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It's amazing how backwards we've gone with titles. These are now over 20 years old and look far more sophisticated.

Uh-oh. You've done it now. You've got me started on those titles... 😍 

I've always been a huge fan of them. I've loved them since I first saw them in 2000 (and I was ever so slightly gutted when they were refreshed in 2002!). As odd as it might sound, they remain one of my favourite examples of any branding, ever -- not a statement I make lightly, given the years I spent working in branding and marketing!

There are so many elements that come together beautifully, in my opinion:

[*]The opening, with what looks like bursts of brilliant light piercing through the red darkness -- a lovely, abstract representation of day beginning to break.
[*]Rather than the obvious solution of showing actual footage of sunrises, or clumsy CGI visual representations, these titles showcase the idea of sunrise in a much more abstract way, showcasing bursts of warm sunlight seen through oversized 3D 'BREAKFAST' text. It's such an unexpected solution, but I think it works quite wonderfully, creating some distinctive and attractive visuals. 
[*]The tiny 'destination board'-style scrolling 'BREAKFAST' lettering dotted across the screen offer a further connection with the rest of the BBC News brand (...at the time), which used the same style of fast-scrolling letters with place names. 
[*]The huge, yet surprisingly subtle, explosion of sunbeams in the background on the title card.
[*]The similarly subtle signal 'pulses' rippling out of the final 'BREAKFAST' title, again matching similar design elements across the wider brand.
[*]The perfect matching of audio and visual elements, so what is shown in the animation is directly reflected in the music. 
[*]The on-brand BBC News beeps, of course, but also the musical composition, and the 'story' it tells:
- the soft 'flutter' of strings, gently introducing the new day;
- a louder, and slightly more urgent 'twinkle' as the day begins (and you start to wake up!);
- the 'boom' commanding your attention -- listen up and look here! we've got the info you need to start your day!
- ...and then all of the elements building in intensity, before the final crash of drums signalling the start of the programme, and a slowly-fading hold.

And it's worth noting that there's really no 'tune' here to speak of -- if you listen to it without the visuals for long enough, you realise it's really quite a random (and even slightly bonkers) collection of beeps, strings and booms. If you played the audio for someone who had never watched BBC News in their life, they'd probably wonder what the hell they were listening to. But like the visuals themselves, with which the theme is perfectly matched, all of it was carefully crafted to align with, and enhance the perception of, the BBC News brand. (Those were different times...!)


In fact, the only element of those titles that never worked well in my eyes was the hard-to-see white BBC News logo. 

But what pleases and delights me more than anything about these titles is the fact that the visuals weren't just the product of graphic designers. They were created with real, physical elements that were actually filmed, such as the 3D 'BREAKFAST' text. Another example is the twinkly flashes of bokeh seen throughout the titles, which were created by (quite artfully!) filming the reflections of light bouncing off glitter being thrown into a small pool filled with water. Footage of these various physical elements was then combined with digital assets on computer to create the final title sequence. 

I really, genuinely adore the creativity, ingenuity and attention to detail that's evident in these titles, and the time, effort and passion that clearly went into designing and creating them. I find it remarkable that these 23-year-old titles still do a better job of representing the BBC News brand than the various generic designs introduced in recent months. 

Anyway, that's quite enough of my rambling on that subject -- but now you know: that's what happens when you get me started on those titles. 😄