You may know of the TV Guide Network as the channel with the famous “scroll.”  In an effort to give their network a makeover and establish it as the destination for premiere entertainment, TVG teamed up with us to rebrand the channel with a bold new look that showcases the glamour and excitement of Hollywood in a relatable way. Focusing on fan reactions and devotions to their favorite stars proved a strong concept to tie together the myriad promos and ID’s.  “Remember that one time when Larry said that thing to Cheryl?” Tune in and get hooked.

Insight can be hard to come by, but with over 25 years of cable experience this Kentucky-based telecommunications company certainly has plenty to go around. They certainly had the good sense to hire the Brooklyn Brothers, one of our favorite ad agencies to work with. As a series of 10 commercial spots, their newest campaign imparts a bit of wisdom into what makes communication, and modern life as a whole, work. Many times, to make a better future you have to look to the past.

The Who are a bit of a rock institution, so when we got a call asking us to do the graphics for the band at the Super Bowl, we couldn’t help but be star-struck. From there, we teamed up with the halftime show team to create an epic 13-minute concert experience unlike anything we’d ever seen. In the end, the broadcast became the most watched program in the history of US television. Join those millions of viewers and take a look!

XL LED Laboratory kindly lent us a D3 machine for testing our renders in real time, in a virtual Sun Life Stadium setting!

Constructing the ’shield’ stage was in itself a miracle of human endeavor. Hundreds of volunteers worked tireless for two weeks perfecting the technique of wheeling it out, assembling it and plugging it all in. All within six minutes. Remarkable.

We took literally hundreds of photos of ourselves and behind-the-scenes action. Check out our Flickr page for the full compendium.

In addition to the stage graphics we designed and animated the broadcast elements, most notably the Bridgestone Halftime Show Bumper. Fun with tires!

There are some people that you can just tell aren’t into their jobs, and then there’s the cast of Starz’s hit series “Party Down.”  Making up possibly the worst (and arguably funniest) catering team in the history of craft services, these six walking failures can ruin any event you ask them to serve.  The show enters its second season in 2010 with a bang and loads of critical acclaim.  Unlike its characters, “Party Down” is certainly going somewhere.  And it’s somewhere fantastic.

Like all good live-action projects, this one started with hand-drawn storyboards.

Beat and Adam teamed up to direct the (hilarious) talent, which in many cases involved “go do your thing and be funny.”

You may have noticed that we’ve done a lot of work for A&E lately.  That is, frankly, because they are awesome and presumably think the same of us.  One of their coolest shows, “Manhunters”, shadows the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force (oh yeah!) as they hunt down the criminals who think they’re smarter than a Federal SWAT team.  If you like justice, drama and battering rams this may be the show for you.

Not all real-life drama is about action.  Sometimes it’s a look, or a moment, or something that catches your eye that seems to sum up the mysteries of the world.  If you’ve seen “American Beauty”, you know what we’re talking about.  In our continued partnership with A&E we tried to capture four such moments, illustrating the breadth and diversity of the types of drama their programming unearths.  Have a look and see what you discover.

Insight can be hard to come by, but with over 25 years of cable experience this Kentucky-based telecommunications company certainly has plenty to go around. They certainly had the good sense to hire the Brooklyn Brothers, one of our favorite ad agencies to work with.  As a series of 10 commercial spots, their newest campaign imparts a bit of wisdom into what makes communication, and modern life as a whole, work.  Many times, to make a better future you have to look to the past.

Sometimes it can be difficult to let go of things.  But for some people this compulsion to hold on can surpass simple nostalgia and approach a full-fledged disorder.  Like a maze, the house of a “hoarder” can become an unmanageable quagmire of clutter.  Our BFF’s at A&E entrusted us to bring this rather terrifying concept to life.  Warning: This promo may cause anxiety in particularly pack-rattish viewers.

After we finished launching a network that serves as a home base for young teen boys, Nickelodeon had an entirely different challenge for us: to rebrand a network that serves as a home base for young teen girls. Rebranding The N as TeenNick wasn’t just about unifying the Nickelodeon networks; it was about giving a voice to the teenage daughter in the family.

Much like the network’s audience, we wanted the brand to be bright, optimistic, and full of attitude. Just one viewing and you may be brought back to your youth.

A wise man once said, “I’m the new Sinatra.”  That man was Jay-Z, and he said it at the MTV 2009 Video Music Awards.  While no one really knows how well he can croon, his accomplishments have certainly put him in the well-deserved spotlight.  Creating the environmental graphics for Jay-Z’s VMA performance, we were tasked by event-graphics-producing guru and friend Lee Lodge with making Jay (and the whole of NYC) look good.  Like, DeNiro-Yankees-Empire State Building good.  Let’s hear it for New York.

