Creating the Wave The Art Director Speaks Memo From Management

Prairie Public Broadcasting is getting a whole new look!

This message to the public from Prairie Public's then President and CEO provides insight into management's expectations for Prairie Public's new logo and into the role image plays in the vision for a corporation's future.

You've been seeing a certain set of images for Prairie Public Broadcasting for well over 10 years. The aqua and blue words PRAIRIE PUBLIC BROADCASTING represent the longstanding logotype. On television, viewers see a map of the upper Prairie and hear a saxophone glissando. For radio's letterhead, a green musical note dominates.

But graphic imagery--and Prairie Public Broadcasting--has changed over the past decade. Public radio now serves nearly two-thirds of the state. Public television is now statewide in North Dakota. Prairie Public Broadcasting uses television, radio, satellites, microwave, videotape and the World Wide Web to distribute its programming--and we know that we'll use other technologies in future. And finally, Prairie Public Broadasting has completed a three-year financial recovery and strategic plan. All these developments suggest that it's time for a fresh look.

Any redesign effort begins with concepts--how the organization is now perceived, the services the organization expects to provide, the vision for the future. And we began with a group of external marketing professionals who helped discuss these important issues.

From these concepts Les Skoropat, PPB's long-time art director, developed some possible approaches. But he had a demanding challenge. A logo must meet a variety of technical requirements: it must fit on letterhead, business cards--and on the television screen. It must be adaptable to movement for television and accompanied by a distinctive sound or burst of music for radio. It must work well in color or in black and white. It must look good when presented in large scale and when reduced.

Most importantly, the image must suggest the qualities of the organization. We wanted to communicate forward movement, comfort with technology and a sense of stability and value.

In the redesign, we listened very carefully to our members and friends. Most of them called us, simply, "Prairie Public." That nickname bespeaks affection and familiarity--and so we've adopted it for the logo. Our corporate name remains Prairie Public Broadcasting, Inc., but we'll refer to ourseleves as our listeners and viewers do--as Prairie Public.

Although some logos are literal, depicting exactly what the companies does or makes, Prairie Public's logo is more subtle. It could be the letter "P"; it could be a river. What do you see?