Key Stage

KS3 (ENG), KS4 (ENG), KS3 (NI), KS4 (NI), CfE L4 (SCO), CfE L3 (SCO), KS3 (WAL), KS4 (WAL)
Art term

Abstraction, Modernism, Clay modelling
Created by

Artists
Topics

Hobbies and pastimes, Film and photography

Photo credit: Theo Deproost

Jo Taylor's ITV ident

About this resource

How does an artist respond to a brief? This lesson planning resource, created with ceramic artist Jo Taylor, takes a look at the commissioning process and can be used to:

examine and understand how artists work
create artworks that respond to a set theme
kick off research into relationships between artists and clients

This Art and Design resource offers a series of activities that can be used together as a lesson plan or as individual components to integrate into your own scheme of work. It is devised for Key Stage 3/Level 3 but may also suit Key Stage 4/Level 4.

National Curriculum for England

Art and design
- Evaluate and analyse creative works
- Actively engage in the creative process of art, craft and designs
- Develop and refine ideas and proposals
- Develop an awareness of the purposes, intentions and functions of art, craft and design

Northern Ireland Curriculum

Art and design
- Experience a wide range of techniques and media to communicate meaning
- Developing creative thinking skills through designing and making
- Develop awareness of employment opportunities within the creative industries

Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence

Art and design
– I can use and combine the visual elements and concepts to convey ideas, thoughts and feelings in expressive and design work (EXA 3-03a)
– While working through a design process in response to a design brief, I can develop and communicate imaginative design solutions (EXA 3-06a)
– I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others' work (EXA 3-07a)

National Curriculum for Wales (2008)

Art and design
- Students use their knowledge about the work of other artists to enrich and inform their work through analysis and evaluation
- Students explore the diverse working practices of artists, craftworkers and designers
- Students experience a wide range of techniques and media to communicate meaning

New Curriculum for Wales (2022)

Expressive Arts

Exploring the expressive arts is essential to developing artistic skills and knowledge and it enables learners to become curious and creative individuals.

Progression step 4:

I can explore and experiment with my own and others’ creative ideas, demonstrating increasingly complex technical control, innovation, independent thinking and originality to develop my work with confidence, being able to explain my reasons behind choices made and evaluate their effectiveness on my creative work

I can explore creative work, understanding the personal, social, cultural and historical context, including the conventions of the period in which it was created.

I can investigate and understand how meaning is communicated through the ideas of other artists and performers.

Progression step 5:

I can explore and experiment with my own creative ideas and those of others, demonstrating technical control, innovation, independent thinking and originality, showing confidence to take risks and developing resilience in order to overcome creative challenges.

I can investigate and analyse how creative work is used to represent and celebrate personal, social and cultural identities.

I can independently research the purpose and meaning of a wide range of creative work and consider how they can impact on different audiences.

Responding and reflecting, both as artist and audience, is a fundamental part of learning in the expressive arts.

Progression step 4:

I can effectively evaluate my own creative work and that of others showing increasing confidence to recognise and articulate strengths, and to demonstrate resilience and determination to improve.

I can apply knowledge and understanding of context when evaluating my own creative work and creative work by other people and from other places and times.

I can evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of artistic techniques in producing meaning.

Progression step 5:

I can critically and thoughtfully respond to and analyse the opinion and creative influences of others in order to independently shape and develop my own creative work.

I can critically evaluate the way artists use discipline-specific skills and techniques to create and communicate ideas.

Creating combines skills and knowledge, drawing on the senses, inspiration and imagination.

Progression step 4:

I can use my experimentation and investigation to manipulate creative work with purpose and intent when communicating my ideas.

I can apply specialised technical skills in my creative work.

I can purposefully use my design skills and apply a range of solutions to clarify and refine final creative ideas.

I can draw upon my experiences and knowledge to inform and develop strategies to overcome creative challenges with imagination and resilience.

Progression step 5:

I can synthesise and apply experience, knowledge and understanding with sophistication and intent when communicating my ideas.

I can use professionally established, discipline-specific techniques confidently and convincingly in my creative work and work towards industry standard.

I can design creative outcomes to professional and industry-standard with sophistication, clear purpose and intent.

I can use effective strategies to take risks with my own creative work and can display resilience to overcome creative challenges.

Artists and clients

A commission is a request made by a client to an artist to create a work of art. The client will often give the artist a brief setting out what they want from the artwork. Usually the artist is paid for their work, so anyone can commission an artwork, as long as they have the money. The commissioning of artwork has a long history: often it was a means for the rich to display their wealth, and for rulers to communicate and maintain their power and status. Today, clients can be private individuals, corporations, charities or public bodies, such as local councils.

The artworks below are all examples of commissions. Ask your students to discuss their ideas about why the artworks were commissioned. Some information can be found by clicking through to the artworks' pages, and there are links in the 'find out more' section below should they wish to research these stories further.

Aina, Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies (1843–1880) 2020 Hannah Uzor (b.1982)
Winston Churchill 1954 Graham Vivian Sutherland (1903–1980)
Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere 2018 Gillian Wearing (b.1963)
Pan Celebrating the Feast of Bacchus Antonio Zucchi (1726–1796) (attributed to) and Antonio Zucchi (1726–1796) (school of)
Angel of the North 1994–1997 Antony Gormley (b.1950)

Brief

In 2019, the British TV channel ITV ran ITV Creates, a project commissioning artists to interpret the ITV logo as a three-dimensional artwork, to be filmed for an ident. Idents are short films that carry the channel's logo, shown before programmes by TV channels to identify themselves.

A curator organised the ITV Creates project after being given a budget by ITV to find artists and arrange for works to be created and filmed. ITV's aim was to create new branding to emphasise the importance of creativity in the identity of UK broadcasting, and to encourage ITV viewers to take a fresh look at the channel.

