AS1: Task 3: Understanding the Design of a Suite of Television Idents

Understanding the Design of a Suite of Television Idents

What is a "Suite" of Television Idents?:

A suite of television idents just simply means that a channel creates a whole group of idents for that specific channel. For example, the BBC has created a suite of idents for its channel and this is demonstrated through other channels from the BBC, such as "BBC one", "BBC TWO", "BBC three", "BBC FOUR" and so on. By having one theme per ident, it helps to maintain brand identity.

A suite of television idents creates a variety for viewers as they are able to enjoy more shows and become interested and discover new programmes.

BBC Channels:

BBC one:

Throughout the years, BBC one has created and developed new idents that involve a circle and the channel stays with the colour red. BBC one has kept the theme of having a circle and this is demonstrated in the ident shown opposite. This ident portrays women standing in a circle and the inner circle is coloured red and this helps viewers to understand that they are definitely watching their favourite programmes on BBC one. By doing so, they can distinguish between channels.

As demonstrated in the picture, the ident represents the time of year in which the BBC have chosen to broadcast it. We can see that there are flowers scattered across the ground and this could represent the seasons; spring and summer. This can enlighten viewers as this time of year often sets a mellow mood creating happiness. This ident would've most likely been broadcast during the daytime due to the vibrant colours that are present.

As I have mentioned previously, spring is represented here and this ident could demonstrate gardening programmes due to the surroundings. Therefore the target audience could be senior citizens.

BBC One is mainly an information based channel that broadcast programmes such as BBC News, however it is also an entertainment led channel as quizzical shows are broadcast through lunch time, such as "Pointless". These programmes cater to an adult audience or senior citizens because children/teenagers will still be at school during these hours and won't be able to see the shows.

The suite conveys the ident to be calm due to the women travelling round in a circular motion - again relating to BBC One's theme and this is shown as the inner circle appears around the BBC One logo.

The shorter version of this ident would be broadcast in preparation for the next programme to begin, however if there is a slight delay the longer version of the ident will be shown instead. The ident is roughly one minute long and the short version's duration is roughly 25 seconds long.

BBC Two:

Like, BBC One, BBC Two has a similar theme. As demonstrated in the ident, the number 2 is plastered on the outside of a circle (the circle is the same theme presented in another way). BBC one and BBC TWO have used the same theme but they are represented differently and this is shown through the use of colour. BBC one's theme colour is red and mostly, BBC TWO's theme colour is turquoise.

This ident may be appealing to viewers because it is eye catching. This ident spins round and round and could indicate that a film might be starting soon (example of a film reel).

BBC Two is a mostly information led channel and this is made evident through programmes such as the "University Challenge". Going back to my previous statement of a film reel, the ident could also suggest that a documentary is about to begin (hence why I stated that BBC Two is an information led channel).

Just like BBC One's programmes and some idents, BBC Two's programmes and idents are intended to be shown during the daytime to cater to older audiences. This is because the channel are broadcasting programmes and idents suitable for a much older target audience. They could most likely be broadcast during the winter month, due to the fact that more people will be indoors due to the cold weather and would be least likely to travel.

The design is effective because viewers definitely know what channel they are watching due to the multiple 2's.

Just like BBC one, the duration will roughly last the same amount of time of 25 seconds.

BBC three:

BBC's themes have always been connected and BBC three has its logo placed on a round shaped object and so this stays with BBC's theme of having a circle - once again this demonstrates how BBC Three relates to the theme, but yet is portrayed differently.

I believe this ident is appealing to viewers because of its vibrant colours. This ident is consistent with the colourful theme and demonstrates the late night theme of late teen/adults shows at a certain time.

This ident is for entertainment purposes. This is evident because the ident appears to be exciting due to its colours and busy surroundings and through this, viewers can note that the channel may broadcast exciting new programmes and would most likely want to visit the channel again.

BBC Three was discontinued on television (and is still available online) in 2016, however programmes would be broadcast from 19:00/7:00pm all the way until the early hours of the morning. Programmes such as "Family Guy" and "American Dad" are popular shows among teenagers and young adults and would be broadcast almost every night, each year on BBC Three, however the shows appeared to be viewed more on weekends due to more people being at home during its broadcasting hours. BBC Three was clever here as they were able to gain a large audience for these popular programmes and broadcasting this ident guaranteed viewers to believe the comedic programmes would commence. Therefore I believe that this is an effective ident as it is eye catching and engaging.

This ident entitled "Purple World" lasts for 20 seconds. This provides the announcer to introduce the next programme with efficient timing.

BBC FOUR:

With this ident for BBC Four, it is evident that the circle theme is discontinued here, however we can see that the ident belongs to the BBC because the font style shares a striking resemblance to the other idents, so therefore the theme is kept but is just styled in a different way.

