ITV has refreshed its on-screen identity for the first time in nearly six years, with idents that will change every week throughout 2019.
The broadcaster has broken with TV branding convention by forgoing a set of fixed idents in a year-long project called “ITV creates”.
Launching on 1 January, the activity aims to reflect the broadcaster’s creativity. Every week, ITV will invite an artist to create a piece of work that is their expression of the logo. That work will then be filmed and produced into a set of idents by ITV’s in-house creative agency, ITV Creative.
ITV Creative worked with artistic director, curator and consultant Charlie Levine to select the artists from a diverse range of backgrounds and disciplines.
The artists who have created idents that will air in the first eight weeks of 2019 are: Ravi Deepres, Sutapa Biswas, James Brunt, Patricia Volk, Mark Titchner, Katrina Russell-Adams, Kristina Veasey and James Alec Hardy.
ITV will also dedicate one month of the year to student talent, offering opportunities to young artists at the beginning of their careers. The broadcaster will work with universities in different parts of the country to offer students the chance to design the ITV identity during that month.
Meanwhile, the main channel’s on-screen presentation is also changing to show a more “crafted” identity. ITV Creative and design agency DBLG created a cut-out logo for promos with three layers.
Paul Ridsdale, ITV’s director of viewer marketing, said: “Our current channel idents have been running for almost six years and, whilst they have served us well, 2019 felt like the right moment for a change.
“We think this new approach is fresh, distinctive and brings to life the energy and creativity at the heart of ITV. But, above all else, we simply hope that viewers will enjoy this ever-changing look as they tune in for their favourite programmes each week.”
Tony Pipes, ITV Creative’s executive creative director, added: “Idents have been around since the dawn of TV and the way they have behaved has changed very little. We wanted to push against the prevailing convention that idents are set – the idea that they are moving wallpaper that last five or 10 years without changing.
“This work reflects ITV as a 21st-century broadcaster, part of the fabric of culture, as an endlessly creative organisation… The pieces are beautiful, daring, entertaining and sometimes challenging, and that is OK because that is exactly what good TV should be.”
Filed in: Press Articles