Sky Arts Presents: Unmuted – In Depth Feature
During the summer of 2020, I contacted Potion Pictures about a competition that they were involved with to create a graphics package for a magazine show to be broadcast on Sky Arts. It was a partnership with MAMA Youth Project which provides training and job opportunities in media for people from underrepresented backgrounds.
The Brief:
A weekly magazine show aimed at the 18-34 market covering different activities and interests is coming back to TV and needs a rebrand. It will have pan-demographic appeal and feel inclusive to make sure that underrepresented communities are featured heavily within each show and given a voice that they are denied in elsewhere. The show will be called “Unmuted”, is produced by Licklemor Productions and broadcast on Sky Arts. In order to be shortlisted and pitch your concept to executives at Sky and Licklemor, you need to develop ideas for a broadcast package. If successful, you will take part in a 30-minute pitch. You should show how you intend to represent the diversity of the show and its topics. If you are successful, you will be provided with a paid offer to create the entire graphics package with assistance and support from Potion Pictures.
Research & Concept:
Research was conducted via online reading and talking to friends from my recent university course who were the target audience. They helped me understand what their wider interests were and that, even though they spent so much of their time online, the real world was where they had their most meaningful memories. Several also explained how “colour” played a role in their lives and enhanced their experiences. This collated information informed how I put together my initial concepts and designs.
The idea put forward by myself was to create an “invitation” for the brand graphics that would fuse elements of both digital and physical interests. The inclusion of emoticons would represent the digital world, textures the physical space, and thematic colours would link and enhance the connection between each activity and the audience. After experimenting with typography, design and colour palettes, a presentation was sent to Potion Pictures. The concept was shortlisted along with two others; there was a further week to discuss, revise and refine concepts before pitching to the executives.
Pitch:
Following discussions with a mentor from Potion Pictures, the concept was refined further meaning that new style frames and a storyboard for the title sting were created. These included how to make the typography stand out a little more uniquely, mixing colours for each activity and marking out the most appropriate dynamics for the sting which would only be 5 seconds long.
Due to the Covid pandemic, the pitch took place online with a Q&A that followed immediately afterwards. There were discussion involving colour schemes, what content would be needed and a further understanding of reasons for decisions that had been made. The executives only made three requests; soften the typeface so it didn’t feel too masculine, use a palette of three colours they chose, and tweak the painterly effect to give it an identity distinct from Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year. These were all agreeable and there were no other requests.
The pitch was successful and put into motion the same day. There was a tight period of three weeks to complete and deliver all necessary assets in time for an autumn launch. The broadcast package included a title sting, screen wipes for each category, lower thirds, transition ad stings and a 60-second moving bed.
During this time, some further experimentation was carried out to figure out how to better integrate the colour palette, regular updates to the team were provided and I completed all the tasks, with a small amount of support on a few of the emoticon designs where time proved short. The project was successfully concluded with Unmuted making its national terrestrial debut in late 2020 and then airing for a further series in 2021.
