and most
successful corporate symbols in history.
The CBS Eye, first seen on the air on Saturday, Oct. 20, 1951 during the
Network's station breaks, also changed the way corporations of the day
designed their trademarks.
Over the years, the Eye has been seen in many different colors, sizes
and dimensions. But CBS has not tampered with the design. It has been
the Network's signature for a half-century, and the perfectly balanced
design remains unchanged.
In the book The Visual Craft of William Golden, Golden described the
creation of "my eye." He said, "Our 'service mark,' as the lawyers refer
to it, was conceived primarily for on-the-air use. It made its first
appearance as a still composite photo of the 'eye' and a cloud formation
photographed from an abandoned Coast Guard tower. You would imagine that
a cloud picture is the easiest stock photo to find, but it came as a
shock to me that there are almost no useful ones.
"It was originally conceived as a symbol in motion. It consisted of
several concentric 'eyes.' The camera dollies in to reveal the 'pupil'
as an iris diaphragm shutter which clicked open to show the network
identification and clicked shut."
Golden's original inspiration came while he was driving through
Pennsylvania Dutch country, where he became intrigued by the hex symbols
resembling the human eye drawn on Shaker barns to ward off evil spirits.
He also came across a drawing in a Shaker art book from the 1850s that
also looked like an eye. With the help of graphic artist Kurt Weiss, the
first Eye logo was drawn.
As the image became established, CBS President Frank Stanton was
determined to keep the CBS Eye in the public eye. He had the clouds
removed and emblazoned the symbol on cameras, curtains, buildings,
jewelry and rate cards. The next season, when Bill Golden prepared to
design a new symbol, Stanton overruled him: "Just when you're beginning
to be bored with what you've done is when it's beginning to be noticed
by your audience."
Needless to say....we kept the "eye". |
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