Riz Ahmed’s new show Bait has a spy-spoof title sequence masterminded by Pentagram partners

Bait is the newest project from one of Britain’s favourite actors Riz Ahmed, whose new show has been called “petty, narcissistic… and excellent” by The Guardian. The autofictional premise follows an actor as he experiences an identity crisis while he auditions for the role of James Bond, which invites an unruly world of identity politics into the fray. Just as Riz’s stand-in protagonist finds himself up against an impossible task, graphic designers Luke Powell and Jody Hudson-Powell from Pentagram found themselves up against the task of introducing the viewer to Bait’s chaotic world with minimal narrative. That and squaring up to the rich history of James Bond, a franchise that has single-handedly defined its own spy genre aesthetics and deeply baked itself into British culture. Though Bait is not just about British culture, it’s about Pakistani culture, too – and these Pentagram partners took on the double-handed mission to communicate that split identity.

“It was important that it didn’t become a pastiche due to the nature of the subject matter, you could easily end up somewhere where you are way too close to Bond references, without really reflecting the wider atmosphere or nuance of the show,” says Luke. “Ultimately, we approached the show’s themes through the visual mechanics of colour filters, drawing from secret message reveals and theatre colour scrollers.” The title sequence is all but three or so seconds long, but in each episode, the sequencing of visuals are ever so different, “mirroring the show’s exploration of ever-shifting internal and external identities, validation and perception.” Just as Bait’s protagonist works to fuse together the splintering versions of himself (and versions of himself that others project onto him), the title sequence represents the multiplicity of identity and how creatives see and struggle with themselves in an industry of identity politics.

Initially, the title sequence revolved around themes of being under the spotlight, which were relevant to the protagonist’s story as well as cheekily referencing the spotlight-esque sniper-scope of the classic Bond flick opening. Once the duo had landed on the concept of filter reveals, they tested it physically using red and blue acetate on early designs to see how the mechanic worked in reality. After that, they built out tests digitally in other colour spaces. When figuring out how it could look in motion, they progressed the mechanical nature of theatre colour scrollers until it met Riz’s needs: to capture inner turmoil, reflecting his character’s headspace.

“Given the impetus of the plot involves James Bond – the world’s most famous spy – undertones of the genre of intelligence and espionage are alluded to, in both the choice of a monospace typeface, ABC Rom Mono, and in the widely tracked, code-like setting of it,” says Luke. “The episode titles also include Urdu and Arabic against relevant definitions, bringing some of the nuance of multiple identities through typographic script and language alone,” says Jody. With the colours revealing different words, the feeling of secrecy and shifty information nods to the spy genre, all while referencing the different cultural meanings of ‘bait’.

“After our titles for the show Bloods in 2021, we’ve been eager to do more title sequences. The format is fast and often needs to express a lot in a short amount of time so it’s always a fun challenge. And of course, our team all love Riz Ahmed’s work and so we couldn’t pass up the chance to work with him,” says Jody. “It was especially exciting once we got to watch a preview of the first few episodes of Bait – it’s funny, clever and important – watch the show and it speaks for itself.”

As the world is on the cusp of learning who the new official Bond will be, the show couldn’t come at a better time. But with the title sequence’s intelligent distillation of language, punchy and reverbed guitars that feel slightly spy-like, Jorja Smith’s quasi-Bond theme song and Riz’s eye for good visuals, maybe we can just put the whole thing to bed. We’ve already got our James Bond.