AUNTIE'S FACIAL .sx With the television marketplace ever more competitive , the BBC has a new look to take it into the 90s .sx Dominic Murphy reports on a process that is as much about consolidation as it is about design .sx But can the corporation take the strain ?sx The BBC , it seems , can never do anything right .sx No sooner does the corporation attempt to cut its costs - painfully relevant in the light of the latest Price Waterhouse audit - and the public is up in arms , worried about the future quality of programming .sx No sooner does a quality drama come to the screens , at a reputed cost that would buy a large Knightsbridge house , than the holders of the country's purse strings claim resources are being wasted .sx However , one positive thing at least emerges from all the attacks the corporation has to endure - namely the significant position it has in our culture .sx It goes without saying , therefore , that the image the BBC projects is extremely important .sx Responding to this , Michael Peters was called in two years ago to redesign the corporate logo ; then came the in-house designs of BBC Radio , incorporating Radio 5 ; now it is the turn of the television channels , with new looks for BBC1 and BBC2 designed by Lambie-Nairn & Company .sx But this identity job is as much about organisation , drawing together the disparate strands of a sprawling organisation known as BBC Television and projecting it as one coherent whole , as it is about pure graphic design .sx The redesign may seem simple , almost conservative , with its use of a classic numeral one and a bladed numeral two ( both retaining the Peters' logo ) for the main channels .sx This , Martin Lambie-Nairn describes as " almost anti - graphic design " .sx But what is beneath the simple imagery is a radicalism in the comprehensiveness of the design process , extending in an unprecedented fashion the new look across the BBC's television output , from the on-screen identities for the two channels , through the Open University and Family Television identities , to the lay - out of the on-screen presentation system and the design of supporting literature .sx The culmination of two year's work , the project came about when Pam Masters took over as head of presentation and , on the instigation of Lambie-Nairn , commissioned some research on the perception of the BBC .sx The incumbent channel idents were seen to be cold and alienating , though the BBC1 globe was popular .sx The corporate identity was not used in any of the on - screen branding , creating fragmented look for the television output .sx Also , the identities did not translate to print .sx Retaining the global idea , a new , animated sequence establishes a warmer , more accessible BBC1 .sx Designed by Daniel Barber , the result is a swirling , colourful one-minute sequence with nine points of entry .sx BBC2 , designed by Lambie-Nairn and Barber , consists of nine animated vignettes using the two symbol and viridian colour branding .sx Where the BBC1 ident is designed to endure , the BBC2 ident consist of several sequences so the ideas can be developed with time .sx Where BBC1 was required to project an image that will remain graphically appealing , BBC2's ident will respond to the world around it .sx .sx The layout of the programme promotions and menus - with the logo always in the same position on a strip on the left of the screen - give an essence of continuity through the channels .sx .sx Lambie-Nairn describes the idents as continuing the tradition of the BBC with no major shifts that could deny its past .sx " All we can do is to put on an image which is not predictable , " he says ; " which is something particular to the BBC , which people will respond to and say 'I like that , I enjoy that , that's the good old BBC again' .sx " .sx Despite this homely renown , pre-redesign the corporate's image was in disarray .sx But why ?sx " Television culture comes down to years of not having to compete , " says Lambie-Nairn .sx " What we do in presentation that is traditionally seen as some sort of backwater has become a main river in the last five years .sx " People in television are now aware that there is a necessity for presentation to be important , but how presentation works in this new environment has not been thought through .sx " .sx Masters , however , is confident the BBC has got it right .sx " We have said that in the past people have been inclined to change the identity of a channel , not really for strategic reasons .sx What we have said now is that there should be a reason for doing it and identities , when they get put right , shouldn't change .sx " .sx This time , the reasons were abundantly obvious .sx Channel 4 set the precedent with an identity with staying power throughout the 80s .sx ITV last year sorted out the confusion between the umbrella organisation and its regional offspring .sx Competition will increase with a more efficient , post-franchise , independent network and satellite .sx .sx This all points to more commercial pressure on the corporation .sx As the BBC runs up to the expiry date of its Charter in 1996 , where its funding could be changed from the licence fee to something like the subscription favoured by the Peacock Committee in the 80s , viewers might then be inclined to watch the cheaper independents .sx With the nature of British television irrevocably changing , a sharpening of BBC Television's rambling and hoary image has long been overdue .sx In considering the case for the new identity the question is not so much whether it is appropriate , as in functional terms it has a great deal to commend it .sx No , the real debate must be over whether the BBC can live up to an image of being a unified , forward-thinking organisation alert to the marketplace .sx A STING IN THE TRAIL .sx Influential video and commercials director Gerard de Thame has adopted a filmic , narrative approach for his latest work , a promo for Sting .sx Does this herald an imminent move into features for him ?sx Patrick Butler reports .sx This was almost Gerard de Thame's last promo .sx Six gruelling days on a planed three-day shoot had all but