Task Two - Understanding the limitations of the televsion ident

Television idents can be good for TV channels but they also have many limitations. Things such as typography, colour, aspect-ratio, adhering to a desired tone, and duration need to be considered carefully in order to make a television ident work effectively. 

The first limitation to a television ident is the typography. Many channels have their own signature design for their idents which means that typography is kept to one specific design. For example the BBC idents all consist of a large font. This allows the channel to be recognised by the audiences easily and keeps confusion to a minimum. For example BBC One use the theme of a circle in all of their idents and the colour red is their trademark. Likewise BBC Two is mainly green, BBC Three is purple and pink and BBC Four is black. However, the limitation is that design plans lack in choice, meaning that the style of the ident may eventually become dull and tedious. 

Colour is also another limitation when designing television idents as many channels have their own signature colour that audiences recognise them by. An example is the E4 ident which is identifiable by the colour purple in all of their idents. Similarly, channels such as CBBC and CBeebies have their own colours as well.  Having a specific colour means that audiences can easily recognise channels, similarly to the idea of having the same typography. This means that there is limited choice on what the design could be without changing the ident too much as the colour has to be kept the same throughout to avoid any confusion. Also there are many different meanings for colour in society and the designer must take this into consideration. Additionally they need to make sure that there are no bright colours or flashing lights when creating the ident as this could affect audience members who suffer from epilepsy. Although there are limitations overall having a specific colour is a positive aspect as the association with a channel and a colour will stay in the audiences mind. For example E4 is based around the colour purple so audience members who know that will associate this colour with the channel when they see the same colour used for another logo.

Another limitation is the aspect-ratio. This means that all programs, adverts and idents must be delivered in 16:9 widescreen, meaning that the image must fit the 16:9 screen both vertically and horizontally without distortion. This is less of a limitation compared to aspects such as the typography and colour. This is because the majority of the population own a widescreen TV that is made to fit an image of 16:9 onto it, nevertheless it is a limitation as there are some members of the population who do not own a widescreen TV or one big enough to fit the image on without distortion. This means that the image will constantly be too big for the screen and some of the image will be cut off.

Adhering to a desired tone is another aspect that has to be taken into consideration when making a TV ident as the ident must be suitable for the audiences likely to watch it. An example of this is the BBC Four idents which are created to keep the audience engaged with the scheduling of programs. BBC Four show programs that are normally aimed at the older audience and include drama,suspense, and documentaries, therefore an ident must be created that appeals to the target population. There are, however, limitations to this. For example the creators of the ident must do a lot of research in order to create an ident that they know will appeal to their target population, but they must also make sure that it is different from the channels other idents to ensure that the audience don't lose attention.

Finally the duration is also a limitation when making an ident as the timing has to be correct to fit into the time slot given. Many idents shown on TV are cut down to around 30 seconds to ensure that the audience are kept entertained and at the same time advertising the channel. It is important that the ident doesn't last too long as that is likely to become tedious and dull, for example the CBeebies cannot be too long as the target audience is young children between 1&6 and they are unlikely to sit and watch an ident that lasts longer than 30 seconds. However, the duration isn't only a limitation but can also be a good idea., This is because the break between different shows allows the audience to have a short break before continuing on with what they are watching, meaning they are more likely to stay engaged with what is going on and be entertained at the same time.