BBC brings unique style to Sunday political affairs show

BBC News launched a revamp of its Sunday morning political affairs show ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ earlier this year from updated Studio B using a standout look – mixing hand-drawn styling mixed with 3D elements in various ways.

This style is highlighted in the show’s title card, which features the BBC logo above a bold red-orange “Sunday” in the bespoke BBC Reith sans serif and Kuenssberg’s name in the wheelbase version.

Kuenssberg herself stands to one side of the screen, making it look like she was shot against a white cyc, although the whole look was probably achieved using compositing or the chroma.

Meanwhile, a line enters from the left side of the screen, does a quick little loop before heading down to create an almost complete circle around the logotype elements. Just before closing the circle, the line turns quickly to the right and crosses the typography lock, dividing “Sunday” from the host’s name before heading offscreen to the right.

A secondary element is an icon-style look created by merging the letters “L” and “K”, the host’s initials, in red and gray and surrounded by a similar circular line. This element appears on video walls and on-screen graphics as well as the show bug.

The sharp angles of the “K” are used both in the upper part of the “L” of the emblem as well as in the transition elements and accents in the upper right and lower left of the screen during the teasers .

The title card is the final view in a series of scenes that feature Kuenssberg walking through a series of British landmarks created using a combination of monochromatic 3D elements and the line pattern, with many elements appearing to be drawn by an invisible pen tracing over select parts of the more detailed representations of the structures behind it.

In many cases multiple invisible pens draw different parts of the lines, usually each forming part of the drawing without being lifted, creating the feel of single stroke drawings (although in this case it is multiple single strokes ).

The opening scenes also have a distinct rosy tint which is intensified by the soft shadow effects on the 3D buildings.

For the music, a laid-back melody seems to convey the sense of a leisurely stroll through the city, as opposed to the punchy or stately music frequently used on Sunday morning political affairs shows.

Meanwhile, the show takes full advantage of Studio B’s many video walls to create a bright and airy backdrop for more views of London’s landmarks.

Again, the design relies on 3D elements that have been traced by the line art. The skyline created is not geographically realistic, but rather designed as a composite of various iconic buildings from across the country.

For example, the main background of Kuenssberg includes the London Eye on the left and the Spinnaker observation tower camera on the right, the latter being in Portsmouth, over 70 miles away.

Other structures featured include London Bridge and Tower Bridge in London, Forth Bridge and the Kelpies horse sculptures in Scotland, the Houses of Parliament and Stonehenge, among others.

All of these backgrounds are set under a sky that begins blue towards the top of the two-story studio before transitioning through a variety of pinks, oranges, and purples and accented with wispy clouds.

Kuenssberg begins the show in front of Tower B in the center of the studio, which, quite in its shape, showcases the Elizabeth Tower, the tall structure that houses the famous bell of Big Ben, with the two studio guests seated on the gateway camera on the left.

She then heads to the main anchor office near Tower A, which features a blurry 3D skyline without any drawing elements divided roughly in half by the “LK” icon and the hand-drawn line that surrounds it.

In an example of attention to detail, the horizontal line that separates the skyscape from the white block above is slightly lower on the left side, following the same positioning as in the logo and fullscreen iterations of the initialism.

The design also has the entire circular element filled in with white, meaning a curved part sticks out slightly into the sky, creating a kind of puzzle.

The front of the curved desk features the show’s logotype with a horizontal line below the word “Sunday” with a small loop just before the start of the word.

Panel members sit with Kuenssberg at the desk but, as in other BBC programs using Studio B, she rises from her seat here and walks to the catwalk to interview guests before returning to rejoin the panel , an interesting sequence that illustrates the back and forth between the interviewees and the analysis.

During interviews, the video wall on the podium can be used to insert key data points that Kuenssberg and guests can refer to when appropriate.

“Sunday” also unveiled its own unique lower third design – a simple look that features an off-white primary bar and a red-orange lower bar, with a sans serif used for the person’s name and a serif used for titles. below. These also use a colored “LK” icon as a dividing element on the far right, where when inserted lines up perfectly with the bug. Here too, slightly different levels are used, so that the lower colored level becomes slightly higher on the far right and the white circle sticks to it.

‘Sunday’ has its roots in ‘Sunday AM’ and ‘The Andrew Marr Show’, which aired from Studio 54D on BBC One from 2005 to 2021 when host Andrew Marr left.

“Tonight with Andrew Marr” would debut the following year on LBC radio.

In the meantime, the BBC changed the show’s title to “Sunday Morning” and announced that Kuenssberg would be the new host, although a series of presenters were replaced following Marr’s departure. The show continued to use the Marr-era look with the logo swapped out until the redesign.