convinced one of Britain's top pop video directors it wasn't worth it any longer .sx A week later de Thame is enthusiastically scanning the rushes of his erstwhile swan - song , and while thoughts of a well-earned holiday persist , premature retirement is now far from his mind .sx " You can get so wrapped up in making films , " he laments with mock self-pity .sx The promo unwinding on the reels before us is Sting's 'Why Should I Cry ?sx ' It's a big budget ( " big by pop video standards " ) , three-and-a-half minute film , stamped with familiar de Thame trademarks :sx shot in black and white , unusual camera angles and an eye for detail .sx But it also marks a development away from his early promos .sx Perhaps mindful of the TV and film disciplines he is keen to work in , 'Why .sx ..?' has a classic , cinematic feel much removed from the freestyle arrangements of his earlier work such as the award-winning 'Wonderful Life' for Black , which he once described as " anti - " , its languorous style " like stills but with movement in the frames " .sx This time , de Thame insists , things are different .sx " Most of the stuff I did before was like stills cut together but this was shot in a more filmy way .sx " .sx It was made entirely in the studio with a 45-strong crew .sx De Thame admits to having lots of fun concocting a storm at sea on the custom-built set but he also had to do his homework :sx " The set design , camera angles - it all had to be worked out meticulously in advance .sx " .sx There is a storm , a sea burial , and a subplot involving two stowaway boys .sx Sting gets to croon from a hammock and a group of salty sea dogs in roll - neck jumpers play cards in the mess .sx " It should cut together as a narrative , " promises de Thame .sx The ironic , slightly self-deprecating tone betrays the level of responsibility de Thame has over his work , a nervy realisation that the buck stops with him .sx He demands a high degree of control and he refuses to shoot standard 'performance' pop promos .sx He is notoriously selective over which commissions he accepts and insists it is the song rather than the artist's name which proves decisive .sx " I was prepared to do this song because it is one that I like , " he says .sx " I'm not hung up about working with stars .sx " .sx Besides Sting , artists he has worked with include Tanita Tikaram , Black and Lloyd Cole :sx languorous ballads and moody AOR for the CD generation .sx Musically it's undemanding , bit this makes it perfect soundtrack music , allowing him to make the song complement his film .sx Whatever , it means his pop videos are almost invariably more memorable than the songs they are supposed to promote .sx Sting , not normally an artist at ease playing second fiddle one might think , accepted a low-profile part in 'Why .sx ..?' and seemed happy to hand over control to his director .sx " Sting was fine , " says de Thame .sx " He likes to know what is happening and why , but he was no problem .sx " .sx There has been speculation for some time about de Thame graduating to feature films .sx He talks enthusiastically , if unspecifically , about 40s and 50s black and white studio system classics , 'Hollywood Romanticism' , and the tendency of modern movies to " make things too lifelike " .sx More specifically he admits features are " definitely what I want to do " .sx His producers , Helen Langridge Associates , have taken on a project development person and only the obstacles of time , money and a decent script need surmounting before his ambition is realised .sx But while the crucial first feature remains elusive , de Thame's star continues to ascend in the advertising world , with memorable films for Pimms , McEwan's lager ( Creative Review , July 1990 ) , Alpen and Toshiba under his belt .sx In the past he has railed against the constraints of the short film but he can also appreciate the advantages :sx " Commercials are good for me .sx There's not the freedom of the pop promo , but there's a discipline there that's useful .sx " .sx According to Helen Langridge , de Thame has been overwhelmed with offers of work on ads and promos .sx Our interview was cut short so he could catch a plane to New Zealand where he's shooting a commercial for Citroen .sx " My next project , " he exclaims optimistically , " is a holiday !sx " It could be one project he may have to scrap .sx Howard Waller and John Stoddard hit the design heritage trail and search for lasting values in the ephemeral .sx Flirtatious initiative .sx On the next to last page in Posters of the Belle Epoque , The Wine Spectator Collection ( Rizzoli , pounds45 ) there appears a full page reproduction of Capiello's poster for rubber shoes .sx It shows a frog sitting by a pond pulling on the shoes - no caption , just the name of the shoemaker .sx It is a brilliant but odd example of the posters of Paris at the turn of the century .sx Although this example is witty , graphic and classic , it is all too rare within the 200 or so posters in this book .sx This is because most of the posters simply use the female form to sell anything from cigarette papers to coastal resorts .sx There is an extraordinary example of a naked lady promoting a kerosene lamp .sx But sexist or otherwise , this collection of posters is stunning .sx We have to imagine a society without television and how this must have put an extraordinary focus on these images .sx They were created by individual artists such as Cheret , Lautrec , Bonnard , Mucha and Capiello .sx Their images were transferred to massive lithographic stones and printed without the benefit of the four colour process .sx Such was the quality of the posters that print runs were extended to meet the demand of collectors .sx There became a poster cult which was fed with magazines , exhibitions and books published on the subject .sx And it is not difficult to see why , when we realise that these were the first real pictorial images in outdoor advertising .sx The value of the posters must have been enhanced by the fact that they were created not by an industry but by an individual artist , often signed and with drawn lettering from the same hand .sx