T2 - Understanding the limitations of the television ident

Typography

Typography is the art of type/text. And includes things such as the font and  the colour used for on-screen text. This can be limiting for idents as they may be restricted to using a certain font, but on the other hand it can be positive to have this limitation when designing idents as it creates a brand identity with the logo, so that its easily recognisable when seen. This can be seen with companies like the BBC and ITV, the only channels not using the standardised font are those with a specific target audience and programming e.g. kids channels like CITV and CBeebies, or BBC3 which appeals to more comedy and wouldn't fit the normal font.

Colour

Different channels use different colours to create a brand identity with their channel, for example, E4 use purple in their idents, and channel 5 use a lot of bright, luminescent colours. This can be limiting to the creator as they have to stick with specific colours.

Aspect ratio

The aspect ratio of idents must be 16:9 as to fit on the screen of most modern televisions, which present the image in this widescreen format. This doesn't really cause much of a limitation as it is just the size of a screen and is seen as standard.

Adhering to a desired tone
A channel ultimately wants to appeal to a specific audience, and can aid this with the use of idents, by identifying certain aspects of a channel, such as comedy central or BBC3. While avoiding others such as extreme acts of violence on a kids channel.



Duration

Most idents are over the 30 seconds we usually see, some are over a few minutes long to fill time if needed. As can be seen from the BBCs football ident.