20 Years (1991-)

seeing those bbc 2 1990s stings makes you realise just how great bbc presentation was in those days.

bbc one had stings of similar quality which I recall too.

I think both bbc one and two packages are pretty dull and uninspiring, it's true that they're probably better than what came before (there were a couple of good dancer idents I liked, such as acrobats), but they are looking tired and haphazard.

the current bbc set must be heading towards the end of it's like now though, based on how long these things usually last.

I think there is definitely scope to expand the bbc '2', it's really limited only by imagination and those stings above show what could easily be developed into ideas for full idents and the same goes for bbc 1.

I look back to presentation of old, and I think that right now, channel 4 is perhaps the only channel with something innovative and clever.

I think the "2" is still as strong a symbol now as it was 20 years ago, the problem now is that it's been around for so long that it'd probably cause an uproar if it was ever dropped & quite frankly I can't see another style of "2" being used for the channel nowadays, it's just too iconic like channel 4's "4"

The funny thing is that they kept adding & adding to the original set, and it still worked well, some idents only lasted from the last set only lasted about 14-16 months but were still great. I think they tried capturing that back with the current set after the yellow ones, however it seems as if they want to move away from the windows of the world theme & move onto something else, I think they could go back to the 1991-2001 style but with completely new idents.

Indeed, on the same token, the Balloons could probably be wheeled out for BBC One and used again. Sadly that is unlikely to happen.

Yeah the Balloons worked very well, I like the current set (much more than the dancers but they still feel more like "ITV 1" than "BBC 1" to me, had the balloon not happened I think they should have gone with the "1" from 1991, they definitely missed a trick there IMO.

I think any use of the 1 in a modern way would be slammed for being too much like Sky 1's recent efforts.

I don't think either the Balloon or the 90s 2s would look out of place if they brought them back tomorrow (with updated logos etc.).

I don't think a bbc one logo would/could be easily compared to a sky one logo.

whilst sky one is a very well known channel, I don't think their brand is that strong, simply because they don't stick with anything for very long.

the channel must have had 5 or six logos since i've been a subscriber.

http://thetvroom.com/images/pool-4/415/main-767.jpg

this logo seems to stick in my mind as being around the longest, but even then it wasn't around that long.

I think there are only a handful of channels (channel 4 and bbc 2 come to mind) where their identity is so strong that only elements of the logo need be on the screen before you instantly know what it is you're watching.

I think bbc one could have had a logo that strong and they did indeed miss a trick with it.

whilst the bbc balloon ident set was for me by far and away my most favourite bbc one set, I think had they still been on screen since 1997 we would be very tired of them by now. they were a great idea, great concept, excellently executed and beautifully produced, but they were of their time and everything has to move on.


the 1991/3 bbc two set remain my favourite identity ever, the execution and haunting music just worked so well together. I have fond memories of sitting around my friends house waiting for red dwarf to start and seeing that firecracker ident (which was almost always used to introduce RD iirc), but would these idents not start to look a little worn out if they were still on screen, 20 years from when they first started? I think so.


I think part of the problem is that both those packages were designed by perhaps one of the best design agencies in the world and now they've tried to save a few quid and gone for the red-bee factory, whilst a few of the uktv brands and idents are clever none of their work seems to have the class and sophistication of lambie - to be honest, when you look at the brand strategy section of the red bee website, everything looks dated and bland already.

What I meant was I don't know how you'd be able to use a 1 in people-based idents (as BBC One has used exclusively now for almost a decade) without being comparable to the present/previous Sky1 idents. Add to that the fact it's BBC One now, definitely not BBC1; BBC Two could still be either really.

I agree about Sky One's logo itself being unmemorable.

It's probably the success of the 2 which doomed the 1 as I think comparisons with BBC2 would have been the bigger problem than comparisons with Sky1. And also with BBC3/4 around the (next) corner at the time, it would arguably have limited branding options for future channels launched.

Of course there is no debate the balloons could have survived for longer and would easily have fitted into the box era - and beyond that though I've little complaint about the current idents (well, before they hacked away at them), the balloon idea could have been developed further - even if it was something as simple as making a plain red balloon the channel motif.

Sorry, I was talking about if the '1' were to be reintroduced today; my mistake!

I watched back a lot of the idents today & I still think they look great & would still work well on screen today, especially Paint, Neon, Silk, Steam, Diary, Paint, Copper Cut Out, Balloon Dog, Car, Woodpecker, Catalyst & Wave.

Who cares if they don't have people mincing about round the logo, why does every ident need people in them, why not just the straight forward symbol doing something, like the original 2's or Channel 4's current crop (yes I know they have people in them but they're not the main focus)

BTW, Steam is still one of my faves, the music is wonderfully haunting & moody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7gocv9Ifrg

Apologies don't know how to embed a video from You Tube

I have a question, which of the 2's from 1991-2001 were computer generated & which were model's, a lot are quite obvious (car, neon, dog) however a few I'm not sure about like glass & blade, and I only say that because I've read elsewhere that all were models yet glass always looked like CGI to me.

Remember they were made in and before 1991. I expect most were models. Blade (is that the one that falls from the sky and embeds into a surface on the pointy bit of the 2?) would be very easily done, although it may have taken them a wee bit of time to get the angle and distance from the point of entry correct, and then slow the footage down.

Glass is easy, they just create a 2 shaped out of crystal and have moving light sources above and around it reflecting/refracting.