itv1 xmas idents

Get rid of the ITV1 branding, and it's perfect... http://web.ukonline.co.uk/tv.home/forum/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Well moss, with the regional ident, they could put the regional logo in exactly the same place, with the purple spinning things in the background, and it would work perfectly!

The purple doesn't even clash too badly with the yellow!!

I think you have the general design, yes. It's the background I'm not sure about. The ident I saw had a sort of '3D' look to it. The [itv1] logo didn't look static, it looked a bit raised. The background was a bit blury and smooth, which is probably why the [itv1] logo looked a bit 3D. Having said that, I really can not remember what exactly was in the background. I remember the blue and yellow blocks, but that is about it. Overall, it looked very computer-generated. I was going to say it had flashes of blue and silver in the background, but since I've only seen the ident the once, and since it took me suprise, I wasn't exactly 'with it' at the time. It was not the generic [itv1] ident as shown through the night however, that I am certain of.

Not a bad effort, Jason. The problem is I can't remember the ident exactly the way it was, so I just can't visualise a regional logo on there as well. The thing that bothers me is the size and proportion ratio. The [itv1] logo was quite big (well no, same size as used on the christmas ident), but I just can't see how a regional logo could be made to fit - it would look far too small. Really, you would have to see the ident to know what I mean. I was going to say I was looking forward to actually seeying this ident in the new year, because it's starting to irritate me a bit. I keep trying to remember what it looked like, but I can't. I want to be put out my misery!!

And another one (Granada logo was screengrabbed so slightly lower quality)...

http://www.tvhome.f2s.com/upload/itv1-gtv.jpg

I must say, Jason, your efforts are much better than those of the current hearts rubbish we've had to put up with, BUT... there is just something bothering me about dual-branded idents. I think most people will agree that the hearts idents don't work, and to get a dual-branded ident to actually work requires a lot of time and effort. Clearly they have failed with hearts, and so I think they would fail with this new 2002 look as well. That is why I think they are best doing away with the regional logo on the generic ident. What I really mean to say, is that they should stick with just showing ONE logo on the ident. Unfortunately, it will be the [itv1] logo. Of course just the regional logo would be fantastic, but it's time to get into the business world and realise it won't happen.

Before Coronation Street, for example, does it really make a difference if they bung up a generic ident in preference to a regional variation? Or does it make a difference if they just say something like... '.... but right now here on itv1.....' in preference to '.... but right now here on Tyne Tees.....'? Fact is, it doesn't to most people! Since Coronation Street (again just used as an example) is shown right across the itv1 regions, it would be fair to just go with the itv1 preference. Also, I used to hate it when they would say something like.... 'and thats right here, ONLY on Tyne Tees!' when infact it was NOT ONLY on Tyne Tees for crying out loud, it was also on YTV, Granada etc etc....

OK LogoWatch, theory time. Every so often the Leeds servers throw a wobbler (as all these types of systems do every once in a while) and as often as not they just put out a generic ident across all regions -- I've seen this a couple of times before.

It is entirely possible that in the panic the wrong backup ident was loaded into the system, and the generic version of the new idents went out. This would probably have the itv1 slightly further up and larger.

I'm pretty sure the itv1 will be rendered rather than flat as shown here.

You have to admit, the way mdta created his mock is just ripe for putting a regional logo on, just as I have done.

Also, if they were going to go totally generic, why would Leeds have restarted mentioning station names over the last couple of months after months of just calling the stations itv1?

Personally I'm more inclined towards this way of doing things. OK it's optimistic, but it makes more sense to me. In any case these mocks do show what is possible at least!

Anyway, dual branding *can* work. What about Carlton? Works just fine. It was the poor design of the itv hearts that let them down -- otherwise they could have just swapped over to the generic versions of those.

(Edited by jason at 11:11 pm on Dec. 27, 2001)

Thing is, mdta's mock is NOT the actual ident. It is similarish, in that it is laid out pretty much the same way as the real thing. If you can take the Christmas ident and ask yourself if that looks 'ripe', then you would say it looks fine and dandy just the way it is. The ident I saw the other night looked just right, and I just feel that putting another logo on top of the [itv1] would be heading down the same road as hearts.

Over the last few months, Leeds have had to mention the station names on a more regular basis due to certain legal terms of satellite regional broadcasting, considering all of the regions are now transmitted by satellite. The ITC are more than likely going to relax this requirement very soon - Leeds will be over the moon about that, believe me.

I do hope you aren't right LW, although you probably are.

Leeds presentation just gets worse and worse and worse. One thing you can be sure of, is that it'll be worse again in six months. That's the way of the world.

Andrew says it would be a good idea for someone from Leeds' presentation team to come on and defend themselves. I agree. I'd love to know their justification for the abject rubbish they put out.

If it happens as is described here, roll on the day the whole lot gets shut down and is run from London! Nothing could be worse!

And no, having itv1-only branding is not fine and dandy. Far from it. Not unless it's done properly. As it stands, with YTV's notorious reputation for coming up with bland, poor-quality branding, all it's going to achieve is the weakening of the itv brand around the country!!

Yes, you're right..... it has to be done properly. I have to agree that the Carlton idents are nice - however, they can get away with designing nice idents because their logo is fairly simple.... just the word CARLTON and a star. The problem with the Granada stations is they use symbol-like logos which don't actually work too well with the [itv1] logo. The only way they can get this thing to work would be by having the regional logo the most dominant feature of the ident, with a small [itv1] logo somewhere at the bottom. The size of the [itv1] logo as used on the Christmas ident (and therefore the new 2002 generic ident) is far too large to work around. Adding extra logos to this ident would make it a complete mess. Once you start to consider exactly where the
GR/N/DA logo would fit, well it's easy to see how cluttered the whole design could get. As to whether or not the hearts idents are going to be going the journey on 6th January..... well maybe. It's just I've had nothing said to me by my contacts about this, so I'm still unsure.

By the way, anyone thinking that the new ident is going to look just as lovely as the Christmas ident, forget it!

(Another dumb question from me, I'm afraid.) I live in the Carlton Central area (well, actually I live up at uni in Middlesbrough, so I get TTTV, but my housemates hog the TV, so I only really know Carlton). What's the problem with the Leeds presentation exactly? Poor idents? Poor continuity announcements? Bad technically? All three? http://web.ukonline.co.uk/tv.home/forum/emoticons/biggrin.gif I'll get a chance to judge for myself after Christmas, but it's irritating me now, so I need to know.