By Samuel John Klein of Portland, Oregon - Graphic Designer without Portfolio, aspiring artist who dawdled too long.
Today there was a post simply saying "Wieden+Kennedy Seeking Designers, Writers, Thinkers, Makers" (sounds kind of like stalking, no?). Suppressing the urge to scream, in my bad Chuck Heston, "W+K is made of peoplllle, it's PEOPLLLLLLE!!!!!!!1!, I sallied forth down the URL.
I mean, what the hell, right? I may only have junior designer skills, but I'm not afraid to bite the big one, as my personal history might amply illustrate. We shall not explore that territory here, however. What I will say is that I think I filled in an employment app. I think so. It was a polished but adventurous sortie about what I think of myself.
I was given a list of qualities, and checked off the ones I think applied to me. I found out I was checking off quite a lot. I'm sure I wasn't Lake Wobegonning myself, but I do see a whole lot of those qualities in myself. Thing is, they're not all operant in all situations: sometimes some qualities dominate, and some qualities I only use every once in a great while. It's like I was looking at a bunch of tools on a shelf; which do I use most often.
Above all, I was honest about my responses. I do believe these things of me are true things. Self-evaluation is sometimes an escapade–a rather harrowing one.
In the end, after posting the last response, I was informed that Robin will be contacting me. Robin may be like Betty Crocker; she may or may not exist, because as many people as want to be able to say they associate with W+K, they'll have to clone her (or him) due to the demand on this.
I've gone way off course here, though. The real point of commenting on W+K's seeking was that amazing web questionnaire. W+K are famous for their creativity, and this was a tangible example of why they are. Not everyone I know would think of this: a folded ribbon, kind of like a Möbius strip, carries all the textual information. The opening screen has a subtle way of getting you to click to the next bit of info (I'm wondering if it was an IQ test now).
The whole experience combined submission of information and the solving of a puzzle. It was fun, and even though it was visually very simple, it was visually very engaging. The flow was obvious and it was kind of an adventure. And if you go, whatever you do, don't pull the pullchain ...
Oh, hell, pull it. It won't hurt anything.
Tags: Wieden+Kennedy, W+K, web design, pdx_design
The current logo portrays the KPTV-that-is-now; Portland's FOX affiliate–slick, mature, serious. It was a long growing-up. History will recall that Portland's own KPTV was the first TV station in Portland, and may well be the first commercial UHF TV station in the world (the award for first UHF station proper going to a Bridgeport, CN trasmitter (KC2XAK) that was an experimental effort). Ironically, the first owners of KPTV–Empire Coil–bought the transmission equipment for KC2XAK, shipped it cross country, and assembled it on Council Crest ... as KPTV's first transmitter.
It signed on as KPTV-Channel 27 in September of 1952 carrying all four then-major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont), and, as commercial television exploded in Stumptown from 1952 through about 1964, changed affiliations and swapped networks; KPTV was at one time an ABC station, and an NBC station. In 1956 KPTV and another local station, KLOR were brought under one corprate umbrella; at the end of April, 1957, KLOR went dark and KPTV moved into the Channel 12 spot on your dial, where it's been ever since.
My personal recollections of KPTV 12 start way after these halcyon, salad days, and I remember, from my vantage point in cosy, close Silverton (where even Mount Angel was a toll call) that 12 was the "other" station–the one where you watche the reruns and the old shows, that reran 50's vintage episodes of The Mickey Mouse Club looooong before "retro" became fashionable, where you went to see Star Trek in syndication before it too became fashionable again; it was the channel of the Jerry Lewis Telethon where "Ramblin" Rod Anders collected curbside donations as the famous fishbowl drop on SW Broadway.
As far as I'm concerned, Ramblin' Rod was the most sincere children's host out there (and was an accomplished perfrormer, coming as he did from a notable range of local talent who transitioned to the small screen via 12, such as Heck Harper and Bob "Addie Bobkins" Adkins) , and professional wrestling pretty much died with Frank Bonnema.
