Lead Designer on the CBeebies TV show Nick Cope's Popcast
For three series I was Lead Designer on the CBeebies TV show Nick Cope's Popcast, working for Complete Control. With a total of 55 episodes, Popcast is a charming mixed media TV series that blends 2D animation and live-action footage to create a timeless classic. I’m honoured to have worked on such a brilliant project, with a talented team that are all very proud of the show and the lasting impact it will have on children growing up. Popcast is a collaboration between Complete Control, Terrific Television and Nick Cope.
I worked closely with the Creative Director from the start to come up with the concept and illustrative look of the show. This involved creating concept art for the physical live action set, as well as 2D style tests, character designs and background designs. When production started, I lead a team of three designers in creating all the 2D illustrated assets needed for the animations. I also worked on the branding of the show, composed PR shots and created the official styleguide.
Character design
The Popcast world is full of fun characters, and designing them was my key role in the creation of the show, alongside design direction. I worked closely with Nick Cope and the creative director to get the character style right for the TV show. We were inspired by storybooks and wanted the characters' personalities to really shine through. I thoroughly enjoyed drawing up new characters.
Prop design
I designed a selection of the props throughout the three series. It was a joy to discover the variety of items that needed to be designed, as every episode had a different location and theme based on a song. The props included more texture than the characters to give them their own personality in the Popcast world.
Background design
These backgrounds set the style and tone for the show and were used by the design team as the main reference when creating new backgrounds. It was really rewarding to develop a style and to settle on something everyone was happy with. The minimalist approach wasn't appropriate for every episode, but it was the foundation for the show and the style developed from these humble beginnings.
Check out the series on CBeebies,
and find full episodes on BBC iPlayer