Newshub

I think you are also presuming a bit.

As the BBC don't have any in-house scenic design or construction services (at least in England), and each regional studio is physically different (and some shows have different editorial requirements) each studio will need to be designed and fabricated in a bespoke manner. It is likely that the original set design team would be involved in any new designs, though this may well be just in terms of directing a third party set construction company, or it may be a full design.

Sets don't design and build themselves (nor do designers risk assessments, and CDM in some cases, get completed on their own), and the BBC don't have in-house departments to do this, so it would be natural to go back to Jago rather than using a separate, different set designer.

The BBC Regions are on the Jago Design website so they will have had at least some input in the design and given the huge time span upon which they were implemented I assumed they would have been paid for individually. I was more commenting on the lack of individuality between any of the regions in the 2008 look, at least with the 2013 look it's been implemented quite differently - compare Tunbridge Wells and Plymouth for instance. But then it's probably also the original look the regional look was based off of - N6 wasn't exactly inspiring where as with the NBH set there are quite of different combinations to play off of, which Jago has seemingly also done with other clients.

I've always rated those graphics for 3 News highly - the titles are really good. A bit sad to see it all junked in favour of the rather less impressive Newshub identity.


To be honest, unless TV3 itself gets a name change, I can't imagine it will be long before the channel name creeps back into the title of the news programme (eg. "3 Newshub"). It strikes me as bizarre to disconnect the news brand from the TV station it airs on. I know this is about trying to integrate different news teams, and push a stronger online presence. However, Newshub as a name/brand just sounds a bit gimmicky to me. I can't see it catching on as a name viewers/listeners/readers will actually use.

I completely agree. Its very BBC. The zombie newsroom and the BBC-esque red. Far to similar for my taste. It would be a nice version of BBC Set, but since its for a completely different organization, Im not liking it so much. Kinda of a creative fail in IMO.

This kind of stuff happens with different design companies. They find something that works well in one situation and implement it for following projects. FX Group is notorious for doing it in bulk and even high end set designers such as Click Spring you see similar patterns/styles.

Surely the amount of reused elements suggests that's it's the BBC using a Jago design, rather than Jago reusing a BBC design.

If Jago have gone to the BBC with the design that they came up with, why shouldn't they also supply the same elements to other broadcasters? The success and look of the BBC designs will be a big part of why broadcasters on the opposite side of the world are using them to design their sets.

At least Jago isn't selling what was exactly the same design to ITV. One set manufacturer here in the US essentially sold the same set design (some with different style desks) to three stations in Pittsburg.

Or Channel 4, or Sky.

Although they do all share elements, they all look completely individual.

Well, let's say you own a company and you pay some designer to come up with its logo. Would you be happy if the designer of that "distinctive" logo then goes and sells a lookalike logo to another company? Your logo would suddenly cease to be unique.

In that case though you own the rights to the design. If the BBC contracted Jago for an exclusive design, we can be sure the elements wouldn't appear elsewhere, simply because the BBC are still happy to work with Jago and have their sets as part of Jago's portfolio.

Just look at website designs. There's plenty of design companies who every website they sell is an alteration of a template they designed. And they suck up customers who only want a website that looks like that one they saw.

True, that happens a lot in the U.S., where stations buy sets, graphics, and music on a market-exclusive basis. For instance, the same news theme may be heard on unrelated stations in Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

The BBC is different, however, because BBC World News is distributed globally. If Jago Design begins to sell the same design to other broadcasters around the world, viewers will notice its similarity to the BBC's look. That's why I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the BBC paid Jago for an exclusive design.