ITV to launch artist-led new ident series in 2019

Artists Ravi Deepres, Sutapa Biswas, James Brunt, Patricia Volk, Mark Titchner, Katrina Russell Adams, Kristina Veasey and James Alec Hardy are set to have their work displayed on the nation’s televisions as part of a new initiative launched by ITV today.

As of 1 January 2019, ITV Creates will see an artist given a week to craft their own take on the ITV ident, which will then be broadcast across the ITV schedule for the following seven days. The scheme has been introduced by ITV Creative, which is, as you’d imagine, the national broadcaster’s in-house creative agency.

“Idents have been around since the dawn of TV and the way they have behaved has changed very little. We wanted to push against the prevailing convention that idents are set, the idea that they are moving wallpaper that lasts 5 or 10 years without changing,” says Tony Pipes, the executive creative director at ITV. Pipes adds, “With this project, we’ve not only given a platform to some of Britain’s best visual artists, but we have also found a way to continually entertain and surprise our viewers. This work reflects ITV as a 21st Century broadcaster, part of the fabric of culture, as an endlessly creative organisation.”

The channel has also announced plans to “dedicate one month of the year to new student talent, offering opportunities to young artists at the very beginning of their careers, by working with universities in different parts of the country to offer art students the opportunity to design the ITV identity during that month.”

Check out a selection of images from forthcoming idents below.