Draft Two: Successes and Failures of idents

Idents are small advertisements that market a channel. They have both opportunities and limitations. Some

opportunities idents have are to create a corporate identity and a tone for the channel which can offer an insight of the channels personality to the audience. It also has other opportunities such as them being easily able to display text based information,  allows you to brand the channel and appeal to their target audience through the ident. Also the ident encourages brand loyalty.


However the idents have some limitations that must be thought about when designing. Limitations such as the typography which is the font used. It has to be effective and easy to read. The resolution is also limit as the quality has to be a high quality for the wide range of TV's that it may be watched on across the country. The colour is another limitation, as well as the idents aspect ratio. 

These opportunities and limitations mean that some idents can be successful or unsuccessful. One example of this is UKTV's Gold's idents from 2004 and 2012. The ident from 2004 is an example of a unsuccessful ident. The ident is very boring due to the fact that it is a visual image of a sink and water running. From this, it is very difficult for the audience to understand what the channels identity or personality is like. Therefore the ident lacks its interaction with its viewers because of the lack of communication with the viewers. We see and hear no information on things such as programming. The advert is neither entertainment or information based so we learn little about the channel which makes it unsuccessful as it has to has a low level of density of information. The boring image of a sink running gives us no real indication to who the channels target audience are. The slow tempo also makes it unappealing as their is nothing to attract the viewer and the slow tempo gives a mundane feeling to the ident. Furthermore the unbalanced composition of the ident adds to making it unsuccessful, for example the logo of the channel is shown to the left of the screen leaving a lot of space on the screen. This makes the logo seem less important compared to if it was placed in the centre as it would be the centre of attention.

The 2012 ident from UKTV Gold is much more successful due to many factors. Instantly the ident interacts with the viewers as it communicates the message that the identity of the channel is to host comedy programs due to the quote featured in the ident numerous amount of times saying "stick something funny on". The ident shows a lot of bright colours making it visually entertaining. Also the soundtrack adds a faster tempo to it and it sounds funny which adds to the channels personality. Also the ident is much more successful as it gives a high level of density of information as it gives us details on the channels programming. The composition is balanced as we are shown the logo at the end of the ident, this works very well as the logo appears from an explosion and the last thing to stay in the audiences mind will be the logo. This ident is much more successful as it gives the audience a much better insight into the channels personality and appeals to its target audience.


Another example of successful and unsuccessful idents can be seen in the Channel 4's ident from 2002 and the the ident from 2009. First of all the ident from 2002 is unsuccessful as it consists off water rippling from one side of the screen to another which again makes it lacks entertainment for the viewer. The ident also consists of two colours just blue and white which doesn't make the ident appealing. The resolution also limits the ident as the picture on the screen is not as clear and crisp as the 2009 ident. The composition of the ident is unbalanced as we see the logo to the right of the screen. Also the logo is blurred slightly from the rippling water over the top which makes the typography difficult to read as the text is not displayed very well such as the website link. Also the narrow amount of action shown in the ident gives no insight into channel 4's channel identity and personality. The ident also makes it difficult to determine who the target audience of the channel is 

The ident from 2009 is a successful ident. The ident shows a first person view of a ride on a roller coaster. This shows that the ident is entertaining and interacts with viewers as it gives information to its audience about the upcoming program. Also we can determine the channels target audience as a roller coaster can represent young and exciting, lively people and can suggest that channel 4's personality is amusing and full of adventure represented by the roller coaster ride. The channel 4 logo is also displayed in a adventurous way by using the surrounding objects to create the "4" logo which allows the ident to brand the channel.


Another example of successful and unsuccessful idents are idents from Challenge, one featuring in 2013 and the other showing on  the channel in 2011. The ident from 2013 is a lot more successful than the ident from Challenge in 2011. This is because the 2013 ident interacts with the viewers very well and represents Challenge as a channel. First of all the ident is well composed as features a large clear font presenting the channel name towards the end of the ident to leave the idea of the channel in the viewers head. The density of information is high in this ident telling as that "Total Wipeout" will be featuring on the channel. Also the information is portrayed through the action on the screen, as one of the animated characters bounces along the pillows in the background which relates to the information being given on 'Total wipeout' as they represent the red balls from the TV program. It also appeals to the target audience well and represents the brands identity and personality; For example the animated people show that its target audience is a mass audience as it doesn't feature any humans of a certain type. Also the audience can relate to the 3 animated characters as they show facial features similar to the audiences when watching shows on Challenge and this will  appeal to the audience as they could relate to this when they watch the game shows shown on the challenge channel. Also Challenge is full of entertaining game shows such as Takeshi's castle, Catch phrase, Total wipeout etc. this element of fun in their channels personality can be conveyed by the colour of the animation and the informal interaction.

