BBC Two 2015 with 90s idents

Even that centralised (NI) logo doesn't work that well - it's not substantive enough. It's just the best of the available options. The 1997 logo did the job perfectly. I agree that the teal box logo doesn't look good. Reducing it in size a little and moving it further to the right (something like the 50 Years logo) would probably work better - but still not great. Oh and they could try making it look half decent in HD - even if the ident itself is SD quality, why not have an HD logo box? And why do they persist with that completely redundant 'Subtitles' text??? It's bad enough that it's there at all but it's made worse by the fact that they seem completely incapable of aligning it properly with the end of the teal logo box. Is it really that tricky?



There are many potential reasons why the channel's output is in the state that it is. Most large organisations are filled with talentless buffoons, who retain employment by kissing ass and saying "Fab, super, wonderful" when the answer really ought to be "What a load of sh!te". They are promoted to roles well beyond their limited abilities and put in charge of things that they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near. There are also many egos with little empires to protect and cliques in every corner. I'm sure there are many people in the Beeb who care about the channel's output and do the best with what they've been given - but are powerless to influence decision-making for the better.



Well, you never know what might turn up one day. But, yes, there's a good group of people in Belfast who really care about what they're doing and put a lot of effort in.

Before our proverbial spectacles get too rose-tinted, the 1997 logo was not perfect either. It did have a 'clunky' feel and, when used with Nations' text, where applicable, the text was a little too large and on the thick side. Having said that, I am still fond of it and, being a purist, I would prefer its use than the current centralized logo, though it ain't gonna happen ...it's a logo from the past.

No, I can't agree NI's centralized logo "doesn't work that well". I feel, overall, it's up there very close to the same level of respectability as the '97 logo, but for different reasons. It doesn't occupy a large area on-screen, and so is not overbearing, and the Nations' text, where applicable, is perfectly legible when you consider that most viewers will be viewing on larger screens these days. With the idents where the Nations' text would be hard to read, the colour is sensibly changed to black, such as with Car resulting in perfectly readable text.

Your points about the teal box, and the subtitles flag and its alignment, I have made ad nauseam, but just to say I am in complete agreement.



Agreed. Totally.

Here's a mock I knocked up a short while ago, with a smaller boxed logo, and further over to the right. Still much prefer NI's approach, though.

I'm not a huge fan of the 1997 logo - I just think it worked better on those idents. The current boxless logo isn't weighty enough - it's too small and the font too narrow. Yes, it's visible and legible etc - just not beefy enough next to the large '2'. Whilst Lambie-Nairn's 1997 logo revamp was great in that it brought consistency to the BBC's branding, I wasn't overly fussed on the execution - i.e., the sub-brand in regular font, next to the BBC blocks. That format left the door open to so much variation:

- People making up their own sub-brand logos, with the Gill Sans sub-brand lettering matching the height of the blocks, rather than the height of the 'BBC' lettering within the blocks. BBC Bristol was quite good at that, IIRC.
- The sub-brand lettering being slightly (but noticeably) out of alignment with the 'BBC' lettering inside the blocks.
- Different spacing between the last block and the start of the sub-brand lettering. I remember a version of the BBC Northern Ireland logo, which was used on screen quite a bit, had the 'N' very close to the last block and then a bigger gap between 'Northern' and 'Ireland'. Looked very clumsy.

I really wouldn't want to see the 1997 format making a comeback. Too much scope for people screwing up.



See comments above. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.



I don't think Red Bee are involved in the creation of new ident edits now, are they? Surely it wouldn't take much effort for someone in-house to make some corrections? The 'Subtitles' thing is a real annoyance. Wales and NI dispensed with this years ago. So surely can't be an official "policy" to keep this on the idents?



Looks better than the big teal monstrosity. But, still not great.

If it's still not great in your opinion, describe how you would change the logo on my mock to improve it (size, location etc) and I will have a go for you when I get time

BTW, Optics, via BBC2 HD, does have a HD resolution logo, if you weren't aware.



It's about as necessary, these days, as a Stereo flag.

You've done exactly what I'd suggested. I'm just saying, it still doesn't look fantastic. But I'd prefer it to the current Network and BBC NI executions.



Ah, good stuff. One small step forward at least. I've been away from home for a week and haven't managed to catch a live play of that one yet on Network. I'll look out for it.



Exactly. They may as well stick a 'Colour' caption on there too.

I think something more like the late nineties logo. The thing with that though its that it seems rather bulky now. I think something similar but smaller, neater.

Ooh no, I think the 1997 look and use of logo was perfect. You really couldn't get much clearer, I don't think.

Also, it's already been screwed up! I agree that perhaps we shouldn't return to the past now but the BBC does definitely another big Lambie-Nairn-style rebrand across the board, with emphasis on consistency.

No safe areas on this promo for Inside No9.

Rather special, I think.

That optic just reappeared now, it truly is only used every so often .

Breach of copyright, surely

The '2' logo is not the same as the BBC '2' logo.

Is it not? I thought that TfL and the BBC were co-producing a new batch of idents