In this Q&A with award winning British television titling and broadcast
designer Gareth Price, we learn some of the differences between designing for a
European and American market, as well as where he feels the industry is
headed.
411: Can you tell us how you got started as a titling and broadcast designer
and when was the first time that you realized this was your future?
Gareth
Price: I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in television, as I had
always been fascinated with station logos and the bits in between programs.
(Most television professionals I know have been passionate about TV from a young
age!) Before graduating, I managed to get my foot in the door at the BBC
in local news as a studio floor manager. From this position I worked my way up
to a news graphic designer. This position involved creating graphics for the
day's lunchtime and evening news program using Quantel Paintboxes and HAL.
I'd recommend local news as the best start for any aspiring designer as it
tests your skills at how well you can communicate messages visually, clearly and
make decisions very quickly in a very high pressured television news
environment. It also teaches you everything about television production
(especially live television) and also grounds you in taking briefs (from
journalists and producers).
411: What company do you work for now and do you work predominantly in film
or television?
Gareth Price: I now work for 422 Manchester in broadcast
design, specializing in music, studio and entertainment programs.
411: What are some recent projects that you have worked on?
Gareth Price:
The 100 Greatest Family Films
The Nationwide Mercury Music
Prize
Mastermind
411: What software do you generally use to generate the titles?
Gareth
Price: After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and Maya.
411: What has been the biggest recent software change for titling
design?Gareth Price: The biggest change I can think of is Apple's Motion—a low
cost graphics package that can produce content equal to that of high end
software/hardware.
411: How has HD changed the way you create titles?
Gareth Price: One of
the changes is the aspect ratio, which already happened in the UK in the '90s—I’m
used to designing for this 16:9 ratio. It's true that you have to be
much more aware of detail, but mainly it's like going back a few
years when computers were slower, graphics now take much longer to produce, and
finally render especially if it has been created in 3D. So I've
learnt to be much more aware of time constraints, and careful in testing
sequences, to make sure you can actually deliver them to a tight deadline.
Things will obviously get faster, as computers do.
411: What is the project that you are most proud of and why?
Gareth Price:
Going Places TV (a travel shopping channel). Following a competitive
pitch, it was a project that lasted a year in creating the channel's on-screen
branding, and program graphics. For the channel idents I created many different
color-branded live action idents based on the channel's logo of orange and blue.
Following extensive research and planning, I directed various shoots in the
Caribbean and Europe of graphically-composed environmental landscapes,
architecture, textures and people with just the two colors represented in the
frame, whilst at the same time creating real aspirational travel images the
consumer could warm and relate to. The trick was finding locations and
shooting it all in camera with post production kept minimal, to just a
grade. I learned so much, that's why I rank it up there, it’s always
important to keep pushing yourself to learn new things.
411: In your opinion, what are the major differences between designing titles
for the European market and the market here in the US?
Gareth Price: There's
much more of a difference between how designers work in the UK and the US. In my
experience, in the UK on most broadcast title sequences, many designers
(including myself) do everything—budget, script, produce and direct shoots
(often involving screen talent) and then often post produce most of it
ourselves. On larger jobs—channel branding, sponsorship, etc.—there's more
assistance, so essentially you have to be a lot more multi-skilled as a designer
in the UK, but it does offer a very large amount of creative freedom.
411: Where do you see the future of titles and broadcast design moving
toward?
Gareth Price: Broadband TV. I'm already being asked to consider
design which would work for network television and broadband channel delivery
(there's so much more to consider when designing for this medium). And
HDTV—everything soon will be created and delivered in high def, even if a
program is then being down-sampled for terrestrial broadcast.
