Monday 7 November 2011

The Radio Times Logos: 1923-2005

Over the years the Radio Times magazine has had many Mastheads, take a look back with me at the Mastheads to have graced the Radio Times over the years beginning with the 1923 Masthead.
British Isles Map Version 1: First seen 23rd September 1923 (no.1). Radio transmitter masts drawn in.

British Isles Map Version 2: First seen 29th August 1924 (no.49). Transmitter masts removed as the number of locations increased.

British Isles Map Version 3: First seen 6th February 1925 (no.72)

BBC arms: First seen 21st September 1928 (no.260)

Thunderbolt: First seen 10th January 1937 (no.693) ‘THE’ is dropped from the name of the magazine. Printed in red (shown) between 5th November 1939 (no.840) and 9th April 1944 (no.1071)


Squared Condensed: First seen 7th July 1946 (no.1188). Either black or reversed.

Squared Condensed Yellow: First seen 29th March 1959 (no.1846). 'Television' incorporated into the masthead.

Abram Gains (designer): First seen 8th October 1960 (no.1926) Black on yellow, green, blue and purple backgrounds

Clarendon: First seen 4th August 1962 (no.2021) Black on red, green, purple or blue (shown). Red, green, purple or blue on white from 6th October 1962 (no.2030)

Caslon Version 1: First seen 6th September 1969 (no.2391) Font: Caslon Italic with swash capitals. This was an attept to emphasise the R for Radio and T for Television.

Caslon Version 2: First seen 26th August 1972 (no.2546) Black on white background White reversed out of picture from 18th December 1976 (no.2771). This is the longest serving RT logotype, spanning over 22 years.

Caslon Version 3: First seen 3th September 1994 (no.3686) Designed by Martin Wait. Sometimes white reversed out of the picture

Gill Sans Bold: First seen 14th April 2001 (no.4024) often white reversed out of the picture.

Interstate: First seen 1st January 2005 (no.4215) Always white type, with key line and shadow if on a light background.