BBC Two October 2008

Hello again. After trying, with varying degrees of success, to improve the current BBC Two presentation (not that difficult a task admittedly) here's another idea to through into the mix: what if the October 2008 refresh had gone ahead?

As has been well documented, the plan was to replace the BBC Two box with a small BBC logo in the bottom right corner of the screen (causing havoc in the nations but let's put them to one side for a moment) as well as shelving the Cappuccino, Chase, Mirror A and Tent idents, leaving just 4 (Car, Seascape, Sunroof and Zoetrope) in rotation.

But after only one junction and one showing of the doctored Sunroof, someone got cold feet and quietly reverted back to the February 2007 presentation. Aside from the revised Seascape erroneously popping up at closedown, the refresh was never seen again.

So, I have attempted to recreate the lone BBC logo look across the 4 idents that would have been used, with the dimensions and placement of the logo exactly as it appeared in the broadcast Sunroof ident. Note, therefore, that everything from the positioning of the logo to the ugly black subtitles bar are not my ideas but those of the original designers.

I've also mocked up an accompanying trail style, next pointer design and a logo that could be used in such promotions. You can see how the trail style would have really looked here, but since that looks awful I've tried to create something better by going back to basics. Everything surrounding the idents are my own ideas.

Thoughts welcome!

Video

These are really nice. I wish they'd stuck with the box-less idents.
I'd drop the 'Subtitles' graphic though, really don't think its necessary anymore. Virtually everything is subtitled isn't it?
Excellent work though.

As ever, this is simply outstanding, Jonny. The trailer enboard style is far better than the current look IMO (albeit not quite as... eye-catching (!)) and your idea of using the stings for the now/next pointers is fantastic. Best of all, the whole thing appears to be completely adaptable for the nations, whose text could fit in under the logo nicely.

The HD/iPlayer logos on the Top Gear trail are a very nice touch too.

This is very nice, I wanted to give 5 stars, but pressed 4. It is 5 from me!

The subtitle DOG has to appear according to OFCOM. I think from later in 2010 it's not a requirement, it depends on the broadcaster if they put it there or not.

Is it just BBC idents it has to appear on? With ITV, the Subtitles DOG appears on the start of the program.