Just revealed by Media Guardian:
Stokoe set to redesign BBC One identity
In a surprise move, BBC One controller Peter Fincham has revealed that a team of former Central Television graphic artists led by Jim Stokoe are working on the forthcoming BBC One re-brand.
Fincham commented that "We considered many ideas, and even contemplated reinstating the balloons. I wanted to get away from live action idents and instead focus on building a brand around a set of graphical elements, using CG techniques. Jim and his colleagues achieved that nearly a decade ago, so I'm confident that their latest efforts won't fail to surprise".
Stokoe also seemed upbeat about the news, but tight-lipped about what the re-brand would involve. "I am really enjoying this project. The creative team is identical to that responsible for the central idents. We are using the same techniques as before, but obviously with vastly more powerful hardware. This project is really pushing the software to its limits".
The Central identity was widely acclaimed by those in the industry and the public at large, but was controversially scrapped following a take-over by Carlton in 1999.
The announcement came as a surprise to Martin Lambie Nairn, head of the agency responsible for the dancer identity. "The dancers were designed to be reflective of the multicultural nature of British society. In that, I believe they succeeded."
Lorraine Heggessey, the controller responsible for the dancers, declined to comment.
The new idents will air from the new year.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,3465,156175765,00.html