However the ident from 2011 is not so successful. The ident struggles to show the channels identity and doesn't show that it appeals to a target audience. The ident is very simple as it shows just a tree in a field with a balloon floating by, which later explodes into the challenge ident which is nice for this ident. Despite this, the simple image of a tree does not tend to appeal to the fun loving target audience challenge would usually appeal to. Also the fact that Challenge hosts an array of exciting, joyful TV programs and that this ident has so little entertainment shows how this ident struggles to represent brand loyalty and the identity of the channel. Also the colours do not look so crisp and striking in this ident, for example the sky is a very pal blue. Usually the colours of an ident will be very strong which makes the ident look better as it looks cleaner and more interesting, where as the colours her look very dull and lack high definition colour.


For an ident to be successful it must create a feeling that will relate to the channel and the ident must use design features in certain ways to create a successful ident depending on who their target audience are and by using these design features successfully to relate to channels personality and identity. The ident should also interact with the viewers not just visually but verbally to such as giving them information about programming as this introduces the audience and usually the narrator will add a comment such as a joke if the channel is about to show a comical program, which would interact with the viewer as they would understand as they watch that program. The ident also needs to have strong, crisp colours which look better an give the ident a cleaner and more attractive look to it which is much more appealing than a boring ident with dull colours.

Draft Two: Design Features

An ident is a short advert style scene which is presented on a channel. The ident advert is based on the channel and will represent the channels personality and will differ depending on who their target audience are. The idea of the ident is to brand and market the channel to the viewers. To brand their channel they represent it through the use of visual image such as a channels logo. Marketing is to sell their channel out to the viewers.

ITV2 Ident

This ident is from Itv2 and is currently being shown on their channel in 2013.This itv2 ident shows two men in and office to be playing around with a balloon and a fan while working. This ident is an example of all of the design features.

One of the design features shown in this ident is that it has a level of density of information, for example verbally we here a women talking giving us information about the program which is coming up next on the channel. The ident does this to advertise the program and introduce their audience to their TV show.

Another design feature shown in this ident is that its composition is balanced well; an example of this is how the title of "itv2" is presented on the screen. It has the title placed on the left with main action taking place more to the right which balances the composition well. This makes it visually pleasing to the audience, especially how the title appears on the screen. As the women walks past the camera the large red title seems to appear from her dress, which is clever and it also leaves the image of the logo in the audiences mind.

The ident has a slow tempo to it; for example the ident has no cuts throughout the whole ident and it looks as though slow motion has been used on the action to make it fit with the slow paced soundtrack. All of these elements work together to create a slow tempo and the ident does this to appeal to its audience. The slow tempo can relate to the everyday worker target audience as it is though they are giving the message to watch and relax after a days work. 

Also the design feature, space and time is used in this ident. For example the ident is set in the present day and in a real world work office. Again the channel have done this to appeal to its target audience of young working ordinary people by showing it in the present day and a familiar environment.

Another design feature is too shown in this ident; for example we can tell that the ident is both entertainment and information based. We can tell this as the action taking place of them playing a game with a fan and a balloon is for entertainment but also the information of the next program shows it may be information based too. This is to show that they are fun and interesting which itv2 try to be with many entertainment shows but also lifestyle documentaries.

Finally we see the interaction of viewers in this ident. For example the communication is informal as it shows them in a workplace fooling around, also the way in which the information is given is almost conversational. The channel does this to relate to their channels personality of being fun and funny and aiming towards their target audience who can be detected as young popular cool people who live ordinary lives and need that wacky element of humor. We can tell that this is the target audience from this ident as the way it interacts with the viewers suggests that its for the young and popular people from the informal communication and the idea that the actors are young people acting 'cool' while in a formal environment.

