History of idents

 

A few months after BBC began its service on TV, the company figured that they needed a way to alert the audience about the programme, along with the channel. This would be where the screen identity would be introduced in 1936. There had been some caption cards that was produced for individual shows, which was a technique that was used in cinemas. The turning symbol would be the first look for the ident, with it just being a circle and the name, BBC Television Service. This was created with a paint brush and a card from WH Smith. 

In today's media, this would not be something which would stand of the organisation's values, with the practical side being the fact that the BBC artist attempted to outdo other modern products. The image was to grab the attention from the public, which was a mix of an all seeing eye and the wing of a bat.

Abram Games and the television symbol

The Bat's wings, known as the television symbol, games design was first live on the 2nd of December 1953. There isn't much about this new approach, however, this was a way for a whole new field of graphic designing to begin. The man behind the scheme was Abram Games and this was what gave him the victory of BBC commission. Games had the best design symbol out of all the other ones that The society of industrial artists and departments within the BBC all pitched.

Television was a world medium, and the sphere he drew might have been thought of as the world.

Global Ambition

BBC wanted to find a way to present the company as a well placed to serve the UK's region and nation as ITV. They did this by encircling seven region map for seven years. The early ones were black and white.

Globes

The seven region map was replaced by a spinning globe in 1963. The designs were refreshed, with the initial design having a globe split by a diagonal line. 

Mirror Globes

BBC1 had colour in 1969 and a new ident was introduced, which was Symbol C. This was created  by filming a lit mechanical model in black and white and then was coloured electronically. This was broadcasted live. This design lasted from 1969 to 1984 virtually and the change that was made was the colour scheme, which went to blue and yellow in 1974.

Computer originated world

In January 1974, there was talks about a computerised network symbol. In 1985, there was enough computing power to produce an entirely electronic globe device. The colour scheme used for this was a Rich gold and blue combination, with the font being Times new romans. 

The final globe

In 1990, there was a redesign of all the BBC terrestrial and commercial channel identities. BBC1 had enjoyed the final version of the globe image, with a swirling image being created for announcements and a large figure 1 being the main attention. The network clock was also modified. 

In 1997, another BBC brand was introduced, with the BBC blocks being straightened and with the brand style being replaced by a single brand based.

The balloon takes flight

There was a hot air balloon, with the image of the globe printed on it, that was filmed flying at locations. This was broadcasted in 1988 and became very popular with the viewers of BBC. The initial twelve idents were filmed in the summer, with digital modifications added on, inserting the balloon in pre filmed locations. This was seen on the last set of BBC on screen clocks. 

Rhythm and movement

In 2002, the balloon and the globe was out. There was a new theme put in place, which was rhythm and movement. This was to reflect life in Britain, with the idents being short footages of people dancing. The music used was to fit the mood or the style of  the dances. The channel branding was due to the dancers costumes. The idents was used with care, in order to suit what programme was to be presented.

Going full circle

In 2005, There was another channel controller and schedule put in place. The person in control, Peter Fincham, felt that there would be a new image of BBC one. In 2006, thee were new producers for the idents, in which they gave results of new set of moving images with ambient sound and music. These were created in high definition. In 2010, they were idents for the simulcast BBC one HD channel. There are some references to the globe, with circular movements included across the variation. The circles were made up of hippos swimming around, children playing ring a roses, stunt riders on motorbikes and kites flying. 

Oneness

In January 2017, there was a new set of idents, which was called oneness. The idents include groups of British people doing a range of hobbies and activities, which was shot from a single handheld camera. No music was included as the idents relied on diegetic sound instead from the location. As this was launched at New Year 2017, this was expanded to include other locations in the UK. During the pandemic, they were replaced a set of socially distanced oneness idents.