The Gallery

BBC News

Bigger and bolder (July 2017)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
CH
channelsurfer
One of the BBC's public purposes is to "show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services" and '[set] the standard both in the UK and globally'. The BBC quite rightly calls its news services 'high quality' and 'accurate'. The BBC's vision statement is to 'be the most creative organisation in the world'. There is no argument that some of the reporting from BBC News is industry best and indeed the organisation has driven innovation for decades - so why are the graphics used to present this industry-best news and stories so, in my opinion, poor?

This mock has been in the works for a long time; I've decided to try and take BBC News in a visually different direction. It is louder and prouder, whilst still retaining its very British core and staying out of the way to ensure that the journalism remains front and centre.

*

First are some new globes. I can see opinion being divided on these - I'm not completely tied to them, and could see this mock working just fine alongside the existing globe. My new globe changes dynamically with the content and the time of day - viewers on the News Channel will see the lighting and background subtly change as the day goes on, going from a morning scene for Breakfast to a darker, more serious theme for the Ten. As for titles, I would invisage something similar to RTVS Spravy in Slovakia.

The graphics, although not a radical departure from what we already have, use a bit more gloss and feature the globe prominently. The globe will slide up with the straps, and disappear when the straps do. You'll see that it is possible to have a strap without the globe, but for the sake of visual balance, I chose to keep the globe there whenever a strap is present.

*

*

*

*

*

*

Programmes with distinct identities like Newsnight and Victoria Derbyshire can retain these identities, whilst still conforming to the new graphics package.

*

*

*

Finally, on the network bulletins, the clock and flipper are dropped but otherwise the graphics remain the same.

*

I've spent a lot of time on both pen and paper and on a screen working on various different directions, but I feel this is the best product I've been able to deliver for this mock which has been in my head for many months now. One minor qualm is that I worry the graphics could be slightly on the small side - but nonetheless, I hope you've enjoyed this rather long post(!) and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback.
Last edited by channelsurfer on 23 July 2017 10:21pm - 4 times in total
JO
Josh
I love it! Apart from the ticker being separated from the logo and the Newsnight logo not being on the strap, it's perfect! Definitely seems like something I'd see on TV.

5/5
:-(
A former member
This is really good.

The design of the straps etc is really smart. You're right that they are a little on the small side, but other than that they look neat. I absolutely share your thoughts on what is in use at present - they are currently functional but dull, what you've presented here is just the right amount of glossy and looks very BBC despite this.

I'm not sold on the layout of the title cards as much, they look ok but they are maybe too close to the style at the moment. The globe itself looks good, I think you could just maybe be a bit more creative with the way a programme title is displayed. I would maybe consider the way ITV News just display the logo on bulletins other than News at Ten, do you need the "at 6" etc?

But yes, very nice. I rarely comment on these things but this caught my eye.
:-(
A former member
These are great. Any chance of having six /one o'clock news.

Newsnight one looks like scotland tonight.
DB
dbl
The text size on the straps is ridiculously small even for HD. Remember, think of small screens, i.e. mobiles and tablets.
tmorgan96 and Hayden gave kudos
CH
channelsurfer
dbl posted:
The text size on the straps is ridiculously small even for HD. Remember, think of small screens, i.e. mobiles and tablets.


Overlaying the current graphics I can see that indeed the text is way too small - it's something I'll make a point of fixing in the next iteration of the design. Should have caught it earlier really!
CH
channelsurfer
Just posted a very small update to the original post to (hopefully) fix the issues with sizing.
DB
dbl
Could be still bigger IMO, there's tons of unused space (within 16:9 safe) that's not being used.
http://i68.tinypic.com/mcbyoi.png
Last edited by dbl on 23 July 2017 1:21pm
DW
DavidWhitfield
For me,

(1) The headline and additional information are too close together. The box is big enough to allow a larger gap between the two lines of text and I believe it would benefit from your doing so.

(2) I would get rid of the gap between the clock section and the 'main' section.

Otherwise, it's very nice. Nice to see Gotham Condensed.
TM
tmorgan96
I don't like the grey sorry, it's a bit dark and dismal for my liking. Some brighter colours, bigger fonts and so forth would go a lot further to improving it.

4/5
MY
MY83
Too much European mainland in that to displease the Daily Mail.
BR
Brekkie
Really nice - a much needed development of the brand for those of us who think it is now looking quite tired but not too radical to upset the sort who'll get upset.

Only thing I don't like is the logo in the red box - probably look better just the BBC News logo with no box.

Newer posts