BBC One Hippos 

This ident has a relatively high level of density of information, for instance we hear a spokesperson give us information about the 2 upcoming TV programs on the channel so verbally the information is high. However visually there is no information except from the channels logo.

The composition of the ident is balanced well. It has the logo set out in the center of the screen with the visual image of hippos swimming in a circle around the BBC logo. The circle of the hippos around the logo represents the world and how the BBC try to target a wide range of audience to show that they are aiming at a mass audience. Also the low angle of the hippos swimming is shown from underwater which balances it out well and suggests that the BBC can show you something from a different perspective.

The tempo of the BBC one ident is slow paced. The things which contribute to making the ident slow tempo is the Slow paced image of the hippos swimming and that there is only one cut throughout the ident which is a slow cut. Also the talking of the guy is slow. The slow tempo shows that they are aiming towards a more older, professional target audience.

The space and time is another feature of this ident. We can see that the ident is set in the real world as it involves a real landscape and real hippos, which may have been edited to look like they are swimming in a circle. We assume that the ident is in the present day as there are no indications that is in the past or future. Shows they are branding their channel to be more serious  and mature as it is no fantasy type set. 

The design feature of information vs entertainment led is shown in this ident. This means whether the ident is aiming to be entertaining to the viewers or if its is trying to convey information to the audience. This ident is information led as it is not entertaining as it has slow tempo and mundane atmosphere to it, however it does give us information about the channels programming

The idents interaction with the viewers in this ident is formal despite it being slightly conversational. However the manor in which he gives the information is appropriate and not making no jokes. This again could relate to its aim to target older mature viewers.

Sky Sports 3

The level of density of information for the sky sports 3 ident is low, for instance visually we see no information apart from the channel logo. Also verbally all we hear the narrator say is "You're watching Sky Sports". This does not give us much information as the viewer would most likely know that he is watching that channel. This could be due to the identity of the channel, information is not necessary as it shows professional football matches and other sport games which are for entertainment.

The composition of the ident is slightly unbalanced as it involves a range of clips of different football matches of players celebrating. However the way in which the Sky sports logo on the screen balances it out slightly as it is as though the visual image builds up to the relevance of the logo;for example the way Drogba breaks through the glass like image which the logo appears from.

The tempo of the ident is relatively fast as the visual image changes regularly and the soundtrack is quite upbeat. This is likely to represent the channels identity of being a sports channel as sports would likely to be related to high tempo as sports are physically demanding of the body. Also to interact with their target their audience of sporty people as they would live an upbeat style of life.

The space and time of the ident is shown to be relatively recent as the ident is from 2009 and is situated in the real world as it consists of clips of real life moments of football matches. Again this would be to brand their channel and show that their channel is lively and real by showing this space and time as they are likely to show live sport matches and sport documentaries on real world people.

The ident is mainly entertainment based as it shows many different players scoring and celebrating to show the audience the happiness they can get from watching the channel if their team is on it as it shows a variety of different teams in the clip trying to appeal to a range of viewers. 

Its interaction with the viewers is informal as the images shown are players celebrating and some going wild due to their happiness however this is appropriate to the channel as sports can be competitive and this relates to the identity of the channel. The fast tempo and quick soundtrack interact with viewer as it again creates a lively, sporting atmosphere to ident and represent sky sports' theme of sport in which the audience will be looking for.

E4 ident

This ident has a low level of density of information as we see or hear no information given. This may be due to its target audience of younger adults and teens as they are more likely to ignore information given.

The composition of the ident is unbalanced as their are lots of strange and random things going on within the living room which would not naturally be occurring there. For example the sheep in the room. It is unbalanced as it looks messy and the E4 symbol also looks out of place. This would be to brand its channel to the younger generation to relate to the lively personalities of younger people and how messy the room is can be related to teenagers too.

The tempo of the ident is slow as the camera pans from one side of the Living room to the other. Also the cuts are slow and the soundtrack is not fast either. They may have done this to show the personality of the channel and create a sense of originality by using the slow tempo as you can see the strange things going on and the soundtrack sounds wacky which too would represent the personality of the channel.

The location of this ident starts off in a normal looking living room until it converts into a fantasy type world as the room comes to life. This represents their eccentric personality as they are different and random. This can relate to the target audience and the channels programs as many have a sense of humor which is wacky and eccentric which can be seen through the use of the conversion of the ordinary living room into the fantasy one.

