As featured in the May 2012 issue of desktop magazine, over the next few weeks, we will be revealing our top 10 Australian logos of all time, as voted in by you and our panel of judges. Read more about the feature and our judging panel here.

All research and writing by Larissa Meikle and Estelle Pigot.

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10th place was awarded to SBS.
9th place was awarded to Australia Post.
8th place was awarded to Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
7th place was awarded to Nine Network.
6th place was awarded to Woolmark.
5th place was awarded to Woolworths.
4th place was awarded to Commonwealth Bank.
3rd place was awarded to City of Melbourne.
2nd place was awarded to Qantas.

1st place: ABC

Affectionately referred to as ‘The Worm’, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) logo was submitted in 1965 by staffer Bill Kennard. An ABC staff competition had been running for two years in the search for a symbol for the government body. Space engineer Doug Rickard suggested a design based on the waveform of an oscilloscope. Senior graphic designer Kennard, who had been brought to Australia from his previous role as a lettering artist for the BBC, and designer John Spatchurst reworked the idea and presented their squiggly suggestion (technically termed a ‘Lissajous curve’), for which they were paid £25. The words ‘Australian Broadcasting Commission’ (as it was then known) were added to the logo and it remains Aunty’s consistently comforting visual shorthand, undergoing only a few tweaks over the past 47 years.

Kennard, who began his career as a lettering artist in the British film industry, was recruited from the captions department of the BBC in London, during a drive to attract overseas talent to help build the Australian national broadcaster.

The ABC logo is based on a 3:1 Lissajous figure

1965 logo by Bill Kennard and John Spatchurst

The impact of technology has been the driving force of evolution for this logo. With the introduction of colour television in 1975, the design experienced its first facelift with the line thickened to allow for colour to be used (an ABC source believes that this was designed in-house). It was also treated to the ‘over and under’ effect, showing the crossover of the line in the design. The 1975 logo served as the longest-running design with a lifespan of 27 years. In 1998, television promotions featured Australians drawing the logo in the air, which celebrated the pervasiveness of the design and the ownership that viewers everywhere felt over the brand.

In 2001, Harcus Design was commissioned to address the ABC identity and create a consistent and over-arching implementation across its multiple media platforms and divisions. The result was a primary monolithic identity, formed with a sinuous, three dimensional rendition of the Lissajous curve with a reflective silver finish, proudly crowning the concise customised ABC typography. “The intent was to create a contemporary brand identity that referenced the ABC’s past and heralded its future – a future as a clear-sighted, independent and progressive entity” says Annette Harcus. The logo was applied to all applications from screens to stationery and is still in use by the ABC today. In 2008, rumours spread that the logo was heading for the scrapheap. ABC loyalists were up in arms and the network was required to issue a public statement assuaging the fears that the rumbles of digital television would squash the worm.

1975, ABC logo

2001 (current) logo by Annette Harcus

Last year saw the ABC logo refashioned once more to accommodate the digital television era, which saw the television channels split to ABC1 and ABC2. ABC engaged Iloura to work on the rebrand, which saw Harcus’ silver curve incorporated into identities for Aunty’s multiple channel offerings. Design director Finn Spencer says he was impressed that, “[The ABC] really stuck to that desire to make a modern mark that would stand the test of time. It was a great process.” The biggest challenge, Spencer notes, was to show that ABC1 was still a trusted news source, but that its offering also includes quality family entertainment. “The ABC is very close to a lot of people’s hearts and change isn’t always easy,” he says. “Our vision for the rebrand was to engage with new viewers without disrespecting the ABC’s existing audience.”

The scientific simplicity of the logo has seen it become an enduring icon of Australia’s cultural identity. It commands a familiar authority and, despite some cosmetic reshaping, is instantly recognisable as the mark of ‘Everyone’s ABC’. Any loyalist watching the ABC during the 1980s and 1990s can still enthusiastically hum the jingle and draw the symbolic logo in the air.

2011 ABC1 and ABC2 branding by Iloura