Gladiators
OVERVIEW:
Gladiators, one of the most exciting and energetic sports entertainment gameshows ever, returned to our TV screens in 2024, now in its new home on the BBC. Back in the ‘90s, I was a 10-year-old fan, completely mesmerised by the show! Fast forward to today, and I’ve had the incredible opportunity to play a key creative role in the reboot of Gladiators. As the creative lead, I’ve been responsible for the branding, design, and TV graphics, bringing a fresh yet nostalgic look to this iconic series.
In addition to my design work, I’ve been the social media producer for @BBCGladiators across two series, capturing and creating content for the official account and 16 individual Gladiator profiles. From shooting on-set to behind-the-scenes moments, I developed social media strategies that capture the energy of the show and connect the Gladiators brand with its fan base, both old and new.
ROLES:
Art Direction / Graphic Design / Social Media / Content Creation
CLIENT:
Hungry Bear Media / BBC / MGM
Evolving the Gladiators logo
Designing the logo for BBC’s Gladiators was an incredible honour. To work with such an iconic piece of TV history (and one of my all-time favourite logos) felt like handling gold - the pressure to enhance and evolve it was intimidating, but it was also an exciting challenge.
The updated logo has evolved to be bolder, stronger, and more dynamic, but without losing the nostalgia and staying true to its roots. The iconic ‘G’ emblem has been given a more solid, edgier shape, with a sleek, glossy metallic surface and a reinforced chrome frame. A black steel border encases the emblem and wordmark to improve legibility. Vibrant streaks of neon magenta and blue light up either side, symbolising the competitive rivalry between the Contenders in their quest for victory against each other and the mighty Gladiators.
Broadcast Graphics Package
In collaboration with the animation team at KPX and under the direction of Hungry Bear Media, I led the creative design of the post-production broadcast graphics package for Gladiators. This comprehensive package included logo animations, transitions, stats screens for both Gladiators and Contenders, scoreboards, event title cards, clocks and scores, replay idents, and lower-thirds.
Designing the Gladiators' Emblems
In addition to the main logo, I designed individual emblems for each of the Gladiators, creating unique icons that captured their essence and personality. The styling of the emblems needed to be versatile, seamlessly adapting to various applications, including their costumes, TV graphics, and projection visuals during their epic arena entrances.
The challenge was to create emblems that were bold and instantly recognisable, even in fast-paced action shots. Each emblem adds another layer of identity to the Gladiators, helping fans immediately connect with each individual’s personality as they enter the arena.
I collaborated with Burnt Soul, who incorporated the emblems like badges of honour into the design of their modernised Lycra costumes, while Potion Pictures brought them to life through bold and powerful projection visuals during each Gladiator’s walk-on entrance.
Content Creator Ready!
Over two series of BBC’s Gladiators, I’ve produced, shot, and edited digital content featuring on-screen talent throughout all stages of production—rehearsals, behind-the-scenes, and during live recordings. My role involves capturing the energy and excitement of the show while delivering engaging content for the audience.
Episodic Highlights
As the social media producer for Gladiators, I select key highlights from each episode and edit them into stand-alone clips or montage packages. These are shared across social media platforms to maximise engagement and give fans bite-sized, action-packed moments to enjoy and encourage them to watch the full episode on BBC One and iPlayer.
Graphic Design Meets Content Creation
Each piece of content is thoughtfully crafted to blend my graphic design expertise with my social media content creation skills, whether I’m working with provided assets or capturing content myself. My hybrid approach ensures everything is visually engaging and consistently on-brand.
The GladPod
"GLADIATORS, READY!" Three decades after the very first episode aired, I teamed up to produce and art direct a fan podcast dedicated to the original hit 90s' ITV show.
Hosted by everyone's favourite Gladiator Jet (Diane Youdale), journalist David Blackmore and myself, producer Paul Noddings. The GladPod turns back the clock to celebrate the glory days of the best Saturday night family show on British TV in the 1990s. Joined by special guests, we learn about the characters and stories who made Gladiators what it was, and their lives before, during and after the show.
Creating the branding and visual identity for The GladPod, I looked back at the graphics and iconic elements used on the TV show and mixed them with classic 90s nostalgia. Giving the ultimate '90s feels!
So far we have recorded 38 episodes and amassed over 85,000 streams. Series 4 is already in pre-production.
Social Content
Key stories from each episode were edited into sound bytes and created as pieces of social content; using exclusive archival photography and video content to illustrate the experience each of our guests was discussing.
Here are a few examples:
The Dog's Blog
Back in 2008, Gladiators has also been relaunched on Sky 1. I was invited by the team to produce a weekly blog to support the TV show across two series. This included planning and producing backstage interviews, photo & video shoots and creating exclusive digital content. I also analysed and reported website stats and social media engagement to the production team to help inform content creation and aid production decisions.
CLIENT:
Sky / Shine TV