What was then telling about KPTV was that there was a certain "homemade" feeling about it which made it seem a little unfashionable next to its big network sisters. That may sound like an unfortunate way to describe it, but when I say it I actually do mean it in the best possible way; when the other stations had slick art up for their station ID cards, KPTV's looked like a master letterer had done them by hand. if design can express passion, these graphics did; they were done by people who cared, people who very likely not only gave a damn about what they were doing but loved showing it to everyone who could watch.
This legacy–local talent, local production, home grown–continued through the first years of the 21st Century, culminating with the move from KTPV's old studios of nearly five decades–735 SW 20th Place, just off Burnside where Morrison merges in at the Kingston Tavern, and just behind Civic Stadium–to a state-of-the-art facility at the foot of SE Caruthers Street ... only to leave the city entire a scant few years after when Meredith consolidated KPTV's operations with KPDX's in a business park out near the Cornell Rd/Bethany Blvd exit from the Sunset Highway.
Now, I don't want the good people at KPTV now to think I don't like what they're doing–we're stuck on Good Day Oregon as the niftiest AM show in Portland, and today's KPTV knows not to mess with success, keeping Perry Mason in its historic noontime slot weekdays and running the best syndication it can find, just like Yesterday's KPTV did.
But it seems like something ineffable is gone. I can't quite put my finger on it. There's a certain spirit that was diminished once Oregon's 12 became FOX 12 Oregon. Fairly or unfarily, that's just my impression, and exactly what that is, I'll leave that up as an excercise to the reader. I kind of hope some people want to argue it out in the comments. What makes Portland Portland? Are TV stations part of our terrior, our sense-of-place? I think that's why the evolution of KPTV's logo appeals to me–Channel 12's look communicates something subliminal, that can't be put into words, about what makes Portland Portland.
Maybe because it was here first, who knows.
But the point of all this is the logos, and how they have changed over the years. KPTV, as it happens, have had several looks over the years. Let's get back on point and take a look at a few of them.
First, here are two ID cards from 1952 and 1953; Wake up, PDX, you're in the video age now!
KPTV's first Station ID card, ca. 1952
KPTV Station ID card from 1953, featuring classic Saint Johns Bridge shot
The first one is glorious, no? According to Ron Dunevant, webmonster of Yesterday's KPTV (and who gave gracious permission for me to borrow his images; thank you, Ron) :
Obviously hand-drawn, it represented the hard-work of the employees who got the station up-and-running just weeks after tower construction began
A very can-do image pertains. The card is as charming as is passionate. The one with the Saint Johns Bridge is a recurring theme–I distinctly recall KOIN using a similar shot–but the Saint Johns is a Portland icon, and what better way to use it on television?
Now, let's take a rocket ride through the 1960's:
KPTV "Satellite" logo card from 1962
It's the age of Sputnik, and KPTV is following the fashion. If only they know that the world would become even smaller than they could have dreamt. The abbrevation of "ORE." in the city name is charming and quaint.
KPTV Station ID card from 1967
Whenever I see this one, the voice of Rod Anders echoes through the memory: KPTV, Channel 12 ... A Chris-Craft Station!. Chris-Craft industries started out by making boats and diversified into a basket of industries, including media. These days, Chris Craft is back to just making boats, and KPTV is on the FOX net. There's a symmetry there somehow.
The style of type stayed consistent through many representations: the call-sign in extended type, the bold sans-serif 12, the mysterious four-pointed star (maybe it was borrowed from the lady in the Portland city seal) and the baseline leading away from the 1. It was a clean, simple design that lent itself well to at least a few interpretations.
Now, on to the 70's. This period was dominated by what I call the "Four Easy Pieces" logo; it looks like someone clicked them all together like a handful of Legos. The 1 in the 12 grew a quiff, and the play of bold mixed-case letters (the P and V are majuscule, the K and T are minuscule) generates a bit of playful energy.
KPTV's 1972 logo
It wasn't long before the four easy pieces found a home on the Chris Craft banner card, as well.
KPTV Station ID card from 1973
Modern, dynamic, stylized–very 1970's.
1975: President Ford had declared our long national nightmare over, the CB-Radio craze was just getting into full-swing, and KPTV pushed the envelope with the presentation of a diagonal line of 12's and the four easy pieces diminshed below them. Further, the line if 12's were animated to appear as marquee lights.