The ident is entertaining as everything is a visual image of the room coming to life which looks very surreal to the viewers and can intrigue them. There is no information portrayed to the viewers in this ident.

The interaction with its viewers is informal as it is showing the channels identity as many programs are informal with more mature sense of humor such as the "The Inbetweeners" which is informal. The interaction with viewers is strong in this ident as we can determine the quirky, young target audience easily from the ident from each design feature which means the ident appeals to the target audience very well.

Successess and failures of Idents Draft 1

• Introduction
• Paragraph and example of first successful and failed idents(UKTV GOLD)
• Paragraph on your second example
• Paragraph on your third example 
• Conclusion- What makes a successful ident

Idents are small advertisements that market a channel. They have both opportunities and limitations. Some opportunities idents have are to create a corporate identity and a tone for the channel which can offer an insight of the channels personality to the audience. It also has other opportunities such as them being easily able to display text based information,  allows you to brand the channel and appeal to their target audience through the ident. Also the ident encourages brand loyalty.


However the idents have some limitations that must be thought about when designing. Limitations such as the typography which is the font used. It has to be effective and easy to read. The resolution is also limit as the quality has to be a high quality for the wide range of TV's that it may be watched on across the country. The colour is another limitation, as well as the idents aspect ratio. 
These oppurtunities and limitations mean that some idents can be successful or unsuccessful. One example of this is UKTV's Gold's idents from 2004 and 2012. The ident from 2004 is an example of a unsuccessful ident. The ident is very boring due to the fact that it is a visual image of a sink and water running. From this, it is very difficult for the audience to understand what the channels identity or personality is like. Therefore the ident lacks its interaction with its viewers because of the lack of communication with the viewers. We see and hear no information on things such as programming. The advert is neither entertainment or information based so we learn little about the channel which makes it unsuccessful as it has to has a low level of density of information. The boring image of a sink running gives us no real indication to who the channels target audience are. The slow tempo also makes it unappealing as their is nothing to attract the viewer and the slow tempo gives a mundane feeling to the ident. Furthermore the unbalanced composition of the ident adds to making it unsuccessful, for example the logo of the channel is shown to the left of the screen leaving a lot of space on the screen. This makes the logo seem less important compared to if it was placed in the centre as it would be the centre of attention.



The 2012 ident from UKTV Gold is much more successful due to many factors. Instantly the ident interacts with the viewers as it communicates the message that the identity of the channel is to host comedy programs due to the qoute featured in the ident numerous amount of times saying "stick somthing funny on". The ident shows alot of bright colours making it visually entertaining. Also the soundtrack adds a faster tempo to it and it sounds funny which adds to the channels personality. Also the ident is much more successful as it gives a high level of density of information as it gives us details on the channels programming. The composition is balanced as we are shown the logo at the end of the ident, this works very well as the logo appears from an explosion and the last thing to stay in the audiences mind will be the logo. This ident is much more successful as it gives the audeince a much better insight into the channels personality and appeals to its target audience.


Another example of successful and unsuccessful idents can be seen in the Channel 4's ident from 2002 and the the ident from 2009. First of all the ident from 2002 is unsuccessful as it consists off water rippling from one side of the screen to another which again makes it lacks entertainment for the viewer. The ident also consists of two colours just blue and white which doesnt make the ident appealing. The resolution also limits the ident as the pcture on the screen is not as clear and crisp as the 2009 ident. The composition of the ident is unbalanced as we see the logo to the right of the screen. Also the logo is blurred slightly from the rippling water over the top which makes the typography difficult to read as the text is not displayed very well such as the website link. Also the narrow amount of action shown in the ident gives no insight into channel 4's channel idnetity and personality. The ident also makes it difficult to determine who the target audience of the channel is



The ident from 2009 is a successful ident. The ident shows a first person view of a ride on a roller coaster. This shows that the ident is entertaining and interacts with viewers as it gives information to its audience about the upcoming program. Also we can determine the channels target audience as a roller coaster can represent young and exciting, lively people and can suggest that channel 4's personality is amusing and full of adventure represented by the roller coaster ride. The channel 4 logo is also displayed in a adventurous way by using the surrounding objects to create the "4" logo which allows the ident to brand the channel.

