For me, the chance to showcase new and emerging talent within ITV Creates was always one of the most exciting parts of this initiative. As a channel we are always searching for fresh voices and new creative and the quality of the work produced by these young artists and creators shows why. I'm glad ITV Creative could be a partner in sharing the power, diversity and richness of the UK's young creative community with our audience. I can't wait to see what they do next. Tony Pipes, Executive Creative Director of ITV Creative

ITV has today announced details of the new talent takeover of its on-screen idents project, "ITV Creates", which sees 52 different idents across the year, each designed by a different artist and filmed by ITV Creative.

As of January 1st 2019, ITV’s on-screen idents have been changing every week, in a project that is intended to emphasise and reflect the creativity at the heart of the broadcaster’s business.

ITV Creative have worked with Artistic Director, Curator and Consultant Charlie Levine, to source and curate the artists to take part in this project, who are from a diverse range of backgrounds and are a mix of up and coming, and established artists, working across any visual arts discipline.

When ITV announced the ITV Creates project in December 2018 the broadcaster committed to dedicating a month of 2019 to new 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.

ITV approached the Art departments at a selection of universities across the UK, and the brief was issued to students at Newcastle University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Arts University Bournemouth, and University of West England. 

Additionally, ITV presented the brief at the Good Stuff Media Showcase, an event for creative agencies to see the best opportunities, initiatives and ideas from the UK's best media owners, opening up the opportunity to rising stars in the creative agency community to pitch an ident to ITV.

As with all artistic works featured in ITV Creates, students and young creatives were invited to propose an idea to make or customise the ITV logo in any sculptural way they wanted, that could be filmed and turned into a channel ident. The work should be influenced or inspired by cues from the broadcaster such as communication, television, technology, entertainment or togetherness or even a personal experience or relationship with ITV itself.

ITV can today confirm the young talent whose work will feature across the next five weeks on ITV.

The first work to air through week commencing July 22nd will be from Emily Downing and Olivia Weston (22 and 23 years old), from Saatchi & Saatchi (Junior Creatives), winners of the Good Stuff Media Showcase competition. The ident features henna drawn on 16 hands, across 9 people and took 16 hours to do. The design uses flowers to symbolise happiness and joy experienced when watching TV. The henna is notably drawn on the palms of hands, symbolising an offering, as ITV offers a world of entertainment to its viewers.

Next, week commencing July 29th will showcase the work of Brandon Saunders, an Art student at Newcastle University. Brandon originally studied science and wanted to incorporate this into his piece, using the simple flow of electricity.

Week commencing August 5th will feature the work of a group of Fine Art students at the Arts University Bournemouth and a charcoal piece that plays with the idea of perception.

During week commencing August 12th, work from Ash Kayser, an MA Graphic Art student from the University of West England, will be on air, with the ITV logo made up of lots of small cubes that represent bites or fragments of his memories of watching ITV.

Finally, in week commencing August 19th, Erin Taylor from Manchester Metropolitan University, a young artist with an interest in psychogeographic experimentation with different materials will take over the ITV ident, with her work that plays on themes on magnetism and TV.

Curator Charlie Levine, said: ITV Creates is a dream project to curate. Being able to showcase some of the best UK wide art talent is a rare opportunity and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed - I feel ITV Creates is a real snapshot of what is happening in the arts right now. It has been a priority to make the 52 artists representative and for the project to broadcast a selection of different art approaches, styles and missions. 

As a curator, I like to share knowledge and create platforms for both artists to show and for audience to experience art  - therefore this project has been amazing for me and I hope everyone involved, from the artists, designers, makers and commissioners at ITV, through to the audiences watching in their homes, to the young students getting their first high profile project have all enjoyed it as much as I have.

ITV Creates has been a unique project for giving a UK wide range of artists, including CJ Mahony in Glasgow via Ravi Deepres in Birmingham down to Seaford on the coast where Kristina Veasey is based. These three artists are perfect to emphasise the project's diversity in terms of location but also of artists and their practice, with an immersive environment artist, set designer and photographer and a visual artist.

We have purposefully wanted to display a variety of creative practices including architecture and design via Adam Nathaniel Furman who made stacked toys from the letters in his signature colour palette. We have worked with street artist Carleen de Souza who created a very personal work of her relationship with TV and escapism. And we have worked a lot with artists who are experts in working with colour such as Katrina Russell Adams, Fiona Grady, Charley Peters, Olly Father, Patricia Volk and Liz West.

As a curator I have also wanted to work with creative advocates, such as deaf artist Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq who made the logo out of casts of her own hands signing each letter and Gayle Kwan Chong who used milk bottles from around the world to highlight issues around recycling and up-cycling non biodegradable waste. 

ITV Creates has shown emerging artists, such as Florence Mytum, and internationally exhibiting artists, such as Mark Titchner and Lyndsey Seers. In the studio we have been lucky enough to witness art being made before our eyes through pieces by James Brunt who foraged for 5 hours to make his piece with leaves, to Greta Davies whose painting took 7 hours to complete. 

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