How we developed the TV brand for one of the most iconic animation houses of our generation.
DreamWorks is an iconic animation brand and its characters are some of the most recognisable heroes of the TV and film world.
We launched the original on-air identity for DreamWorks’ first TV channel and have worked with the in-house team as the brand has launched in almost every continent.
We recently led a refresh of the brand’s multiscreen toolkit to get it future fit and working hard across screens.
One of our favourite parts of working with DreamWorks is getting access to their incredible library of riotously original animation.
We wanted the brand toolkit to feature the DreamWorks characters prominently, but we also wanted to give the channel its own distinctive identity in order to differentiate it from the animation studio.
Our solution was an imaginary DreamWorks studio set: a 3D environment where the characters could dance (like Puss), wiggle (like Oh), karate chop (like Po), or cause paint-coloured chaos (Shrek, obviously). Each character has their own pattern, imprinted into the scene and their own matching soundtrack.
This same approach informed other aspects of the toolkit. For tentpole endboards, we developed a templated approach whereby bespoke graphic patterns or textures automatically wrap to the studio environment.
We also gave the brand a signature movement we called “rise & fall.” Graphic panels enter and exit frame, with a weighted movement that creates seamless transitions.
We built the project files to automatically update and adapt via menus and checkboxes, removing the need for manual keyframing. The system allows complicated design changes to be easily made in Adobe Premiere. Graphics can be created in seconds rather than hours.
A primary objective of the refresh was to create a kit that was easy to use for a small-but-mighty internal team who needed to pump out hundreds of assets across languages and formats.
The templates work across multiple languages and with varied line lengths.
