Global creative agency ATTIK today detailed its role in developing the new visual identity system for IGN Entertainment and its flagship site IGN.com, the premier online destination for videogames content and the world's top website for reaching men aged 18 to 34.
"ATTIK is quite well known for its expertise in helping brands maximize their communications, particularly within youth markets," said Gary Keith, IGN's director of brand and marketing partnerships. "With their help, IGN has entered 2010 at the top of its game."
According to ATTIK's associate creative director Stan Zienka, ATTIK developed the new corporate identity for IGN Entertainment to reflect its leadership position within the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets and refreshed the consumer-facing IGN.com logo and visual system to extend its appeal and accessibility in continuing to attract the rapidly growing mainstream gaming audience.
"IGN.com is the most important, go-to resource for up-to-date, insider information and content for gamers everywhere," Zienka said. "This was an opportunity for us to build a relationship with one of the brightest publishing companies in the world, and considering that many of us in the studio are gamers and understand that world, it was nice to look at the completed work and realize it was on target. It was also great to get positive feedback from the client and the design and gaming communities."
Zienka and his colleagues began by evolving the existing IGN.com icon and letterforms to update their look and feel, building upon the visual legacy that has loyally connected hardcore gamers to the site over the past 14 years. Grounded in the iconic "D-pad" used in many game controllers, the site's new logo also features completely reworked letterforms to give the brand a more contemporary edge.
The new IGN Entertainment logo utilized the custom IGN letterforms developed for IGN.com to create a visual link between the two brands, while maintaining a more formal business-to-business feel to heighten the company's credibility with advertisers and partners.
ATTIK's deliverables also included brand guidelines for both IGN Entertainment and IGN.com, business systems for both brands including stationery and presentation materials, numerous promotional elements, and a system and architecture uniting the company's portfolio of media properties. IGN successfully launched both brands last month within its updated websites, as well as through launch events nationwide.
ATTIK's associate creative director Paul Miller and designer Stu Melvin were among the other members of the agency's San Francisco-based account team.