Seven billion and counting.. the new look SBS.

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This new spot for SBS is not only visually beautifully and perfectly timed, its also surprisingly profound, and layered in meaning that only a broadcaster like this would aim for. Created from a collaboration featuring:

contributions from Animal Logic, playwright Caleb Lewis, Indigenous creative agency Gilimbaa, Jam Sydney and Ghanaian born, Australian performer Dorinda Hafner.

Produced by US Sydney, with full credits here.

Current TV hoists a new logo up the flagpole.

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When I was in the states last year I stumbled upon an enjoyable little television programme called Infomania, that was being broadcast on an even littler network called Current TV.

Founded in 2005 by Al Gore, the network felt a bit like what would happen if the Hungry Beast kids were given their own channel (in a good way). The Emmy and Peabody award winning channel was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year with the announcement that Keith Olbermann would join the network.

Along with the arrival of Keith came a refreshed look and a brand new logo. The old logo was pretty ordinary and didn’t really say much. The new look however is simply stunning – and works just as well static or animated. It’s a truly unique channel, now with the branding to match.

Credits: Identity by Wolff Olins and on-air look by Loyalkaspar.

Improved branding for Australian preschoolers.

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The excessively clunky “ABC for Kids on 2” brand has been relaunched as “ABC 4 Kids”. Running from 6am-7pm on ABC2, this channel-within-a-channel has long deserved better positioning, if not its own dedicated slice of the airwaves.

Thus concludes the refresh of the ABC’s suite of channels with ABC1 in February and ABC2 in April.

The new look ABC2: Always Brighter.

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The on-air look of ABC2 has ranged from the interesting to the ordinary. While easily the most intriguing channel on free to air television, ABC2 has always struggled with its identity.

Thankfully this new lime-and-pink design is the most mature branding to grace the network, even if the execution of the new idents is a little sporadic (the fish look great, the knitting.. not so much).

Two free tickets to the F5 Festival in NYC.

UPDATE: The tickets are gone! Thanks for playing.

Continue reading ‘Two free tickets to the F5 Festival in NYC.’

The placement of product placement.

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Apparently product placement (in literature at least) dates back to the 19th century, but for British television programmes its been a strict no-no.. until now.

February 28th this year was the first day of new laws allowing for commercial broadcasters to accept payment to use or display certain products. Part of the new laws require programmes that accept product placement to display a special symbol on-screen, which is what this promo is about.

First look at the new ABC1 idents and branding.

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Update: More about the who, what, why of the rebrand here.

Australia’s national broadcaster has relaunched the branding of its flagship ABC1 with a focus on elevating the entertainment value of the channel.

ABC1 has had a number of looks since this site first started some six years ago. Starting with the Everyone’s ABC look, followed by There’s More To.. in 2005 and It Begins with 1 in 2008, and now this…

Keep reading for more videos from the new look.

Continue reading ‘First look at the new ABC1 idents and branding.’

The childish games of adult drama.

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Inbetween Magic have created this excellent promo for Belgium based channel Prime. Set to the sounds of American folk music, this dramatic spot uses the innocence of toy figurines to distill the drama of the networks programming slate.

A great idea well executed, and with a heap of spin-off potential.

- Thanks for the tip Marc.

The news needs more Steadicam (and laughs).

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The wit of David Mitchell and the profundity of Charlie Brooker have joined forces along with Jimmy Carr and Lauren Laverne for a new topical comedy programme on Channel 4 called 10 O’Clock Live.

In a similar vein to local productions Hungry Beast or the 7pm Project the show is a tight hour or news, chat and comedy. Visually the programmes colour palette and set design are decidedly un-newsy, and the use of Steadicam makes for a (quite literally) smooth viewing experience.

Something that’s meant to make us laugh, is somehow also making us smarter. The rise of comedy in the delivery of news is challenging new audiences to have a greater understanding of the world around them, and hopefully that’s a good thing.

Oprah and the launch of OWN.

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Launching on January 1st 2011, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is a natural extension of the hyper-popular daytime talk show, and surely one of the few networks in the world built around a single figure.

With Oprah’s recent visit to Australia, the nation has grown even more enamored with the women and her message, and despite my gender-and-age I’ll happily admit that she produces an incredible show with a relentless message of personal growth, interwoven with philosophy aligned with the likes of Jung or Frankl.

Two years in the making, Philadelphia based BIGSMACK designed the new on-air look through “the numerous branding twists and turns” taken prior to the channel launch. On the technical side, the largely animated look of the network is complimented by a number of organic touches:

To create the on-air look BIGSMACK shot an array of natural elements — including light reflected through a variety of objects like crystal and Plexiglas, as well as water, glitter and particle dust — on a soundstage using a Canon 5D camera. That organic basis was then composited with digital elements animated using Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects.

The montage gives a taste of the IDs, menus, bumpers and lower thirds created for the network, along with the colour coding of the various dayparts (orange mornings, green afternoons and purple evenings).