KPTV Station ID card with the "Running Lights" logo,
circa 1975.
While an exciting change (seriously–I enjoyed watching the promos with the "running lights" line of 12's) it proved graphically limiting in layouts, leaving a diminished area above and left for program specific graphics:
Programming announcement with the "running lights" 12's.
Notice here that the 12's at the far left and the far right are dimmed
out, displaying the marquee-lights animation in action.
The problems in layout should be fairly apparent here.
This graphic treatment lasted little more than a year.
Starting in 1976, KPTV debuted a clever, dead memorable design for its identity:
1976 Station ID card featuring "Rectangle-12" logo design
The logo uses simple typographic tricks of unifying forms and cutting out pieces to create a very strong and memorable design. Perhaps without meaning to, the unity of the K with the P and T with the V pays homage to the Four Easy Pieces (which gave similar colorations to the KP and the TV pairs). None of the joins feel forced or overly arbritrary, and the way in which they're done actually makes a sort of symmetric desgin out of the dissimilar letterforms.
And the change wrought on the number 12 are nothing short of brilliance. Unifiying the 1 and the 2 within the rounded-rectangle lifts the letters to the next level to the status of icon, one which even today stands strongly along industry classics like the legendary Circle-7.
This is TV Station logo design done right. It lends itself well to a variety of treatments, from disco-era neon:
Surprisingly, sweet rave parties were still some years in the future.
To the day someone over at KPTV discovered Photoshop (joke, fellahs, joke!).
In seriousness, the way the stylization was carried into the word "PORTLAND" from the call sign "KPTV" is well done.
And even worked well when the stylized type was left behind as we worked our way through the '90s:
But times do change and so do station affiliations. In 1995, the UPN network debuted KPTV joined itand in 1996 the station removed from its home of decades to the east side of the river. But, as we've seen here, strong design has legs.
Longevity is its own evidence. The Rectangle-12 had a lifespan of 19 years. You can't improve on a good thing.
From then, the UPN years saw a little experimentation, eventually settling on the Oregon's 12 logo, of which this is a very good example:
The station, as I recall, flirted with simply calling itself Oregon's 12, but never quite got away from carrying the call sign KPTV whereever it went. This, in my opinion, is to the good–that call sign to this day has immense good will pertaining, and it would be foolish, I'd say to delete it wholly (even today's FOX 12 Oregon can be found at KPTV.com) The Rectangle-12 has morphed into an outline of the state of oregon containing a 12 with a half-serifed 1, which perhaps unintentionally pays homage to the way the Rectangle-12 connected and, more prosaically, allows an interesting typographic form while allowing for the tight kerning between the 1 and the 2 that's requred to make the logo a success.
Despite transmitting from Portland and primarily serving the Portland market, KPTV during these days made an effort to get its viewers thinging about Oregon as a whole. The "1 Oregon" campaign, comprising 30-second spots featuring notable Oregonians from all over the state, went a long way toward it, as did the then new AM news block, Good Day Oregon (Not Good Day Portland), so the "Oregon's 12" approach worked very well–it communicated an insipring remit, and a station that really wanted to be Oregon's station.
Now, of course, we're in the era of FOX 12 Oregon. We still have GDO and we still have Perry Mason, we still have The 10 O'Clock News. We now have The 11 O'Clock News and The 5 O'Clock News on weekends; KPTV has become a major news player locally.
We look back in fondess, we look forward with hope. Who knows what the future will hold for Portland's Own KPTV?
For more of the KPTV scrapbook, visit the Yesterday's KPTV site. Tell Mr Dunevant that ZehnKatzen sent you. It's the most loving tribute to Portland's broadcast history that I (or, I think, anyone) can name.
(Credit: The station photo of the 1996 stuidos was nicked from Melvin Mark's website; the station photo of the old building on SW 20th Place was clipped out of a screenshot at the front door of Yesterday's KPTV. All station logos were courtesy of Yesterday's KPTV and used with permssion, we thank Ronald Dunevant for granting permssion, mounting and maintaining the Yesterday's KPTV site, and for generally existing. He's skookum).
