How Illustration Strengthened the Great British Bake Off Brand
It’s easy to consign illustration to posters, clothing, books and magazines. But one illustrator has become a staple of British television, synonymous with one of the nation’s favourite shows.
With the new series just around the corner, we take a quick retrospective of Tom Hovey & The Great British Bake Off and the impact it has had.
Bake Off first came to our screens in 2010, has surviving a move to Channel 4, spun off into Junior Bake Off, Mary & Paul’s Master Classes, Comic Relief AND Sport Relief Bake Off — as well as a US version on ABC. Not a show watched for its plot twists and unexpected turns, Bake Off is loved for it’s steadiness and comfort. And it’s Tom’s illustrations that have helped to create this continuity amongst change, becoming particularly important with more recent changes — arguably giving one of the strongest visual cues now in the show. Since Series 1 Tom has created around 2000 bake off illustrations.
Way back in Series 3 we saw a preview of what John’s colosseum would become… sort of.
And who could forget Paul’s wonderful bread lion from Series 6:
And Candice’s wonderful crown — which looking almost more beautiful than the illustration:
And as if we could write about GBBO without a picture of Salasi and his beautiful… cake:
In addition to this, Tom has enabled Bake Off to come off-screen into merchandise. With changing contestants, hosts and creations, Tom’s recognisable style has enabled GBBO to create assets like colouring books that have a consistent brand look and feel.
