ITV Network Rebrand

I don't think tarnishing everyone on here with BBC-bias is really necessary - Red Bee's track record is about as hit and miss as every other branding agency and a now tenuous link to the BBC is not going to stop people going for the juggler if these idents turn out to be poor. Personally, I don't like ITV4s and if ITV1s turn out to be just as much of a whimper then I'll be shouting for the current look to return!

It just seems no-one is interested in high production, explosive, 'PAY ATTENTION YOU ARE WATCHING THIS CHANNEL' type idents anymore. It's all arty nonsense accompanied by some poor marketing justification and quiet soundtrack. Whatever happened to a strong brand/logo and working with it?

And to be fair to ITV, full credit for continuing to bother with special idents for some of their programmes long after the Beeb had given up.

I think thats the downfall of the idea. ITV won't listen, the BBC didn't. Most *normal* people find the dancers boring and pointless, but they are still there.

I couldn't agree more with Asa's comments. What's happened to our TV channels? Most countries still have big, explosive idents. Remember what our station's identities used to be like in the late nineties? We had Sky corporate idents that were HUGE, a graceful BBC balloon flying over the country and regional ITV stations with huge logos like LWT and Scottish TV's silver thistle, which I would love to return!!

And it's worth remembering that design and branding agencies don't just produce something for a client and force them to use it. The client works with the agency and can say no to any idea at any stage .

It's those two points where I can't see why their idents arn't very well received on here.

The idents are very old school (big logo, animation etc), no arty marketing nonsense, do what they say on the tin etc, and they provide dozens of special idents throughout the year.

What more do people want really!?

I expect the reason maybe because there are always comparisons to be made to the regions, and therefore everything 'ITV1' will always be received a poor as it isn't the region name.

I can guarantee come January whenever people will want the current ident set back!

Agree with Asa re BBC1, ITV, M&M, five, BBC4, Sky 3, ITV4 but I think Channel 4's idents are cool and in-your-face, as are the BBC2 Fire, Circus Act and Remote Control Car; plus Sky Sports News, Sky News and BBC3 are good idents.

Best ident ever is the BBC Two Fly Zapper or the mid-90s LWT.

Well there are a few good graphic designers like Lambie-Nairn,English&Pockett and Foundation33.Now i know some people think Lambie-Nairn are rubbish,but we wouldn't have the Carlton or ITN News Channel idents without them.

I agree with you there, that one sums up the point of in your face, the symbol formed is a big LWT with the music screaming LWT at you albeit with a dum-dum-dum-dum-dum, DUM!

Haha, those dums could pretty much be Yorkshire and Central too!!

I think the problem is that I see a lot of tv channels and it looks like their branding has been produced by somebody at a design company picking thru a list of fonts and deciding that I will have that one, charge £250k for the privellege.

There doesn't seem to be an object as a ident these days to brand a station which is a shame.

I much favour big and bold logos, or idents which focus on one singular object. That is probably why BBC ONE's set of idents don't appeal to me as much, because they are live-action with multiple people; they don't have any real twist or effect to them.

And while BBC FOUR is more creative than ONE, I'm not really impressed with the current look they have either; I liked the previous 'sound-responsive' idents more but I guess it's still very 'arty'.

I pay equal attention to soundtracks; everyone has their own particular tastes but I dislike tracks that are too upbeat or light hearted, and would prefer atmospheric scores or strong rousing sounds with impact, but I suppose ultimately it needs to fit the ident. The BBC ONE balloons had very nice music, and the 91 -2001 BBC 2's (Steam, Swan, Catalyst et al) had superb tracks IMO.

ITV1's idents (excl. ITV Day which I really dislike) are simple and clear but fail to stand out and there isn't much difference across the set; Channel 4 and five are both better in that respect in my view.

I personally think you can't beat the old Sky Premier ident. Even to this day when I see a clip of it, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. That's how TV should be!