New ITV and ITVX sonic brand designed by The Futz Butler

Following the replacement of ITV Hub – the British TV network’s streaming service – by ITVX, The Futz Butler was brought onboard to deliver an unconventional new sonic brand for the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster. The London-based bespoke music and sound production studio was also responsible for delivering menu beds for ITV’s five channels.

ITV’s overall aim is to push its brand towards becoming a global leader in the digital streaming space. The audio work by The Futz Butler follows on from an ambitious brand refresh led by the television network’s internal creative agency, ITV Creative, in partnership with London brand consultancy DixonBaxi.

With the new sonic identity requiring a recognisable thread to work across five channels (ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe), the music and sound studio also felt the need to utilise a modern, inclusive, bold and humane tone in order to elicit nuance.

The Futz Butler sought to unite ITV’s family of channels by creating a suite of overarching beds, which was achieved in an unusual manner. Sourcing the sounds in many peculiar ways, such as dropping sugar on balloons and building a choir from iPhone voice notes, the recordings were taken outside ITV’s Southbank Studios in London.

Paul Sumpter, creative director at The Futz butler, says, “Our vision was to build a challenging and memorable sonic identity for ITV that turns heads and changes perceptions. A sound that is as bold as it is reflective of modern Britain.”

Other methods of generating unique sounds included vibrating bells and metallic instruments on powerful sub-woofers, while the sound of an ‘X’ scratched into an LP record was sampled as a rhythm to represent ITVX. Tony Pipes, ITV Creative’s executive creative director, added that The Futz Butler’s “exciting, challenging and original” work took him and his team out of their comfort zone.

Meanwhile, ITVX’s mnemonic was created through a sonic articulation of Dixon Baxi’s ‘Spark, Amplify and Discover’ visual animation story.

With the new sonic identity having been launched across ITV’s broadcast channels in November, the ITVX streaming service was launched last week on 8 December.