Love is the Best
Inspired by BBC Children In Need – Got It Covered Album
Pudsey and Blush Bears are registered trademark and mascots of BBC Children in need.
The artwork is an artistic expression and a self initiatiated artistic project that wishes to support their work.
British Heritage Series
The BBC is a celebration of British history, culture and entertainment, bringing people together and inspiring through world class content. House Of Gharats was founded in Great Britain, and for Neishaa Gharat, founder and creative director, it is now her home away from home. Neishaa resonates with everything the BBC stands for, which led to the creation of the ‘Love is the Best’ collection as part of the British Heritage Series. BBC Children in Need is committed to changing the world, helping one child at a time, this is reflected in the values of the House of Gharats. Our mission is to change the world one scarf at a time, designing with purpose, keeping people and planet at heart.
This illustrated artwork was first inspired by the BBC Television documentary that showed behind the scenes of, making of the album ‘Got it Covered’. It is an exclusive collaboration for BBC Children in Need, a whole host of stars got together to record an entire album to raise money for the 2019 appeal. We were so very much inspired by the documentary that was shot in Abbey Road studios and the songs in the album that we wanted it to live forever and wanted to bring the singers and the songs alive through various characters represented by adorable Pudsey and Blush.
At the House of Gharats everything is in the detail and the story behind the design is just as important as the final design itself. When it came to creating the ‘Love is the Best’ collection inspired by BBC Children In Need, Got It Covered album, every part of the design was lovingly thought out with an incredible level of detail and research to create an artwork full of meaning that we would love to see as a scarf.
Shaun Dooley was the mastermind behind the album, bringing together his fellow actors and actresses to raise money for Children in Need. He is the Pudsey wearing the iconic polka dot bandana, with a kiss on his cheek from Taylor Swift who he meets in the Got it Covered documentary and a proud expression as he looks out at his friends and thinks about what they have achieved together. Shuan was clear from the beginning that he wanted to sing Taylor Swifts ‘Never Grow Up’ dedicating the song to his children.
Proposed Collection of Scarves, Pocket Squares, Childrens Wall Paper, Art Wrapping Paper to help fundraise for the Charity.
A personal connection to BBC Children in Need inspiring ‘Love is the Best’
The first spark of inspiration for the ‘Love is the Best’ artwork came to Neishaa Gharat, Creative Director of House Of Gharats, one evening after she discovered the Got it Covered documentary for BBCs Children in Need. She felt the creative urge to design a self initiated project as a way to encapsulate the album and the amazing work behind it. Neishaa resonates with the values behind BBC Children in Need, feeling it aligns completely with her mission to change the world one scarf at a time. She hopes that her ‘Love is the Best’ collection can help support the beautiful work of BBC Children In Need.
‘Love is the best’ resonates with each of us in a different way, BBC Children in Need encompases the love we feel for others, those we do not know and allows us to help them.The big red letters ‘Love is the best’ was incorporated into the artwork to remind us that we all deserve to love and to be loved.
We ‘Got it Covered’ in our design
It was important that each actor and actress involved in the creation of the Got it Covered Album were represented in the design, each individual being completely recognisable and unique. All of the actors have been transformed into Pudsey and actresses into Blush, both mascots of BBC Children in Need. It was the perfect way to bring the iconic image of Children in Need together with the Got it Covered album.
Where it all happens – Abbey Road Studios
Each of the actors and actresses were asked to choose their own song, creating an extremely personal connection between each individual and the Got it Covered album. The album was about expressing emotion, re-inventing a song and putting their own story and spin on a classic.
The Abbey Road Studio played a vital role in the creation of the album, allowing the actors to create music and raise money for BBC Children in Need. It was therefore paramount that Abbey Road Studio was depicted in the design of the scarf. In the centre of the scarf is a chess patterned house, depicting the Abbey Road Studio. This black and white façade symbolises the Ska movement, while the red, blue, yellow and green tiles represent the colours of the dots on Pudsey’s bandana. The studio is alive with instruments and music, on one wall there is a poster of The Beatles Abbey Road album and on the other a Pink Floyd cover. Both are iconic groups who have recorded at Abbey Road Studio.
It was important to design the background to complement the scene depicted on the scarf. A tonal graduation from orange to blue was chosen to show a dawn or sunrise, representing the moments of the day where the light is magic and calm. The feeling of serenity from the background colours balances the sense of fun and craziness perfectly.
Blushes!
