AS1 - Task Two - Understanding The Limitations of the Television Ident

Colour

The colours within an ident are used as an identity for the channel that its on because the colours of the company are unique to them. In order to cater to everyone's needs the colours need to be vibrant so they are able to be seen by the colour blind or people with impaired eyesight, this may mean that some colours may be preferred but not able to be of use because they may not cater to the minority. Various idents may need to be tested because some colours come out differently on screen, so this may lead to redesigning the entire ident.

Although this is a limitation, the positive of this could be that due to being limited to vibrant and ordinary colours, they are widely recognised throughout the whole country. Colours such as: red, blue yellow etc. This could make the ident more memorable because they used simple colours. 

Adhering To a Desired Tone

Idents have different tones depending on the type of channel that its on. Idents correspond the channels genre because it gives an insight to what the channel is about. For example, BBC3 has a bubble effect on one of its ident and bubbles are seen as quite childish, this would be because shows such as Family Guy, American Dad and Two Pints of Lager would show on this channel. This limits the design of an ident because they have to stick to a particular idea. If there was an amazing ident idea for a channel like BBC 2, chances are it won't fit the genre because BBC 2 is generally just about documentaries so you have to stay in that territory.

However, this could be a positive because it shows off the company's name and shows the directors initiative. By showing off the company's name it allows viewers to become more familiar with the channel and therefore more likely to return.

Duration
Idents usually last for about a minute, and the reasons for this is because idents are used to fill gaps. Filling gaps could be if a show finished too early so in order to maintain the schedule they put an ident on instead of a blank screen, could include information of whats on for the next couple of shows. If idents lasted for 30 seconds, it wouldn't really cover any lost time because no one realises how fast 30 seconds go by, also 30 seconds is more of an advert rather than an ident. This is a limitation because you can't have any fast and snappy idents you always have to drag them out abit and usually the idents are repetitive so you will find that the same ident has played maybe more than 6 times a day. 

This could also be positive because like i've mentioned, it allows the viewers to become familiar with the channel and maybe even sing along to the music making the viewer happy.

Typography
Idents have to use imagery and small text in order to communicate with its viewers.This is a limitation because companies have to show who their channel is aimed towards and maintain the audience's interest just by using imagery. Due to the amount of time that idents are on screen, the designers have a tough job of presenting the ident in their ideal perspective, this includes translating text into a television screen. Some fonts will be displayed incorrectly causing the typography to appear pixelated.

The positive to typography is that although its difficult its definitely possible, so using unique typographical features allows the ident to create an attraction for viewers, communicate and state information all at the same time.

Aspect Ratio
Idents aspect ratio has an effect on the overall design of the ident. For example if the designer had an idea of a portrait ident, this wouldn't fit in because the average screen is rectangle so they would have to adjust the ident and change it to being landscape. This is not the only thing that aspect ratio limits. As designers they just assume that people are always watching their TV but that isn't the case, some people may be watching on a wider screen, HD TV, and this means that the ident will be translated differently depending on the viewers choice of application. Idents can be stretched out causing the picture to look distorted or squashed also ruining the picture. In some cases, it may be the case of not being able to show the ident.