A small compass increases in size to almost fill the screen. The background colour changes from a deep red to a dark blue as the compass turns into a diamond. A horizontal wipe from left to right reveals the world before changing to an empty diamond. The diamond reduces in size and a capital I appears inside it. A second diamond appears with a T inside, followed by a third with a C. Finally the word ‘presents’ appears after a split second delay. Accompanied by a rousing fanfare, this seven second ident firmly identified ITC as a global television brand.

ITC understood the power of their brand in terms of television product and distribution and created a short animated logo ident to bookend film prints of episodes, particulary those used overseas. The ITC Presents ‘compass’ ident, originally seen in black and white and later in colour, became one of the most recognised logos on the small screen. 

The ITC compass ident and many of the action/ adventure series title sequences were designed by the London based agency Chambers & Partners, located in Wardour Street, Soho, then the beating heart of the booming British film industry. The company was set up by the designer Jack Chambers in 1960, and one of their first commissions was for Hammer Films’, Sword of Sherwood Forest, a Robin Hood adventure that saw Richard Greene reprise his role from the television series for the big screen.