Sky News redesign brings visual clarity with ‘the grid’

As audiences juggle information from countless sources across devices of every size, Sky News has refreshed its on-air system, aiming to cut through the noise.

The network’s solution centers on “the grid,” a comprehensive design refresh that brings structure to visual chaos through a system that adapts from traditional broadcast to mobile screens and social feeds.

The redesign builds upon a larger brand repositioning undertaken last year, “the full story, first,” which reconnected with Sky News’ foundational spirit while acknowledging the transformed media landscape.

“In a cluttered news landscape, our grid brings clarity, structure and precision,” said Sam Westwood, design director for news design, in an interview with NCS. “It adds a sense of dynamism and a premium finish – visually reinforcing the high standards of our journalism and production.”

Evolution of a visual identity

“Sky News launched in 1989 as Europe’s first 24-hour news channel, but so much has changed since then,” said Harry Ward, creative director of broadcast design. 

In the three decades since launch, the network faces a dramatically different media environment with audiences consuming news across multiple platforms and formats.

The grid concept emerged as a solution that could provide visual consistency while accommodating the varied needs of different platforms and story formats.

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“Our goal is for the grid to become our distinctive asset that audiences will recognize over time; the BBC has their globe, NBC has their peacock, CBS has their Eye. We have our grid,” Ward explained.

While Sky News had developed what Ward described as a “clean look” in recent years, the network recognized that its visual presentation wasn’t as “distinctive or consistent” as it could be.

Implementation across media platforms

Rather than completely overhauling the existing brand, the team examined what they had built since 2020 and focused on integration.

“It involved a real delve into what we’ve created since our last brand refresh in 2020,” said Sofie Leale, executive producer for broadcast. “As the grid lives across all our output, it was a case of integrating that into everything we have, not a total reinvention of the core brand.”

With a network-wide rollout, the technical execution was a complex challenge with layers of graphic systems and automation. 

“Automation is a complex beast, implementing the changes to the templates is ‘like fixing a moving car,'” said Jason Landau, creative director of innovation.

The timing added pressure, with the UK Local Elections following quickly after the relaunch.

“To deliver all on-screen elements on a 24-hour news channel without breaking anything takes lots of skill, planning, and offline testing,” Landau noted. The implementation required rebuilding all full-frame templates while adjusting numerous other elements including lower thirds, side panels, live bugs, and wipes – all without affecting live programming.

And, of course, the network’s ticker systems required careful coordination.

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“For any news channel, tickers are the last line of defense if all other graphics fail. Sky News has 8 on different feeds, which required careful management to update all of them in turn,” Landau explained.

Beyond the technical broadcast challenges, the team faced the modern news design puzzle of creating visual systems that work effectively across vastly different platforms.

“From a delivery perspective, all our graphic elements were rebuilt, tested and redelivered before going out across TV, mobile, digital, social, merchandise, building branding on campus, print assets and promos,” Leale explained.

Westwood noted that the grid concept was specifically designed with this cross-platform flexibility in mind.

“The grid keeps things consistent across every touchpoint. It flexes to fit different formats while still keeping structure and visual cohesion,” said Westwood.

This adaptability allows Sky News to maintain a recognizable visual presence regardless of where audiences encounter its content.

“That adaptability means our content always feels considered and recognizably us, wherever it shows up,” Westwood added.

The grid structure provides a visual framework that organizes information, potentially making complex stories more accessible to viewers while establishing a distinct visual element.

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By creating a flexible system, the network has positioned itself to adapt to emerging platforms and viewing habits while maintaining consistency.

“We’re proud that Sky News still interrogates issues with the same bold, irreverent spirit it’s always had. But also going to the heart of what’s happening, asking the big questions and offering a fresh perspective. All to give the full story, first,” said Ward.

As news consumption continues to fragment across platforms and devices, the grid concept provides Sky News with a visual framework that can potentially evolve while remaining recognizable to audiences.