Draft one Design features

An ident is a short advert style scene which is presented on a channel. The ident advert is based on the channel and will represent the channels personality and will differ depending on who their target audience are. The idea of the ident is to brand and market the channel to the viewers. To brand their channel they represent it through the use of visual image such as a channels logo. Marketing is to sell their channel out to the viewers.

ITV2 Ident

This ident is from Itv2 and is currently being shown on their channel in 2013.

The itv2 ident shows two men in and office to be playing around with a balloon and a fan while working. This ident is an example of all of the design features. 

One of the design features shown in this ident is that it has a level of density of information, for example verbally we here a women talking giving us information about the program which is coming up next on the channel. The ident does this to advertise the program and introduce their audience to their TV show.

 Another design feature shown in this ident is that its composition is balanced well; an example of this is how the title of "itv2" is presented on the screen. It has the title placed on the left with main action taking place more to the right which balances the composition well. This makes it visually pleasing to the audience, especially how the title appears on the screen. As the women walks past the camera the red title seems to appear from her red dress which is clever.

The ident has a slow tempo to it; for example the ident has no cuts throughout the whole ident and it looks as though slow motion has been used on the action to make it fit with the slow paced soundtrack. All of these elements make it have a slow tempo and the ident does this to appeal to its audience. The slow tempo can relate to the everyday worker target audience as it is though they are giving the message to watch and relax after a days work. 

Also the design feature, space and time is used in this ident. For example the ident is set in the present day and in a real world work office. Again the channel have done this to appeal to its target audience of young working ordinary people by showing it in the present day and a familiar environment.

Another design feature is too shown in this ident; for example we can tell that the ident is both entertainment and information based. We can tell this as the action taking place of them playing a game with a fan and a balloon is for entertainment but also the information of the next program shows it is to information based. This is to show that they are fun and interesting which itv2 try to be with many entertainment shows but also lifestyle documentaries. 

Finally we see the interaction of viewers in this ident. For example it is informal as it shows them in a workplace fooling around also the way in which the information is given is almost conversational. The channel does this to relate to their channels personality of being fun and funny and aiming towards their target audience who are young popular cool people who live ordinary lives and need that wacky element of humor.

BBC One Hippos 

This ident has a relatively high level of density of information, for instance we hear a spokesperson give us information about the 2 upcoming TV programs on the channel so verbally the information is high. However visually there is no information except from the channels logo.

The composition of the ident is balanced well. It has the logo set out in the center of the screen with the visual image of hippos swimming in a circle around the BBC logo. The circle of the hippos around the logo represents the world and how the BBC try to target a wide range of audience to show that they are aiming at a mass audience. Also the low angle of the hippos swimming is shown from underwater which balances it out well and suggests that the BBC can show you something from a different perspective.

The tempo of the BBC one ident is slow paced. The things which contribute to making the ident slow tempo is the Slow paced image of the hippos swimming and that there is only one cut throughout the ident which is a slow cut. Also the talking of the guy is slow. The slow tempo shows that they are aiming towards a more older, professional target audience.

The space and time is another feature of this ident. We can see that the ident is set in the real world as it involves a real landscape and real hippos, which may have been edited to look like they are swimming in a circle. We assume that the ident is in the present day as there are no indications that is in the past or future. Shows they are branding their channel to be more serious  and mature as it is no fantasy type set. 

The design feature of information vs entertainment led is shown in this ident. This means whether the ident is aiming to be entertaining to the viewers or if its is trying to convey information to the audience. This ident is information led as it is not entertaining as it has slow tempo and mundane atmosphere to it, however it does give us information about the channels programming

The idents interaction with the viewers in this ident is formal despite it being slightly conversational. However the manor in which he gives the information is appropriate and not making no jokes. This again could relate to its aim to target older mature viewers.

Sky Sports 3

The level of density of information for the sky sports 3 ident is low, for instance visually we see no information apart from the channel logo. Also verbally all we hear the narrator say is "You're watching Sky Sports". This does not give us much information as the viewer would most likely know that he is watching that channel.

The composition of the ident is slightly unbalanced as it involves a range of clips of different football matches of players celebrating. However the way in which the Sky sports logo on the screen balances it out slightly as it is as though the visual image builds up to the relevance of the logo;for example the way Drogba breaks through the glass like image which the logo appears from.

