CANALE 5
1 Logos and restyling over time
Television broadcaster founded in Milan by Silvio Berlusconi. The origins of the “Canale 5” logo date back to 1976, the year in which the television broadcaster “Telemilano 58” adopted the logo with the snake from the flower in the mouth (derived from the logo of the “Milano 2” district with the Visconti symbol, designed by Enzo Mazzilli) inside a frame with right and rounded angles, alternating; the snake is shown with the tail positioned like a wave made up of 4 segments, the head with an 8 petal flower and the writing “Telemilano 58” (UHF channel on which the network was broadcasting). This logo underwent a slight restyling in 1977 and in 1978 it was inserted in a shape that resembled the television screen.
In 1979 it was transformed, for a short time, into “Canale 10” and then definitively became “Canale 5” in 1980 from the union of 5 television stations in northern Italy that presented uni fi ed programs and advertisements: Telemilano 58, TeleEmiliaRomagna, TeleTorino, VideoVeneto and A&G Television. It fully adopts the logo of the old broadcaster “Telemilano 58”, replacing the number 5 (number of broadcasters that are part of the consortium); the logo turns brown.
It is said that in 1981, during the layout of the network’s first schedule in the “Giornale Nuovo”, number 5 was enlarged and incorrectly positioned on the original logo; personally supervising the operations, Silvio Berlusconi approved this new layout. Therefore Cesare Priori, creative director of the Fininvest Group, fine-tuned this change by transferring the number 5 from the frame so as to take on greater strength; he then decided to change the same font as the number: from Helvetica to Venus extra bold.
In 1985, again Priori, with a further restyling, considerably streamlines the logo: further importance is given to the number 5 which becomes the tail of the snake itself, the lines are stylized and the stem of the flower is omitted for the first time. The official color of the logo becomes black with a red flower. In 1987 another restyling involves the omission of the frame.
In 1996 Silvio Berlusconi requested a logo to be placed on the tail of the aircraft he had purchased. Mirko Pajè was in charge of the project: the designed logo was an essentialized snake that travels on a circle that represents the world. Berlusconi liked this stylization so much that he wanted it to become the sign representing the entire Fininvest Group.
In 2000, on the occasion of the broadcaster’s 20 years, a new restyling with various details: the logo is enriched with the word “Mediaset” composed with the capital italic Gill font. In 2001 the restyling of the logo was entrusted to Massimo Pitis; the operation affects the number 5 which subtly varies its proportions, streamlining a little. Then the head of the snake softens, losing the central step with a curved line that joins the two upper ends of the element; the flower gets smaller. The color of the logo changes again, from black with the red flower to dark blue with the orange flower. In the same year the logo of the Mediaset group was redesigned.
In 2018 the restyling was presented and, for the launch campaign, also the official spot of its evolution. The new payoff was also adopted: “Always with you”. This change in the visual identity of the flagship network interprets and summarizes the evolution taking place in Canale 5 programming with an increasingly dynamic, streamlined and lively style. In practice, the logo lightens its proportions and acquires brightness thanks to a more stylized sign; this logo was designed by Mirko Pajè, creative director of Mediaset.