Channel Four Identity
Channel Four Original Identfrom 1982 The award winning Channel Four identity was designed in 1982 by Robinson Lambie-Nairn. They won the initial pitch against Michael Peters and Wolf Olins.
From their initial presentation Lambie-Nairn researched Channel Four's philosophy and seized the fact that they would be buying all their programmes in, so Channel Four would be a patchwork.
Their first idea was to illustrate the coming together of these elements. The first six ideas of 'coming together' all implied movement. One idea used the the colours of a television gun (RGB) and Channel Four liked the use of strong colour and agreed the 'coming together' theme should be emphasised and developed further.
Having created the logo, Lambie Nairn then used a computer to animate outlines of the blocks to the final freeze. The movements were then hand coloured and shot, but it didnt work, it was lacking shadow and lighting. So they decided to go to Los Angeles and Bo Gehring Aviation who specialised in computer animation to have differing sequences of the same basic symbol done entirely on computer, as at the time there was nowhere in the UK to go for this.
The results were ground breaking, entertaining and a flawless piece of tv graphic design.
Early Commercial Breaks
Is this continuity ? Well it is coming from Channel Four and its not a programme. This is what happened when the ITV station selling the advertising space, err couldn't! So instead a treat for all you music fans ... Last clip - later in the same year no ads at all on C4 because of an actors dispute between Equity and the IBA.
The Avengers Followsc1982 Alice Follows Shortly
c1982 Rhapsody In Blue Follows
c1982 Three Men In A Boat Follows Shortly
c1982
When Comedy Was King Followsc1982 The British At War Follows
c1982 Channel Four News Follows
1983 Brookside Follows Shortly
1982
Holding Slides with continuity
starting with photographic slides...
Now the slides are made electronically with Quantel Paintbox
Channel Four Clock
Start-Ups
Channel Four Start-Up1982
Until Channel 4 launched a breakfast television service in April 1989, the channel started the day in the same way - the Channel 4 logo appeared followed by a rundown of the first few programmes with music playing for two minutes before the first programme of the day. Here, Paul Coia starts the Channel 4 day a few weeks after launch.
Closedowns
Channel 4 Nightime
Channel 4 Nightime1987 In 1987, Channel 4 started staying up late, initially only at the weekend, and a special ident was briefly used. It was in early 1988 that the channel broadcast into the early hours seven days a week offering an alternative to the programming on ITV as that network started extending broadcasting hours at around the same time, on a region-by-region basis, ahead of the entire ITV network being on air all night by autumn 1988.
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1982
Christmas Ident1982
A very festive version of the Four Square jingle was used as the soundtrack to 4's first Christmas with the logo doing its stuff in front of a Christmas bauble.
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1983
Christmas Promo1983
This promo peeks into Channel 4's sackful of distinctively entertaining Christmas goodies.Christmas on Channel 4 - 1984
Boxing Day Promo1984
As it says on the tin, a promo of some of the highlights for Boxing Day on Channel 4.Christmas on Channel 4 - 1985
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1986
Christmas Start-Up1986
This was the earliest startup time thus far in Channel 4's history - 10am - and the day began by removing the wrapper to reveal the day's programming. How seasonal.Christmas on Channel 4 - 1987
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1988
Christmas Ident1988
Lots of background neon lighting is used for Channel 4's seventh Christmas but there's no seasonal version of 4 Square this year.
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1989
Christmas Ident1989
This year Channel 4 gives its jingle a Christmas reworking for 1989 and the logo is given a distinctly misty look.
Christmas Promos1989
A sneak preview of how Channel 4 will look at Christmas is seen in this promo.Christmas on Channel 4 - 1990
Christmas Promo1990
This promo is for a performance of Haydn's Creation to images from the natural world. This fits in well with the Art of Landscape, which features heavily on the channel at this time as that programme follows the same format of images of the natural world accompanied by a soundtrack of classical music. The promo ends with the phrase "stereo music" as Nicam Digital Stereo was being slowly rolled out by the IBA in 1989 on a transmitter-by-transmitter basis.Christmas on Channel 4 - 1991
Christmas Ident1991
No seasonal sound to 4 Square in 1991 but a colourful seasonal look for the logo.
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1992
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1993
Christmas in New York is the theme for 1993
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1994
Christmas Ident1994
Simplicity itself but just as effective as rather than producing something brand new, bosses decided to give the logo a shiny icy feel for Christmas 1994.
Christmas on Channel 4 - 1995
Christmas Ident1995
The last Christmas with the Channel 4 blocks sees the logo becoming a rotating Christmas decoration.
Other Channel 4 Special Idents
Olympics Ident1988
1988 was the only time that Channel 4 has ever broadcast the Olympic Games, sharing its coverage with ITV. Channel 4 broadcast coverage between around 11.30pm and its usual 9.30am start time - daytime coverage was on ITV. To mark the occasion, a special version of the Channel 4 ident was used.
American Football Ident1988
Channel 4 has to be credited with bringing Gridiron to UK viewers and it covered the sport for many years. This ident was often seen to introduce its NFL coverage.
Football Italia Ident1992
Channel 4 brought Italian football to our screens every Sunday afternoon during the 1990s as an alternative to Sky Sports showing the newly formed Premier League and regionalised Division One coverage on ITV. A special ident was produced to introduce the coverage.
ATV Tribute - Wednesday Promo?
This really is Channel 4, despite it broadcasting an evening of classic ATV programming.
Open College on 41988
Channel 4 was the television home for the Open College, broadcasting programmes on weekday lunchtimes. This was the logo used to introduce the Open College programming.
Channel 4 Promotional Campaigns
Channel 4 In The Afternoon1984
In October 1984, just under two years after Channel 4 launched, the first extension of broadcasting hours took place with the weekday start time brought forward to 2.30pm. This promo tells us about some of the programmes which will be featured in the first few weeks of this new afternoon schedule.
Further examples of programme promotions ...
International Ballroom Dancing Championship1984 Goodfellas Promo
1995 Who Dares Wins
1988 Treasure Hunt
1988