The brief asked the artist to create artwork that:

is three dimensional
reflects what ITV means to them
is inspired by communication, television, technology, entertainment or togetherness
will entertain or surprise the viewers

Proposal

The ITV Creates curator approached artists she felt would be suitable, often found via social media. ITV commissioned several artists, and each was given the same brief. They were asked to respond by creating a proposal: sketches and writing that give an impression of the work they would make, before the work was agreed by ITV. The proposal is an important part of the process – the client needs to understand clearly what they will get for their money, the ideas behind it, how it will look, the size, colour and techniques used.

Jo Taylor is a ceramic sculptor who was commissioned as part of ITV Creates. The curator had seen and liked her previous work.

Jo Taylor's first proposal was for artworks to hang on the wall, but ITV asked for changes: they wanted a freestanding sculpture that they could film in the round. This is to be expected: the commission process normally involves a few discussions and changes before settling on the final proposal, as the client is effectively a customer.

Here is Jo's final proposal:

'Concept: I grew up with ITV; Mum has been watching Corrie for 50+ years, I prefer dramas. For me ITV is synonymous with the ad break: time to make a cuppa, and this small, often shared, domestic detail anchors the drama onscreen and offers a brief moment's pause before the action continues.

For this commission I will create a freestanding sculpture in the three colours of the current logo, revealing the ITV logo from one aspect only, so that when it is viewed in 360 degrees, it appears then disappears as it rotates. The dot of the "i" will show a tiny thrown cup, to represent the ad break punctuating the drama with a domestic detail. The chaotic additions represent drama with ITV at its heart, anchored by the tiny cup to represent the ad break.

Construction: Using a mixture of wheel-thrown and hand-built pieces of clay, a unique freestanding sculpture will be created. Coloured stains will be mixed into the clay to be as close as possible to the ITV logo colours. Kiln dimensions limit size; height will be around 35cm.'

Here are Jo's sketches:

Discussion questions

Ask your students to examine Jo Taylor's proposal as if they represented the client, ITV.

How has Jo explored the themes with her sculpture?
How does the sculpture represent drama?
Which features of the sculpture represent the viewers at home?
Why has she chosen these colours?
Does the proposal meet the brief?

Ident films

Jo Taylor's sculpture was created to a deadline and taken to a studio for filming. It was broadcast as ITV's ident for a week in November 2019 and again in September 2020.

Ident films continued

The artwork created by each artist was broadcast throughout the year. Some examples are included in this video.

Though each artist worked to the same brief, each ident artwork created was very different. Jo Taylor told us: 'I met quite a few of the other artists and whilst everyone approached it differently, we all kept a lot of our specific art practice in the final work – the curator chose us all on the basis of what we had already done, and wanted to keep that essence in the final outcome.'

Activity: work to a brief

Ask students to prepare a proposal responding to the following brief:

You are commissioned to create a sculpture interpreting a broadcaster or streaming service's logo to be filmed for an ident. Your sculpture will be filmed from all angles. You will include a clear proposal to be agreed before making the final piece. The proposal can be presented as sketches, collage or CAD drawings. The final sculpture can be temporary or permanent, made from any material and can be large or small scale.

Students may choose their favourite broadcaster, streaming service or other media channel. Encourage them to research their choice, consider what sets the identity of that brand apart, and incorporate this into their proposal.

As students can use any material, you may wish to show them a range of idents created for ITV Creates for inspiration. For example, artist James Brunt used autumn leaves and soil. Carleen De Sozer used light and freestanding objects. Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq used plaster casts.

For help with responding to the brief in three dimensions, encourage students to imagine the piece will be filmed from all angles so that the broadcaster logo may be revealed gradually. Students could warm up by looking at these sculptures for inspiration and deciding where they could incorporate a logo:

Still Life with TV Set 1985 Fred Watson (b.1937)
Calliope 2011–2012 Halima Cassell (b.1975)

Extension activities

Students can plan and film their ident as they would like it to be broadcast, from all angles and with dramatic lighting.

Ask students to take on the role of client, creating their own brief. Students could swap briefs and, now in the role of the artist, create proposals responding to their partner's brief.

English Heritage: commissioning the Sarah Forbes Bonetta portrait

Watch: Winston Churchill portrait commission

Contemporary Art Society: commission of 'Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere'

Watch: Ceramic Review – Jo Taylor Masterclass

Antonio Zucchi's works at Nostell Priory 20 April 2013, Tania Adams
The making of 'The Angel of the North' 9 March 2018, Anna Pepperall
Art UK Home School: create your own logo 16 November 2020, Jo Taylor
Sculptor Andrew Sinclair on creating figurative sculpture 12 December 2019, Andrew Sinclair
Sculpting in steel: an interview with Sokari Douglas Camp 19 October 2020, Leah Sinclair
Thomas J. Price on what it means to be a Black British artist working today 13 November 2020, Amah-Rose McKnight-Abrams
Pushed off the pedestal: who was the slave trader Edward Colston? 9 June 2020, Lydia Figes
Marc Quinn, public sculpture and controversial debate 14 August 2020, Rosemary Waugh
Commemorating the First World War in twenty-first-century sculpture 5 November 2018, Katey Goodwin
What is sculpture anyway? 21 February 2019, Katey Goodwin and Lydia Figes
Deeds Not Words: commemorating the women's suffrage movement through statues 11 December 2018, Anthony McIntosh
Sculpture Counts: a card game to play at home! 9 April 2020, Catherine Mummery
Monuments, statues and street furniture: the wonderful world of public sculpture 18 February 2019, Anthony McIntosh
Sculptor Andrew Sinclair on creating figurative sculpture 12 December 2019, Andrew Sinclair