The ident is appealing to viewers who appear to be senior citizens due to the background being covered in books. The ident demonstrates a woman travelling from one end of the book shelf to another and is a possible indication that she is inside of a library. Younger viewers may find this ident and channel to be dull and would most likely want to watch something that appeals to their age group, thus why thus ident and channel appeals to those who are older.

The ident is information led a this is demonstrated trough the presentation of books. This proves that the channel broadcasts informative programmes that supply viewers with more knowledge.

As I have stated previously, the channel and ident appeals to an older audience. This implies that the ident may be broadcast during the day time when children/teenagers and adults are at school or work. Seniors who are retired may spend their time watching this channel during the day, yet since they are retired, they would have the most free time all year round and would be able to view this ident on their screens.

The duration of the ident is 20 seconds and this is ideal for announcing the next programme. With every ident, the shorter version would be broadcast yet there is always a longer version that would last roughly 1 minute. The longer version would be broadcast if a programme is running behind time.
The designs for the suite are effective and demonstrate how each colour stands out in every ident. The BBC have made sure to portray vibrant colours throughout each ident in each channel. The suite also demonstrates that the channel can either be intellectual or entertainment based.

AS1: Task 2: Understanding the Limitations of the Television Ident

Understanding the Limitations of the Television Ident

Typography:

• Typography is the style of the font. For example the size of the font itself.

There are similarities represented in logos. An example would be the BBC, these similarities are demonstrated by having the same font and font size. They would all have he same house style to an extent.

Typography is seen as a limitation but this isn't necessarily a disadvantage. The channels "CBBC" and "CBeebies" are children's channels and the typography on their logos appear to be childlike for a younger audience. By having these designs, the channels are able to cater to young children, so therefore I would say that this is an advantage.

"BBC three" has a different kind of typography as it appears to have a slight curve in the letters. This could represent a different take on some programmes. "BBC three" was a channel (that has recently been discontinued on television but is still available online) that used to broadcast shows from 7:00pm/19:00pm onwards. This demonstrates that the channel would cater more towards viewers in their late teens and adults due to the broadcasting of adult themed shows and cartoons (for example; "Family Guy (1999)".

Colour:

• Colour also has limitations. For a specific channel i.e. "BBC one" they would use the colour red and this give viewers the acknowledgement that they are watching that specific channel. This is a positive limitation because the channel shows its consistency through the use of colour.

"BBC TWO" has a green background colour on its logo, "BBC three" has a pink coloured letters on a purple background and "BBC FOUR" has a black background on its logo. This is ideal for the channel's consistencies because of their brand identity. Due to brand identity, viewers would know which logo belongs to which channel.

Aspect-Ratio:

• A high definition broadcast programme would be shown in a 16:9 widescreen.

An active picture should be able to fill a 16:9 widescreen today. Beforehand when televisions used to be smaller in size, the screening would also be smaller, whereas today televisions are bigger so therefore the screens would also be bigger and would broadcast programmes to fit this format.

Adhering to a Desired Tone:

For example, "BBC FOUR" broadcasts programmes desired for matured adults as this would appeal more to their taste, whereas "CBeebies" caters to a much younger audience, so therefore their idents must be vibrant, colourful and appear to be big and fun to adhere to young children (relatively infants and toddlers). Shown below are examples of television ident for CBeebies and BBC Four.

Duration:

When creating an ident, you will need to consider timing. If a show is running behind schedule, for example the news, then the ident's full version would be broadcast to give the news station time to prepare and be ready for going live on air. However if this isn't the case and programmes are on time to be scheduled next, then the shorter version of the ident would be shown instead. An example of this would be for example - from BBC One, again. Personally I was waiting for a programme that I wanted to watch to start, however I realised that the ident was being broadcast for a long period of time and that was when I established that the production team was running behind time. Shown below is a short and long version of BBC One's "dog team" ident.

AS1: Task 1: Designing Idents for Television

Designing Idents for Television

What is an ident? Identifying the channel:

BBC One:

We see idents all over television channels. A prime example would be on the broadcasting channels, BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Channel 4. These channels all present sequences that form a shape or sequences that form around the channel name. This can be shown through BBC One's sequence showing a hot air balloon descending onto the ground and the BBC One logo appears at the bottoms of the screen. Shown below is the ident.

BBC One's hot air balloon ident

BBC's "Bat Wings" ident

The first television ident was broadcast in 1953 on the BBC and was given the name "Bat Wings". This came into place as commercial television began to expand across the country and because of this, viewers had to distinguish between different channels so the idea of idents was indeed clever. Shown below is the BBC's first ident.