The tempo of the ident is relatively fast as the visual image changes regularly and the soundtrack is quite upbeat. This is likely to represent the channels identity of being a sports channel as sports would likely to be related to high tempo as sports are physically demanding of the body. Also to target their audience of sporty people as they would live an upbeat style of life.

The space and time of the ident is shown to be relatively recent as the ident is from 2009 and is situated in the real world as it consists of clips of real life moments of football matches. Again this would be to brand their channel and show that their channel is lively and real by showing this space and time as they are likely to show live sport matches and sport documentaries on real world people.

The ident is mainly entertainment based as it shows many different players scoring and celebrating to show the audience the happiness they can get from watching the channel if their team is on it as it shows a variety of different teams in the clip trying to appeal to a range of viewers. 

Its interaction with the viewers is informal as the images shown are players celebrating and some going wild due to their happiness however this is appropriate to the channel as sports can be competitive and can bring out emotions. 

E4 ident

This ident has a low level of density of information as we see or hear no information given. This may be due to its target audience of younger adults and teens as they are more likely to ignore information given.

The composition of the ident is unbalanced as their are lots of strange and random things going on within the living room which would not naturally be occurring there. For example the sheep in the room. It is unbalanced as it looks messy and the E4 symbol also looks out of place. This would be to brand its channel to the younger generation to relate to the lively personalities of younger people and how messy the room is can be related to teenagers too.

The tempo of the ident is slow as the camera pans from one side of the Living room to the other. Also the cuts are slow and the soundtrack is not fast either. They may have done this to show the personality of the channel and create a sense of originality by using the slow tempo as you can see the strange things going on and the soundtrack sounds wacky which too would represent the personality of the channel.

The location of this ident starts off in a normal looking living room until it converts into a fantasy type world as the room comes to life. This represents their eccentric personality as they are different and random. This can relate to the target audience and the channels programs as many have a sense of humor which is wacky and eccentric which can be seen through the use of the conversion of the ordinary living room into the fantasy one.

The ident is entertaining as everything is a visual image of the room coming to life which looks very surreal to the viewers and can intrigue them. There is no information portrayed to the viewers in this ident.

The interaction with its viewers is informal as it is showing the channels identity as many programs are informal with more mature sense of humor such as the "The Inbetweeners" which is informal.

Tv Ident paragraph

Analysing idents

This ident is from Itv2 and is currently being shown on their channel in 2013.

The itv2 ident shows two men in and office to be playing around with a balloon and a fan while working. This ident is an example of all of the design features. 

One of the design features shown in this ident is that it has a level of density of information, for example verbally we here a women talking giving us information about the program which is coming up next on the channel. The ident does this to advertise the program and introduce their audience to their TV show. Another design feature shown in this ident is that its composition is balanced well; an example of this is how the title of "itv2" is presented on the screen. It has the title placed on the left with main action taking place more to the right which balances the composition well. This makes it visually pleasing to the audience, especially how the title appears on the screen. As the women walks past the camera the red title seems to appear from her red dress which is clever.

The ident has a slow tempo to it; for example the ident has no cuts throughout the whole ident and it looks as though slow motion has been used on the action to make it fit with the slow paced soundtrack. All of these elements make it have a slow tempo and the ident does this to appeal to its audience. The slow tempo can relate to the everyday worker target audience as it is though they are giving the message to watch and relax after a days work. Also the design feature, space and time is used in this ident. For example the ident is set in the present day and in a real world work office. Again the channel have done this to appeal to its target audience of young working ordinary people by showing it in the present day and a familiar environment.

Another design feature is too shown in this ident; for example we can tell that the ident is both entertainment and information based. We can tell this as the action taking place of them playing a game with a fan and a balloon is for entertainment but also the information of the next program shows it is to information based. This is to show that they are fun and interesting which itv2 try to be with many entertainment shows but also lifestyle documentaries. Finally we see the interaction of viewers in this ident. For example it is informal as it shows them in a workplace fooling around also the way in which the information is given is almost conversational. The channel does this to relate to their channels personality of being fun and funny and aiming towards their target audience who are young popular cool people who live ordinary lives and need that wacky element of humour.