Olivia Coleman is shown in period dress, an elaborate style from the early 1700s. The white ornate dress is representative of her recent and Oscar winning role in The Favourite, in which she plays Queen Anne, while the crown depict her role in the popular netflix series The Crown. To convey the energy and fun Olivia brings to each role she plays she is depicted holding her dress as if she were dancing. Olivia chose to sing ‘Glory box’ by Portishead after bringing an extensive list of song options to her first practice.
Helena Bonham Carter is famous for her performance as many characters over her acting career, however, it’s her own personal style which defines her. Helena is therefore shown in the clothes she is wearing in the Got it Covered documentary. The necklace of a half bitten apple, hairpins with the words ‘yes’ and ‘maybe’, her purple top and pink skirt and characteristically styled hair depicts Helena perfectly. She has been depicted on a swing, weaving towards the clouds because she herself and her song choice are dream-like. Helena chose to sing ‘Both sides now’ as she wanted to focus on something slower and slightly sader to add some variety to the album.
Jodie Whittaker is the first women to have ever played the iconic Dr Who. It felt only right to depict her in the braces, rainbow patterned top and blue hoodie which have come to represent her as the Dr. The inquisitive nature of Jodie as Dr Who, is shown through her expression and body positioning, she is pointing to the dark sky as she sees the Tardis flying away into a new galaxy. Jodie’s love of Coldplay influenced her song choice, she settled on ‘‘Yellow’ which reminds her of independence and backpacking around the world when she was 18 years old.
Suranne Jones, she is the Blush in the blue smoking jacket and top hat. The outfit is inspired by Suranne’s performance in the final chapter of the first season of Gentleman Jack. The blue has been made more lively and she is shown holding a stick as if she were a tap dancer to add some fun! Suranne Jones took a different route and got together with a theatre group, who Children in Need had worked with in the past, to ask the children what song they would like her to sing. She then asked the children if they wanted to help her sing on the track, which they all did!
Pudsey’s!
First up, Jim Broadbent. On the album Jim sings ‘Blue moon’, with a slow and peaceful tempo it felt only right to have Jim gazing up at a beautiful moon relaxing on the roof. He is depicted as a funny Hawaiian cowboy, with a flowery shirt, classic style cowboy boots and cowboy hat. His clothing reflects his personality in the documentary, in which Jim rehearses his song in a country western bar, wearing a floral shirt. Jim focused on the song ‘Blue Moon’ transforming it into a country style to reflect his love for this genre of music.
Luke Evans’ vivid button down red jacket draws the eye into the centre of the design, his mouth is open and his hands are raised, as if he is singing. This image represents Luke in his role as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. Luke chose an old classic ‘Smile’ for his track, a song he has always loved because of its ability to put a smile on anyone’s face.
Himesh Patel is seated on the steps at the entrance to Abbey Road studios, with guitar in hand and mouth open in song. His laid back clothing and guitar represent his appearance in the BBC documentary and his role in the block-buster film ‘Yesterday’. Himesh chose ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ by the Killers, which brought him joy and happiness in moments of his life where he felt alone.
Adrian Lester, is the hip hop Pudsey depicted sitting on a boom box. The singing style of each of the actors and actresses were unique to them, and that’s exactly what makes the album so special. It was important to show this in the design. Adrian was beatboxing in the documentary so his Pudsey represents this style of music. The design of his t-shirt has “Why?” on the front, because the song he sings is “Why did those days ever have to go?” again linking back to the music itself. Adrian chose to reinvent Stevie Wonders ‘I Wish’ using his own voice as the only music in the track, from beatboxing to singing.
David Tennant is the tenth Pudsey, just as he was the tenth Dr Who. What better way to represent David than his classic long brown coat, sonic screwdriver and recognisable quiff. He has his back to us looking at the rising sun, as his chosen song is ‘Sunshine on Leith’. David chose to sing ‘Sunshine on Leith’ by the Proclaimers, he was inspired by the beautiful melody and emotion it evokes within him.
Music as an influence for ‘Love is the Best’ design
Music weaves its way in and out of the design at every level, connecting the scarf to the songs on the Got it Covered album. Lyrics can be seen floating and wrapping themselves around the house, in the sky and surrounding the bears. A spaceship weaves the sentence “nothing more nothing less”, the beginning of the chorus from’ “nothing more nothing less love is the best” by Madness, the last song on the album, sung all together.
The windowsills are decorated with colourful flowers blowing in the wind to represent part of the sentence of Glory Box, sung by Olivia Colman, “with this new frame of mind a thousand of flowers could bloom”.
The children behind the banner “time, truth, hearts”, words taken from the song sung by Himesh Patel “All these things that I have done” bring us back to Children in Need and those individuals who need our love and support. These three words have an important meaning and define the message behind the design: be true, spread love and live the moment.