BBC TV ident

By 1960 the BBC had released another ident for "BBC TV". The ident demonstrates the map of Britain and shows each region of where the channel is being broadcast. In 1963 BBC released an ident entitled "The Globe" and a voice would announce "This is BBC Television".


BBC Two and Other Channels:

BBC Two ident

By 1964, BBC Two was released to the country.


Now that commercial media was spreading fast, more and more channels were being discovered and by the 1990's, satellite television was becoming very popular, so this meant that idents were extremely important for television so viewers can identify each channel.

Nickelodeon's ident

Nickelodeon is a very popular children's channel founded in 1977 and has been known for broadcasting shows such as Kenan and Kel (1996), iCarly (2007) and Victorious (2010).

Sky Atlantic ident

Sky has also created various channels over the years and have become popular. Channels such as Sky Atlantic (shown opposite) have broadcast popular shows such as Game of Thrones (2011), Fortitude (2015) and The Tunnel (2013).

Organising the Schedule:

Idents appear in preparation for the following programme that is about to begin. Idents follow a specific sequence of notifying viewers that the next programme will commence and this is ideal because it gives viewers time to prepare. An ident organises key information to inform viewers of the programming of a specific channel. 

Segmentation of the Scheduling:

The BBC is a non-commercial channel, therefore they do not have the time to broadcast advertisements in between scheduling . Whereas channels like the ITV or Channel 4 (for example) are commercial channels and they do in fact have the time to broadcast advertisements to the public.
Since the BBC is a non-commercial channel, idents are used in place of advertisements in order to provide time. This time can be used for the following:

• To provide information to viewers about the channel.
• Allow time for the next programme to start (regulating time).
• Allowing staff in the studio to have a short break (for example; news reporters).
• Promoting a variety of programmes.

Creating Corporate Identity:












An ident is also useful for creating a brand in various locations around the world. A perfect example of worldwide locations would again be the BBC. The BBC doesn't only broadcast shows in the UK, they also broadcast shows in the US and other countries. BBC America is a channel used to broadcast programmes within the United States, and evidently there is a clear consistency within the BBC's channels. The BBC has a consistent font style and this is demonstrated through each BBC channel and this helps to a create corporate identity so that viewers all around the world are aware that each ident for each channel can be identified.

Creating a Brand and Encouraging Brand Loyalty:

An ident is an efficient way of encouraging brand loyalty. The broadcasted ident enables viewers to become engaged with that particular channel over time and this could eventually lead viewers into watching their favourite programmes on that particular channel. If viewers watch an ident that is broadcast on Sky Atlantic (for example) and a programme they take interest in then follows that ident, the gradually they will stay loyal to that channel.

If an ident is consistently being broadcast as viewers watch television, they will remember the ident (especially if the ident is creative). If the eye captures an image of some importance, it will visually remind viewers to come back to a particular channel again.

Branding of Particular Content:

Idents can be created to promote a programme or to brand the content that belongs to a channel and this is portrayed a lot in the media. An example of this would be the popular East End programme; "EastEnders". For the first ever live episode of EastEnders in 2010, BBC one produced an ident for the show (shown below).

To promote the second series of the popular programme The Voice, BBC One created an ident for the show. This ident was good promotion for the channel as well as the programme as it can lead to a wider audience.

Sports and news channels also create idents suited for their theme. "Sky Sports News" and the popular singing competition programme; "The Voice" are prime examples of how idents are created to suit a theme and shown below are a couple of examples of this. This ident for Sky Sports News is advertising what they would normally broadcast on this type of channel - a variety of sports. Other idents created for this channel would be broadcast if a football match was being played, an example of this would focus on both teams and then proceed to place the logo afterwards when the ident is coming to an end.

Another popular sports channel would be BBC Sport.












Creating the Right Tone and Appealing to the Audience:

Channels such as BBC Three (discontinued on television in 2016) would start at 19:00/7:00pm every day and would broadcast comedic, adult humour cartoons amongst other programmes of this nature as it got later. BBC Three's audience was targeted towards teenagers and adults and would broadcast programmes to attract a wider target audience, and this was helped by broadcasting programmes that were relatable and humorous to teenagers and adults.

A Marketing Opportunity:

Each year idents are produced and broadcast for marketing purposes and these are portrayed during Christmas for example. In 2009, BBC One produced an ident featuring David Tennant for Christmas. The BBC was clever here as they used a popular figure head during the this time when David Tennant played the popular Dr. Who. Dr. Who is an extremely popular programme with a large audience and the BBC were aware of this. If fans of the show saw David Tennant during this broadcasting period, they would most likely continue to watch the channel for a while.



Packaging and Re-Packaging a Series of Programmes or Event:

As I have stated previously, idents can be created for promotional uses (The Voice), this can also be used to promote other television series or events such as the Olympics.