The design of idents

When designing an ident there are 6 main concepts to consider. The density of information, composition, space and time, tempo, the interaction with the audience and also if it is information or entertainment led.

The density of information is how much information  is given in the ident, some idents give lots of information such as times for shows etc whereas others are purely to attract audiences by looking fun and exciting. This also partially links to if the ident is information or entertainment led.

The composition is to do with how everything in the ident is composed, you have to consider how each of the visual elements work together in the ident to portray the meanings and aims you are trying to reach. The visual elements would be things such as the shots, any visual effects or cgi  as well as any text that may be in the frame. A good example of all visual elements working together would be Itv 1 HD. The shot of the sunflower field along with the Itv 1 HD logo and lens flares all works very well together as they create a subtle warmth within the frame which works well together and makes the overall look very enjoyable and easy to view with no bold harsh colours contrasting through. 

Space and time is when and where the ident is set. More informative idents would be set in a real life situation, whereas the more entertainment based idents would be set in a fantasy world which is fun and abstract to help the audience determine the aims of the channel.

The tempo is how fast the ident is. This alters depending on the mood and aims of the ident. For example an more informative ident is more likely to have a longer duration and a slower paced edit in comparison to an entertainment ident which is more likely to have a shorter duration and a much faster paced edit to suit the specific target audiences that the individual idents are trying to attract.

Interaction with viewers is all about communication. This is about how information is presented and communicated to the viewers, depending on the channel and its aims, target audience etc, can influence the way in which the information s presented. It could be formal or informal, some channels with younger audience may present their information more visually than one with an older target audience.

And finally, if the ident is information or entertainment led. This is decided by the aims of the channel and its target audience, if it is trying to provide information it will be information led, whereas other idents which are simply there to attract and entertain their audience would be entertainment led.

The BBC One ident

This is one of many BBC One idents. This is a very good example for the composition of the idents, all of the visual elements work fell together giving the ident a very clean sense of flow. The fluent movements of the space robot along with the rotating red lines work very well together as they are both very slow and consistent. The colours of the darker blue space environment also contrasts the rotating red objects which compliment each other and make everything much bolder and distinctive.

The ITV 1 ident

This is an ITV 1 ident, this ident is a good example of space and time. At first the location appears to be a normal street at night, which suggests that ITV 1 is more of a formal channel but when the yellow liquids burst through the surface of the roads and form multiple fountains we soon gather that actually ITV 1 is not as formal as it initially appears and that it can be rather entertaining because it has changed an ordinary environment into something unexpected and unusual.

The Discovery Knowledge ident

This is the Discovery Knowledge ident, in this ident we can gain a clear understanding in the density of information. Throughout this ident there is lots of tiny little interesting facts; which are constantly being presented to the viewer. The pieces of information fill up the landscape almost like an overlay of a 3D blueprint and because of the high amount of information in such a small amount of time/space this ident has a high information density. This is crucial for a channel such as Discovery Knowledge as it is an informative channel and therefore the ident needs to represent that to attract the target audience.

The FX ident

The FX ident communicates it’s information very visually, there is no bold titles telling us any information yet simply from the props, scene and visual effects such as the ‘crime scene do not enter’ banner, and the traditional body outline on the ground. We gain a clear understanding that the channel or program after the ident will have some involvement in crime dramas which may be appearing after the break. On the other hand some idents such as BBC Parliament features much more information in a text format, such as what's on and program timings. This is more appropriate to the channel as it is more of a formal channel with programs based on more serious topics and therefore requires a more informative and formal ident. 

The Film 4 ident

The Film 4 ident has a very slow tempo to it, the majority of the ident is in slow motion which creates a sense of tension, this suggests that Film 4 is a very dramatic channel that likes to build up tension to give a dramatic conclusion. Also the clip in the ident is a very almost stereotypical scene of an action film, which could also suggest that Film 4 will display many classic movies of multiple genres for everybody to enjoy. In contrast the BBC Three ident has a much faster pace, this suggests that the channel is more exciting and enthusiastic fun which would attract its younger target audience. 

The  History HD ident

The History HD ident is  an information led ident, rather than being designed for the purpose of entertaining and attracting its target audience, this ident is designed to inform them about program timings for days of the week which is more appropriate to this channel as it is a very factual channel with informative programs so the ident has to represent this aspect of the channel. In comparison some idents are entertainment led such as that of