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TVOntario (now TVO) is an educational television network formed out of, and run by, The Ontario Educational Communications Authority (OECA), a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario. OECA’s original mandate was to use electronic and associated media to provide educational content for all people in Ontario. On September 27 1970, the OECA began broadcasting, becoming the first full-time educational television station and the first UHF-TV station in Canada (ETV network). In 1974 it began using the on-air brand name ‘TVOntario’. It has been suggested that TVOntario host Elwy Yost (Magic Shadows and Saturday Night at the Movies) proposed the new name.

The logo was designed by in-house designer, and TVOntario’s head of design, Dick Derhodge. With its bold, playful and geometric construction, the logo feels wonderfully appropriate for the audience. The glyph-like VO retains a human-centred feel akin to pictograms and iconography, further connecting it to education and interaction. The accompanying wordmark is set in an untypically tightly kerned Optima (Medium weight).

Derhodge would go on to remain with the network for some 28 years, and together with his team would produce the on-air graphic look for many TVOntario programs, including the original kids show, the Polka Dot Door.

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