GROW Title Sequence , Sky
Opening title sequence
Blazing Griffin approached us to create the title sequence for Grow while the film was still in production. A Sky Original family comedy directed by John McPhail (Anna and the Apocalypse), the film follows a spirited young girl named Charlie who has a remarkable gift for connecting with plants, and who enters a fiercely competitive pumpkin-growing contest in a small town that takes its gourds very seriously. Starring Golda Rosheuvel, Nick Frost, and Priya-Rose Brookwell, it's a warm, funny story about found family, community, and the extraordinary things that can happen when nature gets a little help.
This brief fit firmly within the Myth mantra. An opportunity to combine art historical influences with contemporary illustration, all in service of setting the tone for a film with real heart.
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We brought three distinct influences together for this piece. The first, and perhaps the clearest, is William Morris. His near-hypnotic botanical motifs felt like a natural fit for a film so rooted in nature and growth. We used ornate, Morris-inspired borders to frame each scene, tying the visual language of the titles directly to the world of the story. Second, the Victorian tradition of silhouette cutouts. Family, missing family members, and the bonds we build with the people around us are central to the film. Silhouettes felt like the right way to tell that story: figures defined by shape and gesture rather than detail, carrying an emotional weight that works beautifully alongside the Morris aesthetic. Third, Saul Bass. Widely regarded as one of the great title sequence designers, Bass's style is a classic that has aged brilliantly. The bold blockouts, the continuing narrative, the confidence of letting simple shapes do the heavy lifting. All of that informed the graphic sensibility of the piece.
The sequence itself was entirely 2D, with textures and cutout-style assets seamlessly transitioning between scenes. It was important to director John McPhail that the "touch of magic" from Charlie's character came through. In fact, that was the primary goal of the title sequence: to introduce the element of magic so that audiences understood it from the very first frames. Our concept was to show plants coming to life as the character moves through the sequence, growing and transforming around her.
The collaboration was a huge success. Double Nickel Entertainment, one of the production companies behind Grow, went on to commission us to create their animated logo ident. The film itself premiered on Sky Cinema in October 2025 and received a theatrical release across the UK and US, going on to win Best Cast at the Montreal International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Canada International Children's Film Festival.