The City of Portland has good information available at the city's website, Portland Online, specifically, going to this page will take you directly to the page that not only has Portland cycling maps but also maps for surrounding cities.
They are free for downloading but, if you look in the middle of the page you'll find a link where you can put in a mail request. They'll gather up a handful of the maps you want, throw in a couple of pamphlets and a cool bumpersitcker or two, and send it off to you just for the asking.
That's right, basic good biking info for the asking. The above photo shows you what you'll get if you ask for the whole banana. And I suggest it; what with fuel prices being what they are, I think that people will more and more be taking to people power in the next few years to get round this town.
This picture is of the big TriMet logo that's still mounted on the south end of the bus barns–that big building at the northeast corner of SE 17th Ave and Holgate Blvd. If you ever see a bus with the words "CENTER GARAGE" on it, this is where they're going:
The story the logo tells is pretty basic. It was redesigned a couple years back; the logo was effectively and successfully simplfied, and the arrowheads were removed, reflecting the observation that bus riders don't necessarily have downtown Portland as thier origin or destination.
This next photo is of an old logo I particularly love:
This is on the side of a workshop across the street from PGE's main base, which just so happens to be just north of TriMet's headquarters on SE 17th Avenue. This logo is just plain cool (and I used this photo as the reference for creating my own Adobe Illustrator version (illustrated here and seen for the first time in this post).
I also very much enjoy PGE's current logo, which I feel pays a certain thematic homage to this old logo, which, in my view, is as close to pefection as it needs to be.
Keep an eye on your surroundings. Learn not just to look, but to see, and you'll sometimes be surprised what will come at you.
1053. If you've been wondering what it looks like down on the Portland Mall but haven't had the chance to get downtown (like me, and like me) then you'll be happy to know that TriMet has more info for the masses:
The most exciting episode of TriMet TV so far is Episode 3–with video of the installation of the crossings and judiciously used voxpops and sound bites from some of the construction crew–give a view of the construction process that I really can't find anywhere else. I wish it could have been just a little bit longer.
The other two episodes are really just general informationals, done to a pretty high standard: Episode 2 is an overview as said, nothing you don't already know if you've been following this, and episode 3 is a good introduction to Transit Tracker–though I would have liked to see a little more "behind the scenes" with this one, and a voxpop would have been well used here.
Still, I think TriMet is doing a good job with TriMet TV–and the Mall construction gallery is dead fascinating.
1045. Weiden+Kennedy Studio.
The "baseball cards" are clever and hee-larious.
The (insert MOTAS spec here) are pretty hot, too.
1020. Jeff Fisher, one person I want to grow up to be, is having a book signing of his newest, Identity Crisis!, at St. Johns Booksellers. Regrettably, I won't be able to be there–non-desgining drudge job still owns me, alas–but I would highly recommend all y'all attending if you can do so. Any of you who does so, say "hi!" to him for me, neh?
Details follow:
Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher book signing at St. Johns Booksellers - November 8th
St. Johns Booksellers, the neighborhood bookstore of North Portland graphic designer and author Jeff Fisher, will be the location of a presentation and book signing for his new book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands, on Thursday, November 8th at 7:30 p.m. Bookstore owners Liz Dorman and Nena Rawdah will host the event in their store, located at 8622 N. Lombard in the St. Johns neighborhood - about 15 minutes north of downtown Portland.
Identity Crisis!, a HOW Books/F+W Publications release, takes a fresh look at 50 before and after case studies, from designers and firms from around the world, by exploring the process of redesigning existing identities to help businesses refine their image, communicate with customers, and find success. Designers seeking inspiration - and any business considering a graphic makeover - will be presented an inside look at the challenges of redesigning identities and visual examples of
creative and strategic thinking in achieving the desired results.The work of Portland design firms Fullblast, Inc., Sockeye Creative and Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, and Salem company Glitschka Studios, is featured in the book. Jack Anderson, of the Seattle firm Hornall Anderson Design Works wrote the foreward for Identity Crisis!
Title: Identity Crisis! 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands
Hardbound: 216 pages
Publisher: HOW Books, an imprint of F+W Publications
Release: September 2007
ISBN: 1581809395
Price: $35.00
