What broadcast graphics actually means
A broadcast graphics package is a system, not a video. It is the opener, the closer, the lower thirds, the straps, the transitions, the topic bumpers, the breaking-news treatment and the rules that let a gallery operator make a new one at 11pm without calling the designer. Judged properly, the deliverable is the system's consistency across a season — not the beauty of the hero render.
I design these for Almashhad, a Dubai-based Arabic news and entertainment channel, where the output goes to air on television and across smart-TV platforms.
What I build
- News and programme openers — the eight to fifteen seconds that set authority. Example: the US Election 2024 opener and the holographic Digital Globe news open.
- Channel idents and logo animation — the Almashhad 3D ident, built to read correctly at broadcast scale and on smart-TV interfaces.
- Programme graphics packages — lower thirds, name straps, topic cards, quote treatments. The Al-Mashhad Al-Masri package used glass quotation forms as its core device.
- Title sequences for flagship programmes — see title design.
- Studio background graphics — long-duration screen content designed to sit behind a live conversation without competing with it.
- Promos and on-air marketing — from restrained calligraphy idents to loud collage promos.
The constraints that shape the design
Legibility before beauty
Broadcast type is read at a glance, often from across a room, often on a compressed feed. That means generous weight, high contrast against moving footage, and safe-area discipline that survives every downstream crop — including the 9:16 cutdown nobody mentioned in the brief.
Repeatability
A package that only works when the designer builds it is a failed package. Templates, clear naming, expressions instead of hand-keyframes where it matters, and a documented type and colour scale.
Bilingual by default
In this region a graphics package usually has to work in Arabic and English. That is not a font swap. Line lengths change, entry direction reverses, and the visual weight of the two scripts is different. I design both lockups deliberately — see Arabic motion graphics.
Delivery under a transmission deadline
Correct codecs, correct alpha channels, correct frame rate, versioned projects, and a render that finishes before the show goes out. Broadcast teaches you that a beautiful file delivered late is worth nothing.
Tools
After Effects for the package and finishing, Blender 3D for any dimensional element, Premiere Pro for edit, Photoshop and Illustrator for artwork. Generative AI where it earns its place — usually texture and atmosphere.
Let’s make something move.
Open to full-time motion design and 3D roles in Dubai, the wider Gulf and remote. Reels, breakdowns and CV available on request.
Email me CV & availability Watch the showreel