Food Network - Channel Rebrand

branding cooking show Film Food food network motion graphics Rebrand television tv idents UI/UX Design

FOOD NETWORK - CHANNEL REBRAND

The Brief

For this brief, we were tasked with creating a new logo and visual identity system for either the Discovery Channel, NetFlix, the Food Network or eNCA (e-news). The logo should showcase the channel’s ethos as well as appeal to the target audience. It must be applied to a series of television stings, a variety of motion branding media (e.g. tickertape), a schedule filler and a mobile application interface (TV guide).

My selected channel rebrand was The Food Network. I selected this channel as I feel that there would be room for a lot of creative exploration and expression in terms of logos, animations, effects, etc.

Target Market

Target viewers are adults with higher incomes in the 25 to 54 age range, particularly women.

Problem

It was identified that the current Food Network logo has a fun, light-hearted look and feel which elicits a feeling of inspiration and satisfaction, however, according to public opinion, it is said to be:

- Too educational
- Creates a feeling of hunger
- Not inclusive or diverse
- Focused more on cooking rather than eating
- Has an industrial look
- Too tradesmen

Solution

The solution to the identified problem is to redesign and create a logo which embodies the same fun, light-hearted, inspiring and satisfying personality that is the current Food Network logo, while at the same time showcasing diversity and inclusivity.

Aims & Objectives

- Showcase diversity and inclusivity through the use of food and ingredients.

- Emphasise the satisfying feeling of cooking/preparing food.

- Create an immersive experience which motivates and inspires the viewer to want to cook.

- Communicate the characteristics and personality of the brand in the best way possible.

- Redesigning and improving the current logo without the brand ethos getting lost in translation.

Lambie Nairn - Case Study

Lambie Nairn is a familiar face to the television industry. He is mainly known for the BBC redesign that he did in 1990 which is still in use today. His process in identifying the key aspects of a brand involve using public perception that people have regarding the client. Thereafter, he categorically organises the characteristics into three columns, namely: Retain, Discard and Add. The purpose of this is to discern what needs to be kept, what is not needed and what can be added, respectively, to the brand identity.

Colour Palette

The colour palette was strategically selected in order to signify and portray the character and personality of The Food Network brand, therefore, the colour yellow was used as it elicits a feeling of comfort, while red tends to make people feel hungrier and more impulsive. The use of Light grey, Dark grey and white were selected so as to compliment and accompany the yellow tone. The yellow tone also aims to emphasise the personality of the brand - which is informative, fun, light-hearted, inspiring, satisfying, fancy as well as diverse and inclusive.

Typography

The typeface was carefully selected after taking into consideration a variety of factors such as, the need for the logo and identity to be utilised across multiple platforms, from TV idents and tickertapes to a mobile app interface. The selected typeface was Poppins as it was identified as versatile in terms of being used on large-scale displays, such as TV’s as well as small-scale devices such as mobile phones. Poppins is also very adaptable due to its variety of line-weights. This particular typeface is also highly legible at high and low point-sizes thus making it easy to read across a variety of platforms and devices.

Logo Design - Process Work

Final Logos

The logo for The Food Network channel was re-invented from a wordmark to a combination of a lettermark and iconographic logo as the letter “F” was formed by two shapes and a knife. The purpose of this was to push the boundaries of conventionalism and create a logo that was unique and modern while at the same time, maintaining the personality and character of the brand as a whole. The logo steers away from the conformities pertaining to traditional logo design by combining the use of iconography and typography in order to form a brand-new, exclusive look and feel for the face of The Food Network channel. The replacement of the wordmark with a single lettermark icon also aims to make the logo more iconic and memorable as people will identify the icon as a symbol which signifies food or something food-related.

Conceptual Thinking - Idents, Schedule, Tickertape & Logo Reveal

The footage used for the TV idents, Schedule filler, Tickertape and Logo reveal were part of a concept titled “Diversity Through Food”. Essentially, the purpose of this concept was to highlight and showcase various spices, ingredients and foods of contrasting/complimentary colours being mixed together and placed amongst each other in order to signify the coming together of different ingredients and colours thus depicting a metaphoric and semiotic connotation. The footage was shot from an aerial/birds-eye view perspective which panned-over the ingredients. This was done in order to make the viewing angle for people watching more comfortable as well as to showcase the ingredients in the best way possible.

Logo Reveals

The transitions used for the logo reveal were simple yet effective as they showcased the brand and its personality. The main transitions were, the use of various elements of the logo fading in and out, the use of masks in order to enable text to slide in and out from beneath the icon as well as the movement of the logo and its elements throughout the reveal in order to showcase the logo in the best way possible.

The use of chopping and knife-slicing sounds were strategically made use of in order to create a logo reveal which cannot only be recognised by sight but also, by sound – this means that a person will be able to recognise The Food Network when they see the logo as well as if they hear the three-sound jingle which accompanies the logo reveal.

The sound of food being cooked was used in order to simulate and create an immersive experience which makes a person relate to food even more as they are not only visually seeing it, but also, hearing it being prepared.

Idents

Ident 1 - Cinnamon and Aniseed