We photographed a number of locations all around the city for Jay’s backdrop. When shot from the correct angle, it appeared that Jay had been comped into the scene.

“The Blueprint 3″’s logo also had its moments.

We also designed and animated the opening graphics for the host, British comedian Russell Brand.

If you’ve ever had your mind freaked there’s a good chance it was done by Criss Angel, the most daring illusionist currently on television. To up the freaking ante this summer, Criss decided to defy death not once, but five (5!) times. Our good friends at A&E asked us to make a promo worthy of these five heaping servings of awesome. So naturally we crushed, sank and dynamited a bunch of coffins. We figure if you’re gonna go, you might as well do it in style.

The Cleaner stars Ben Bratt as William Banks, a recovering drug addict who takes a by-any-means-necessary approach to getting other people off drugs. In our continuing partnership with A&E, we were asked to create the open for the show’s second season, communicating the rough and tumble world of saving people from their demons. Banks truly gives new meaning to the phrase “rehabilitative health care provider.”

As far as we know, this is the only title sequence known to man in which 80% of the talent is upside down.

Unlike other visual art forms, tattoos require a human subject as their canvas. Naturally this makes for some interesting conversations during the artistic process. No one understands this better than Thomas Pendleton (of “Inked” fame), who realized that the best stories don’t always just walk into the shop. “Tattoo Highway,” a new show on A&E, chronicles Thomas’ trip across the USA in his badass mobile tattoo parlor as he seeks out fascinating tales and brings the art to the people. Now that’s service!

When we set out to design our new identity, we had a clear goal in mind: simple, modern & clean. Little did we know our 11 letters would turn into a full-fledged alphabet following those same principles.

Meet KarmaLight, born 5.8.2009. We love her dearly and hope she’ll live up to her name and spread a good dose of, well, karma, through every screen and page she touches.

The winning goal, the victory lap, the high five; a kid’s life is all about accomplishing things and finding out what they can do. Disney XD, a global brand designed from the ground up in collaboration with Disney, serves as a window into that world. Whether you’re learning rad tricks on your BMX bike, sparring with your sensei or trying to impress your science classmate with a sweet volcano, this channel is your home base for reaching your goals. If the kids really are our future, the next 50 years are in good hands with XD.

We designed the Disney XD logo, which became the hero of almost every spot. The XD serves as a window from the regular world into the aspirational one.

Here are some Menus, based around the logo.

We also designed the XD custom font, including all the international versions…

…as well as the print campaign!

We had a hand in conceiving and designing the website.

There were plenty of live-action Network ID’s, which required a two-week long shoot in LA.

Sometimes an unexpected phone call is the best kind.  Especially when some of the words in that call are “U2″, “Grammy’s”, and “Screen Experience”.  Those calls can also be scary when the other words are “3:00 Song” and “In Two Weeks.”  Thanks to Catherine Owens’ wise decision to hire Juan Delcan and our friends at Nola Pictures, we received such a call in late January 2009.  Two weeks later U2 performed their hit “Get On Your Boots” at the 51st Grammy Awards, backed by 3:00 of original content born from ten sleepless nights and unbridled creative passion.

The thematic imagery ranged from political to religious to downright beautiful.

Photocopying and re-photographing gave much of the content a gritty, organic feel.

If you’ve ever looked out your office window and wished the asphalt jungle out there was a real one, Versus Country is for you. Rooted in a love of the outdoors, Versus’ programming block transports you to a simpler world full of simpler pleasures. We wanted these IDs to convey that serenity, right in your own home. We can almost feel the cool forest breeze now…

We had custom wood and metal signs made, and distressed, for authenticity. For the Menus and navigational elements, type was tracked onto clean signs.

The Delaware Water Gap made for a wonderful and authentic natural setting.

As part of our 5 year anniversary, we asked our designers to each make a film. The brief was ‘5′. Released over the course of a few months, here’s what they made.

Who would have thunk that an agency from Madison, WI. would be so damn cool? Starting out as a cold call, the project turned into an enormously enjoyable collaboration with Hiebing. The campaign for Famous Footwear was meant to evolve the brand through the use of motion graphics without forgetting the company’s roots. Ah, we loves photographs.

Fuse is a member of the rare breed of music channels that still primarily broadcasts…well, music. We were lucky enough to be put in charge of communicating that love of the aural arts through a full network rebrand. Music and those who love it, thanks to Fuse, have a home again. At least on TV.

The logo array, like the Fuse logo itself, is based around a square design system.

It can work for any show logo!

It works especially well for show logo layouts, such as the end of a show open. This allowed for an easy transition into the Fuse logo sting.

The square is also versatile in allowing for a navigational system built off of audio controls.

Buttons galore.

Check out the nav system.

The show packaging displays a wide variety of styles, while all staying within the Fuse family.

