...it was goodbye to the COW and 'TWO', as BBC1 and 2 both recieved a new ident...or idents in BBC2's case!
What were your thoughts on them at the time? Did you feel they were an improvement on their predecessors? What's your favourite 2 ident out of the original 11?
The "2" idents are great, which I guess is why they are still in use today (having been 'refreshed').
But I for one really liked the swirling BBC 1 globe designed by Daniel Barber (who worked for Lambie-Nairn) that replaced the gold/transparent electronic world. You had to stay up and watch the closedown sequence to see the new globe do all of its tricks, but I thought this was a natural and modern evolution of the mechanical models. It had a magical, mysterious quality as well as making me wonder 'how did they do that'. So much better than the rhythm and movement nonsense that Lorraine Heggesey gave us!
BBC1's 'gold disc' globe era was probably the most boring ident of my time.
You look back at it now and you think that is very nice and must have took some time to produce. But at the time no-one really gave a damn about it, it was rather unnoticed, possibly unwanted. The point of the 1991 rebrand was to give BBC2 a new look because people associated the channel with dullness and the TWO apparently reflected that. Where as the COW more people seem to remember it and it could have easily been used for a couple of more years, simple yet effective.
Even on the last closedown of that ident era, nothing was said heralding it's exit, no-one gave a damn, then the next day came a new look which many preferred, and at the same time brought a breath of fresh air and a colourful new look to BBC Presentation.
...it was goodbye to the COW and 'TWO', as BBC1 and 2 both recieved a new ident...or idents in BBC2's case!
What were your thoughts on them at the time? Did you feel they were an improvement on their predecessors? What's your favourite 2 ident out of the original 11?
Discuss!
As a big fan of the COW globe (21 years old on Saturday!) I was absolutely appalled when I saw its replacement for the first time at the start of Going Live - it just looked a hideous mess, and I still don't like it much. It had a pretty poor reaction on Points of View that week as well.
As for BBC2, well the concept of multiple idents was completely new. At first I just thought they were ridiculous and bizarre, but after a few weeks I grew to like them. I think Silk was my favourite of the original batch.
Ah yes, the legendary '2' idents. What a huge jump from the rather dull 'TWO' to the range of sequences that came along in 1991.
I'm not really sure if I had a favourite 2 at that time (out of the lot I would probably say Silk), although I did pay them more attention than the virtual globe - but don't get me wrong, the globe was fine. But the 2's were more captivating.
I've concluded my favourite ident(s) to me now, from that era, are the 2 versions of Copper Cut Out - a great moody haunting soundtrack (as many of them were!) with the metallic 'clang' that fits the imagery superbly. Also something better visually about the B/W version, with the only colour being the signature viridian sparks, even more striking against the monochrome 2 and background.
Paint had a good innings. First to be played in '91, last to be played in '01 - went the full distance!
We've probably seen the last of them, I really do miss the set. But nevertheless, Happy 15th!