New look BBC One - Jan 2017

A few £60s are pittance in TV terms. The BBC airs a range of promos throughout the year that would cost significantly more than the current set of idents, even though they're only on screen for a matter of weeks. I think they could have spent a lot more money on a new set of idents than people think but they've simply made a poor decision on the artistic direction of the new set.

I wonder how many of those cyclists in the resolve shot were actually there and how many are the same half a dozen people composited?

How many people feature in the "capes" ident? If all of them got paid £60 plus "fed well", it gives you an idea as to how much some idents can cost to make. It is therefore no surprise that the BBC have gone simpler. Although a CGI image wouldn't need paying at all - only the person who created it, and only once!

I wonder how many of those cyclists in the resolve shot were actually there and how many are the same half a dozen people composited?

There's obviously not as many as can be seen at the end of the ident (that shot was almost certainly done in the edit) in the real shot with the most cyclists in it there's 40 at the most.

Even if they employed 50 at £60 each, that's £3000 and a bit extra for the catering. That's not much in telly terms, I doubt they even hired the cameras for that

There was a pre-vis version of the ident someone had uploaded before it had all the effects added... It basically showed it was shot in an empty car park, but seemed to show all the cyclists were real.

How much did the ballons really cost. One ballon flying about thats cheap what sbout the helicopter? Now a days it would be a droon.

IIIRC the balloon was added digitally in the later idents, so in some aspects it would've been less complex to put together.

Hi Martin,

Is there a way you can possibly liaise to the BBC Creative team? The idents for both BBC One and BBC Two are simply appalling!

Kind regards,

Glenn Reuben

Hi Glenn,

I cannot remember if I responded to you re. your email about BBC 1 and BBC2 new dents.

Am currently in Brazil with limited email etc. But now am able to respond.

You ask if I have influence with the BBC design department. The simple answer is no. Even when I was creative director for brand at the BBC, I had no influence over the internal design department. That is why everything designed by me and my people was also produced by us.

However, the real answer to your question is is to be found elsewhere than amongst designers, internal or external.

On my departure from the BBC the Marketing people assumed responsibility for branding. Creativity became the servant of these people who held the budget and therefore the say so. Since that time the BBC has produces nothing of interest.

I still have not seen the work you refer to, but you are not the only person to contact me with the same comments. I can only assume that the same creative management holds sway and as long as it does the creative reputation, so hard won, will continue to disintegrate.

It is a shame, but creative leadership in the area of branding is in the hands of people who have budgets but absolutely no idea of how to judge or design great an effective work. Worst still they have no desire to listen.

However, these things come round again.

My experience is that one day someone with vision will wake up and realise that the systems and people who manage creativity in this area are not equipped to do so and changes will be made.

Maybe next time you may get a crack.

Regards

Martin