The National Geographic Channel recently underwent an image makeover. Now referring to themselves as Nat Geo, they want to emphasize their commitment to their mission: to know more. And to explore more. And to pass the knowledge they gain onto their viewers. No easy task! Luckily all you have to do is tune in to your TV.

What a great project: we won the pitch with good design. We shot for two days on stage and on location. We completed a hard post-production process in a short amount of time. We delivered a great package – which aired only once, unfortunately. T’is a shame. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Showtime’s ‘Brotherhood’ is a critically acclaimed show about high life and low life in Providence, RI. We were excited when we got asked to work on a title sequence for the second season. In a parallel universe this is how each episode of the second season begins. Unfortunately, it didn’t make it to air in ours.

Dexter is a creepy show and Brotherhood is a violent show. So we made an ID with guns and, well, creepy stuff. INXS’ ‘The Devil Inside’ gives the piece a certain amount of gravitas. We don’t normally like violence and are torn on creepiness, but this was a good opportunity to try our hand at both.

Our contribution to ‘Pass it On…’, the experimental project based on process – ‘A technique derived from the Dadaist game of exquisite corpse and the children’s game telephone – applied to the arts of motion graphics, animation and film-making.’ We started the piece, National Television took over and Aaron Stewart finished it off strong.

In collaboration with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, we designed & directed a spot to introduce the latest version of Adobe Acrobat on their website. The 40 second film was produced to play for cinematic effect. the goal was to make it look as fantastically realistic as possible. Considering the complex nature of the spot, it worked out quite well.

The Brooklyn Brothers asked us to partner up to direct an 11 spot campaign for Kayak.com. They are also mad. The point was to make the spots so offensive they would get banned from television, increasing viral awareness. It worked: the owner of the company got so much hate mail he started a blog dedicated to the worst! We should all be so daring.

VH1 wanted an old school film studio open for their original productions. But with a twist. So we added a glimpse of a disco-party-concert (you decide). The rest is pure class. Marble letters n’ stuff. We designed the logo too, by the way. Fun with water.

Our collaboration with Renck Akerlund in Stockholm produced this whimsical fairy tale for Finnish back Sampo. We designed everything from character to environments and co-directed with Jakob Ström. It’s like a children’s book. And maybe that’s why it’s close to our hearts..

Our little blue friend went through a number of concepts before being born.

And then there was the color to pick.

Despite having no mouth, Sampo is a surprisingly expressive character!

In the end he inhabits a lush yet simple world.

This video is something akin to a performance piece, but it is far from straightforward with creepy kids, Gondry-approved stop motion, and reversed gravity all coming into play. It’s a slow burn, but in the end, very satisfying. All-in-all, a great video for a great song.

Memorabilia from a cross country trip was the basis for this promo. High-res stills and low res footage are unified through typography, graphics and a quirky editing style. Footage and graphics were re-photographed, printed and scanned to create a ‘look-what-I-found-in-my-wallet’ look. An ode to the road; a deconstructed, modern day haiku poem. Sort of.

Our contribution to the ‘Zoo With a View’ exhibition in Toronto, with proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund. The quest of a highly evolved species to trap and exploit the ‘Cats’ for their resources. The coveted fur helps their transformation into an entirely different race. A classic, tripped-out vision of conquest and colonization, of course.with a view.

Not often do we get to work on something that matters more than supporting the global fight against poverty. An estimated 3 billion people watched the Live 8 concerts around the world in 2006. 3 billion! MTV/VH1 broadcast the events and gave us pretty much creative freedom. All we had to do was end on the logo. Well, that and have it make sense.

Before the most recent wave of green, there was Lime. The network for healthy living. With a twist. We designed icons, wrote scripts and directed the live-action. The hardest part: coming up with a system for our artistic package to live in. We think it worked out pretty well and has left a clean, refreshing taste in our mouths.

Unlike some companies that specialize in motion design, we really enjoy doing logo identity and navigation systems!

The linear cable network was only one aspect of the Lime brand; it also included radio, online and mobile, so we designed a strong icon system that would work across all platforms.

How often in today’s digital save-the-trees atmosphere do you get to design the collateral as well? We assume it was all 100% recycled paper.

Here’s an overview of the on-air package. After viewing, if you find yourself feeling either euphoric about life or guilty that you aren’t living up to your potential – we did our jobs!

Some BTS from the 2-day shoot. Why is our “Angel” looking so grumpy?

Inspired by the band’s album cover artwork, ‘Fortress’ reveals stick figures juxtaposed against lush, elaborate backgrounds. The video follows a prince and a princess, one time lovers now separated by a bloody war. A twist on Romeo and Juliet, or just history repeating itself? Again. Let’s hope that the world, too, can expect a happy ending…