Liquid TV arrives at Crossroads

Carlton Television has enlisted the help of digital design consultancy Liquid TV and set designer Rod Stratfold to create a look for the relaunch of 1960’s soap opera Crossroads.

The show, which returns to ITV’s screens in March after a 13 year absence, is now set in a four-star hotel, instead of a motel where the original was staged. It hopes to appeal to a wide audience with a “boisterous, fun and sexy” image.

Liquid has developed the soap’s £13,000 identity and title sequence in conjunction with Carlton’s in-house design team. The consultancy was recommended to executive producer Sharon Bloom.

The logo has to work on-screen, on-line and across set props, from hotel menus to towels. The title sequence features interlocking horizontal and vertical lines with images of the show’s characters, harking back to the style of the original series.

“The titles provide subtle snapshots of hotel life and close-ups of the cast, and were developed with a long shelf-life in mind,” says Carlton senior designer Sally Ann Markham. The Crossroads identity grows from the interlocking titles, she adds.

“We featured a warm orange-and-yellow colour palette in the titles to make them more sexy and to create depth rather than just a montage effect,” adds Liquid TV head of design Tim Varlow.

The set is designed to look realistic, as well as being sturdier than the infamous wobbly sets of the 1960s, says Stratfold. He has used a wooden floor rather than traditional linoleum to allow the sets to be screwed down securely.

Stratfold claims to have given the sets more depth by enlarging them. “The reception, bar, restaurant and staircase areas form one complete space without internal walls that will get in the way,” he says.

The website (www.crossroads hotel.co.uk) has been designed in-house by Carlton Interactive.