Rai Premium is an Italian free-to-air television channel operated by Rai, the Italian public broadcasting service. The channel is dedicated to Italian fiction, offering reruns of popular Rai-produced series, mini-series and TV movies.[1] The channel launched in 2003 as RaiSat Premium, and in May 2010 it changed its name and logo to Rai Premium.[2]
Design and History
On 10 April 2017, Rai Premium received a new logo as part of a coordinated rebrand covering ten Rai thematic channels: Rai 5, Rai Movie, Rai Sport, Rai Yoyo, Rai Gulp, Rai Storia, Rai Premium, Rai Scuola, Rai Italia and Rai World Premium. The rebrand completed a process begun in September 2016 and introduced a unified graphic identity across the entire Rai channel portfolio for the first time.[3]
The project was overseen by Rai’s Creative Direction led by Massimo Maritan, directed by Roberto Bagatti, Chief of Brand & Creative, in collaboration with designer Florencia Picco.[3] Rai Director General Antonio Campo Dall’Orto described the effort as giving “new value and new dynamism” to the visual identity through “elements of strong innovation” while referencing the teaching of the most important Italian designers of the 20th century.[4]
Bagatti explained that the design system starts from the square, the shape of the Rai logo. For the thematic channels, the square becomes a container in which the themes and genres of each channel’s editorial offering emerge.[3] While Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai 3 and Rai 4 use abstract solutions to reflect their generalist nature, the thematic channels use the square as a framework for depicting their specific editorial content.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
Bagatti cited designer Bruno Munari in explaining the symbolic value of the square: “As Munari wrote, the square stands, in the most ancient structures and in the cave images of the first men, to signify the idea of home and of country.”[3] This shared square motif was intended to make all Rai channels recognizably part of the same public service broadcaster.[4]
For Rai Premium specifically, the channel’s identity is tied to its role as the home of Italian fiction. Rai’s own description positions the channel as telling “Italy and its lifestyles” through Italian fiction, offering the most successful titles from the Rai catalogue and the characters most loved by the public.[1]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
