Opportunities and limitations of onscreen graphic representation

TV idents are commonly done in the form of graphic representation. Graphic representations are found in all forms of graphic communication, which is the “process of creating, producing, and distributing material incorporating words and images to convey data, concepts, and emotions. -The field of graphic communications encompasses all phases of the graphic communications processes from origination of the idea (design, layout, and typography) through reproduction, finishing and distribution of two- or three-dimensional products or electronic transmissions”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_communication. There are both limitations and opportunities of onscreen graphic representation, however the purposes of it is more important then the limitations it has. One limitation is text not translating well onto screen well and there being a problem with typography, the problem being that often when text is transferred it’ll pixelate and may have fuzzy edges. The limitation with typography is not such a big problem, as the limitation can be easily overcome if done skillfully by and expert.

Conveying something with the use of graphics is challenging, as it’s hard to convey a feeling, emotion or something with the use of graphics. It limits the values and messages put across to the audience. Designs have to be well thought about as the designer has to think about access and so the ident shouldn’t be largely text based, as it limits the audience being reached out to in the sense that not everyone understands English or can read English. It’s better to brand yourself with a logo or similar so that the audience can identify with the corporate identity better. In this sense the use of graphics is an opportunity as branding using graphics makes a corporate identity easier to identify with. The more technical problems with graphics representation is the constraints in the aspect of screen resolution and the design having to be designed with the ration in mind, as a problem could be that the design doesn’t work with different ratios. Also the motion graphics software are moving faster than the changes in television and so designs may be created in formats that can’t be transmitted in a formats such as HD or 3D. 

Moiré patterns are commonly seen on television screens directly when a person is wearing a shirt or jacket of a particular weave or pattern. As the person moves about, the Moiré pattern is quite noticeable. Because of this, newscasters and other professionals who appear on TV regularly are instructed to avoid clothing, which could cause the effect, more commonly known as 'strobing'. Moiré is also a problem with idents and attention to this in designing idents should be paid attention to in order for the design not to ruin at the end. As a graphic designer you have to be careful not to put lines too close together when designing and creating tv idnets.

An Example of Moire Fringing 

Idents are also referred to as stings a reason for this being that they are short and quick like a sting and can be seen as “penetrating your subconscious”- Miss Brooke. They have with it the opportunity to establish a corporates identity, which is one of the purposes of them. TV idents are relatively new and before 1987 there wasn’t much need for TV idents and establishing corporate identity as a TV channel due to there being few channels available before then. However the new technology such as transmitters, and satellites, resulted in much more channels dedicated to making and airing a certain type of shows for different audiences. This brought in the need for TV idents to convey their personas to the audience in order to reach their target audiences and so audiences could identify well with the channel. The designs of idents and increase in TV channels created more jobs an

TV idents allow for channels to target a particular audience as before their audience would have been very broad. Before idents there was no way to describe whom the channel was for or age aimed at. Idents act as a reminder to draw you in, as TV watching companies such as BARB know that people don’t constantly watch TV but will have the TV on and be multi tasking, and so the ident may feature a voice over telling the audience what’s on next to bring them back so that watching the TV is their primary activity.

Badly designed idents is an ident that doesn’t communicate what it means to communicate failing its purpose and obviously being a big disadvantage to a TV channel as, it can put people off from watching the TV channel and so in this aspect the ident would be doing a disservice to the channel. Idents have to be presented right to an audience because as I stated earlier they tend to “penetrate your subconscious’ and so need to have the right values conveyed to the audience in order to grab their attention. They need to be either entertainment or information based so the consumer get an idea of what the channel is about. An example of a badly designed ident I believe is the old late evening paramount tv ident 

This Paramount ident came across as sleazy to the audience, and even though it is meant to be comical, the ident contradicts the values and message communicated to the audience during the day, which was clean, family, humour, for a leisurely,viewing pleasure and entertainment. However the ident later on sends the message that the channel is a comical sex channel, and confuses the audience in the sense that the channel has two personas; clean during the day and naughty and funny at night. The potential damage to the channel because of this ident is loosing viewers due to them not wanting to vae any association with the channel. 

In conclusion the advantages and opportunities idents provide out way the limitations and are effective in their purpose to brand, and promote. With the development of technology we are seeing idents pushed further, with the current trend and movement being to mimic averts and film videos, channel four’s idents are a good example of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R94X1M7r1SU -there Tokyo ident is an example of video that could be used as an opening to a film sequence that has cleverly and creatively incorporated the branding of the company. The designs of idents are becoming more complex and better designed with the constant new motion graphic software’s being brought out.