New look for BBC1

Would it be too much to ask for you to credit me with a CONSTRUCTIVE response?

Constructive?! How can you possibly credit the dancers. They ARE the worst thing that's ever happened to BBC1.

You clearly never had to endure Caledonia MacBrains.

Interesting points raised by previous posters and I have to agree with them. The idea of political correctness has been evidently emphasised yet the emphasis on 'British Broadcasting Corporation' has not, as can be seen with the earlier post commenting on Masai. I personally don't mind the dancers, probably because I've grown used to them, but if this rebrand is well produced then it will easily put the dancers to shame.

Maybe the comment that "it's about the programs" would help in predicting the outcome of the rebrand? (I guess I'm inviting speculation on this...)

And...maybe personal, in-vision continuity might return in a more modern way -- picture a lady sitting on a couch in her living room...she turns away from her television and tells you what's on next...as though she were in the room with you and casually telling you what was on...

On the other hand, these sorts of idents would date much more quickly than one based on a symbol.

And, may I suggest that a full-screen network symbol like the old globe or the dancers might not even be necessary anymore. NBC no longer has one, yet its logo features prominently on promos, credits, and DOGs.

Who?

Can we agree that the channel will retain the red box and these idents will more than likely be predominantly red? Other than that we can wait until Autumn, like the rest of the population.

I thought the BBC's 'Joy of Text' night a few years ago was the worst thing that ever appeared on BBC One.

You're a busy little tyke on this forum today, aren't you. You can't ask people here to wait until the Autumn. This is TV Forum, home to the world's most obsessed TV presentation nerds. And anyway, I like speculation.

I hope they ditch the boxes on all channels, they must be the most boring-looking things on TV, with the exception of the BBC One idents themselves. I don't know what to expect, but I can only hope for idents that not only look nice, but are unique to the UK, possibly taking inspiration from abroad, and wont get worn down too quickly or can be built on over time.

If they dump the boxes, surely they'd have to dump the Tower from News 24 as this seems to have been followed on from the channel boxes - and both were developed by LN.

The only examples I can think of this are the '2' off of BBC Two, the '4' off of Channel 4 (though the 4 has only recently come back to it's former self), the Central cake and the BBC One globe.

All of these were strong logos characterised by a single figure or shape. This is what BBC One needs.

Agreed, at least with the boxes. But surely it might be worth looking to the past for how to adapt ideas? Not necessarily "bring back the balloon" but maybe think of a new way of doing it. I'd like to see something that is perhaps built on computer graphics, instead of people all the time. For example, channel 4's current look, while not a patch on the "blocks" from 1982, are a new take on the idea. Something like that or the 1991-2001 "2" idents, or even the ITV "hearts".

The point that was made above that a silent ident with plain voice-over works better, is something I wholeheartedly agree with. In fact, the one thing that I always felt BBC1 did well to stick to was the idea that the lead-in to the next programme was actually INTENDED to stick out like a sore thumb from any branding which appeared before or after it.

Think back over the 80s to mid 90s. Each programme on BBC1 (and until 1991, on BBC2) would be introduced using an ident that would not change appearance for YEARS. The ident itself would be silent, and unchanging in what may, in retrospect, seem a boring way.

However, what people often forget is that the programme promo designs changed seasonally, and very often changed quite radically from season to season. Channel logos would be 'played about with' in a number of different ways. It was during promos and stings that creativity and change were invited, whereas the ident itself cemented the position of 'coming back down to earth' (pun intended) and almost providing an audio-visual 'Chapter Heading' which would provide a subconscious signal to the viewer that a new programme was starting.

At the moment, it's very difficult to determine, when you're walking about the house, not really checking the screen every few seconds, when the promos end and the next programme begins. However, if you hear a break in the endless chatter and musical stings, characterised by a imposing silence followed by an authoritative voice (backed by the same imposing silence), it causes you to look round or walk back towards the TV set to either see what is about to start, or, if you were waiting for a particular programme to start, to know that this is the time to sit down.

I think the reason that many people skip programmes they would otherwise watch is because the broadcasters don't give them an adequate 'jump on' point - so very often they feel they've been left running for the bus, and they give up to wait for the next one (or cross over to take another one).

With so much choice, a broadcaster has to think of themselves like a ride in a theme park, and that they need to hammer home the idea that the 'merry go round' has come to a stop and that the punter is being given a chance to 'get on'. Without that, said punter will just look for another ride - and give his two quid to the guy running the Waltzer instead.