BBC Three idents

BBC Three, and BBC Choice before it, have both had visually dynamic identities to appeal to the target audience of young adults.
BBC Choice
Choice of Three (1998-2000)
BBC Choice launched on 23 September 1998 as a digital channel aimed at the young adult market. Offering a choice of programming from specially commissioned programming to repeats from BBC One and Two. The launch identity was created by Lambie-Nairn and revolved around the idea of three objects, people, or characters with a central theme. Five were made and focused on:
* Fans - a football fan, a hand fan and an electric fan.
The BBC Choice logotype was retained following the rebrand, as were promotion styles, the DOG and the national opt-outs for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However, the concept of a rotating triangular prism featuring the words 'Now on Choice' on each of the sides was used in promotions and to showcase upcoming programmes. The website address was added under the DOG in November 2000.
Three Blocks or Three Boxes (2001-2002)
On 6 July 2001, BBC Choice rebranded again. This time, the hearts aspect was dropped in favour of three orange blocks or three orange boxes set in a blue and a green world. The boxes would often interact with each other, roll over and adjust their own shape. The promotions also changed; the logo is still remained at the bottom of the screen throughout the promotion, however information was now purveyed through the blocks or the boxes. As each detail, such as the programme title, day and time of broadcast, was announced, a block or a box appeared in top right of the screen with the detail written next to it. The blobs were designed to be characters within the ident and not presenters and never commented on the upcoming programme.
The channel used a variety of promotions and stings. Prior to the launch, the channel made use of the song "Three Is the Magic Number", Promotions originally ended with a gradient blue stripe over the programme promotion containing the information and BBC Three white logo; this was however changed with the logo to a three-dimensional blue block seen from a corner with programme information on one side. Their departure was marked with special idents featuring celebrities such as Matt Lucas voicing the blobs.
Media World (2008-2013)
In 2008, Danny Cohen, the controller for BBC Three at the time, unveiled a new cross-platform brand for BBC Three. The new logo would feature on the revamped BBC Three website, mobile site and on the channel itself. The links between the three media would only increase with time as emphasis was placed to watch the channel on all three platforms. "The thinking behind this rebrand of the channel is that we have, in effect, created a BBC Three world in which our content can move seamlessly between TV, online and mobile", he explained. "We have a fantastic line-up of programmes and we are going to make them available wherever young people want them." The rebrand cost GBP 380,000, described as "relatively little" by Cohen. along with agencies MPG and Agency Republic with music and sound design by creative audio company Koink. The idents themselves featured a new look BBC Three logo; a continuous pipe containing pink liquid spelling out 'three' in lower case below a . Pools of this liquid is also seen in a number of the idents when pipes breach. In addition to this, members of the public could record and upload links into programmes shown in the late evening or alongside the announcer in the early evening. Programme slides are still utilised by the channel, however it is primarily used on other channels. The soundtrack for the idents was composed by Chris Branch and Tom Haines at Brains & Hunch.
Remix of BBC Three (2016)
On 4 January 2016, BBC Three got a new look, before the television channel moved to online only on 16 February. Due to the shift online, the two animated ident sequences introduced with this new symbol were only used on screen for a month, but much of the accompanying presentation style - including the 'tricon' (the three-bars symbol seen above) was retained in some form throughout the online-first era.
Threetime on BBC One (2019-2022)
A branded block of BBC Three programming, Threetime was introduced to BBC One on 4 March 2019. These programmes were introduced with a dedicated ident which animated a BBC One wordmark against a pink background, followed by a looping animated graphics sequence centred around the BBC Three 'tricon' symbol.
Threetime Update (part of BBC 2021 rebrand)
In the redesign of BBC channels' presentation on 20 October 2021, the Threetime sequence would be amended: after the BBC One channel sting, the Threetime animation would consist of a pink screen with the new BBC Three wordmark appearing in a lighter pink, in the same position on screen as the other channel logos in the new style would usually be, with a shortened version of the tricon animation sequence, also in this lighter pink, looping in the centre of the screen.
Threetime was last appeared on 31 January 2022 leading up to the return of BBC Three on TV.
Three Hands (2022-present)
Following the decision to reinstate BBC Three as a linear broadcast channel from 2022, a new visual identity was devised. The channel's colour identity was changed from pink, which it had been since 2008, to bright green, and the 'tricon' symbol introduced in 2016 was also scrapped. New branding featuring three animated hands was created - this was first spotted in use in test transmissions for the revived channel which began on 10 January 2022, but was soon removed from the sequence: the hands were officially 'released' to the public in trailers and on social media on 27 January, with BBC Three's social media channels confirming the names of the hands as 'Captain', 'Spider' and 'Pointer'. Captain is a violet hand often seen walking on two fingers in the style of human legs, Spider is a dark pink hand and scuttles around on all five fingers palm-downward, representing the titular arachnid, and Pointer is a magenta hand that travels by floating and is often seen with the index finger extended. The use of three alike elements in the idents has been likened to the 1998 "Choice of Three" and 2001 "Three Boxes" sets of the BBC Choice branding by some commentators. The first night of relaunch instead used "idents" set in a fake newsroom.

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