London music and sound house The Futz Butler have just delivered an unconventional new sonic brand for ITV, including a menu beds for ITV’s 5 channels and a standout mnemonic for new streaming service ITVX, which will replace ITV Hub.

The new audio package forms part of an ambitious brand refresh for the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster led by ITV’s internal creative agency ITV Creative in collaboration with design agency DixonBaxi, designed to re-introduce the brand as a global leader in the digital streaming space.

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

The challenge here was how to balance versatility with a nuanced channel feel via a recognisable thread throughout the music, all whilst manifesting a modern, inclusive, bold and human tonality specified by the client required. 

Instead of the traditional approach of producing assets for each channel (ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe) The Futz Butler produced a suite of overarching beds that unites the ITV family of channels together holistically. For the ITVX mnemonic - called Burst - the team created a sonic articulation of the Spark, Amplify and Discover story of the visual animation created by Dixon Baxi.

Paul drew from the unlikeliest of source material to create the building blocks of the bespoke new ITV sound world. Blending his background in music with unorthodox sound design and even field recordings, the final audio suite of assets utilises recordings of sugar being dropped on balloons, a choir built from iPhone voice notes and a Finnish zither run through a VHS player.

Tony Pipes, executive creative director at ITV Creative commented: “The Futz Butler have been a pleasure to work with from day one. The work they produced was exciting, challenging and original - taking us out of our comfort zone whilst still hitting the brief and expressing the brand. How they work, the process and the original way they approach the work is not only fascinating, but effective. It’s been a joy.”

Audiences can hear the new ITV sound across the family of broadcast channels as of November 15th with the ITVX streaming platform landing on December 8th.