The story behind The Broad Experience logo

February 17, 2013

One of my main short-term goals for The Broad Experience has been to find a brand identity for the podcast. It's been tough. I knew what I didn't want - any hint of pink, sexy stereotypes, or clichéd woman-with-briefcase-and-baby images  - more than what I wanted. I just knew I wanted something distinctive that somehow summed up, for me, what The Broad Experience is about. I started working with designer and Broad Experience listener Christy Carroll early in the winter. She had me fill out a long questionnaire about the impetus for the show and what I wanted a visual identity to convey. Ultimately, what I've ended up with is something quite different than what I expected to like.

Generally I'm a lover of simple, clean fonts. But when I saw the early version of this design with the word 'broad' in such a different font, I was immediately attracted to it. American listeners know 'broad' is old-fashioned slang for woman, but it's one of the few such words that doesn't reduce us in some way. I loved the way Christy had made 'broad', well, broader than the other font, but also given it a slightly retro, '50s, feminine look. As my mother pointed out, part of what I'm doing with the show is talking about the way things have, and haven't, come on since the 1950s. She also said "turquoise was a very '50s color" (she was there). I'd had no idea, but I am drawn to all kinds of blues and greens. The woman in the lightbulb came from something I'd said to Christy, which is that The Broad Experience is a show about ideas. The figure was originally a reproduction of the female figure you see on a bathroom door. I wanted something a bit less generic, and Christy provided.

This broad is very happy with the new identity.