BBC ONE Balloons - did we need them?

Its coming up to 4 years since the BBC ONE Balloons were launched. I have been looking at the presentation of them, and comparing them to what could have been...

As much as I like the current balloons, I do think the original '1' symbol could have been used better. Instead of BBC ONE having a world theme, which now is a bit out-dated and hard to keep modern. If I had to choose, I would hae rather woken up on Saturday 4th October 1997, and seen the below idents, instead of the balloons. OK, so these one don't have the world theme, but in my view the '1' symbol is great and easily manipulated to fit in with anything. Look at the success of the BBC 2 symbols which have lasted over 10 years!!

These imaginery idents below would have had an intro, and then a slow camera movement, not to have it static. BBC ONE needs to dump the world theme, and bring back the old '1' symbol.

http://www.tvhome.f2s.com/ikonboard/upload/bbc1_01.jpg

http://www.tvhome.f2s.com/ikonboard/upload/bbc1_02.jpg

http://www.tvhome.f2s.com/ikonboard/upload/bbc1_03.jpg

http://www.tvhome.f2s.com/ikonboard/upload/bbc1_04.jpg
(Original images from The TV Room)

I love the balloon idents, and the ones below, because they are REAL! The balloons are filmed from a helicopter in some of Britains most wonderful scenery. The 1's shown here aren't, but they are filmed in front of a camera, whether they be models in a studio or wherever.

This is why I hate the ITV Carlton, Channel 4, and Channel 5 idents - THEY ARE ALL UGLY AND FALSE, DONE ON A COMPUTER.

S4C idents are 'Real', BBC Balloons and 2 Idents are real, and so are ITV Scottish and RTÉ.

What do you all think?

Getting rid of the globe theme, which has been used since the early sixties would be a big deal for BBC1.

We've all grown up with a big globe as the theme for BBC1.

But I do think those 1s look fab.

Those '1' animations do look pretty good, but the problem is the concept is exactly the same as BBC2 - eg, the figure placed in various situations.  I think it's better that the idents for each BBC channel are completely different with their own unique concept, with the |B|B|C| logo at the bottom being the unifying factor.

Putting the '1' inside the 1991-97 globe didn't really work for me, as it meant you could hardly see any of the continents; and was the main logo supposed to be the globe or the stylised 1? Having |B|B|C| ONE written at the bottom of the ident removes the need for the figure 1 and meant the emphasis could go back on the globe, albeit a globe pattern on a balloon.


(Edited by RW at 4:50 pm on Sep. 17, 2001)