Imaginary Forces (IF) has designed a new logo and branding identity for CBS Sports, the first for the network in seven years. The show open and graphics package premiered with the start of the NFL season. IF Creative Director Steve Fuller led the IF team, and worked closely with the CBS creatives to develop a cohesive concept and design language that would translate to any sport including college basketball, pro tennis and PGA golf.
IF created a sports identity based on a shared pulse or wave of experience. From the athletes to the stadium fans to the viewers at home, all participate in the excitement and tension throughout a game. The new open personifies this concept with a breathing, living pulse that unifies the iconic graphics and live-action game footage. An aggressive track with powerful brass drives the visual rhythm, juxtaposing portraits of the top players, archival NFL footage of teams, plays shown in bullet time, and shots of excited fans against stylized red, white and blue graphics, an homage to the new CBS Sports logo.
"The client wanted an on-air identity with a strong cohesive theme," explains Steve Fuller, IF Director. "The main idea behind the logo was to have hub of energy that would create the pulse waves; it is the electrical engine for each graphic. We designed the split blue ring as the foundation for the slide-out tab system, which became a distinct graphic and stylistic thread used throughout the package. Also, by integrating 3D movement and reflective light, the open becomes an abstract journey into the logo and the world of NFL on CBS."
The HD open designed by IF is modular and changeable allowing the CBS in-house designers to customize the back-ends and teams based on who's playing. IF delivered hundreds of HD graphic and logo animations, bumpers, team transitions, and scoreboards, as well as elements used throughout the game such as player line-ups and bios, stats charts and tables, and ticker scores of other games.
"We enjoyed a great and productive collaboration with our client," concludes Fuller. "It was exciting to bring our design and storytelling skills to such a huge branding initiative for CBS. "
Designed & Produced by: Imaginary Forces (IF)
Executive Creative Director: Peter Frankfurt
Creative Director/Art Director: Steve Fuller
Executive Producer: Maribeth Phillips
Producer: Abby Okin
Associate Producer: Roni Sussman
Designers: Jens Mebes, James Coulson, Audrey Jardins, Meredith Bagerski
Designers/Animators: Eyal Ohanna, Rex Kim, Colin Hess, Shana Silberberg, Matt Hansen, Eeric Lampi, Jason Goodman
Editors: Peter Johnson, Caleb Woods, Corey Weisz
Flame Artists: David Reynolds, Sheila Sullivan
Client: CBS Sports
Imaginary Forces
IMAGINARY FORCES (IF) is an entertainment and design company based in Hollywood and New York. Its award-winning work spans the diverse industries of feature film production, entertainment marketing and promotion, corporate branding, architecture, advertising and interactive media. IF's recent work includes identity packages for Lifetime, USA Network, Animal Planet and MTV, as well as effective and compelling broadcast advertising for Nike, Toyota, Pontiac, Smirnoff and Lexus. In entertainment and media marketing, IF created campaigns for such films as Transformers, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Stepford Wives, Signs and both Men in Black films. The company also designed and produced main title sequences for The Break-Up, Ray, The Legend of Zorro, Band of Brothers, Spider-Man, and Seven, and produced the highly successful Blade trilogy. Combining architecture and media, IF has developed branded experiences for IBM, Morgan Stanley, Airbus Industries and the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. The studio is also a principal partner in United Architects (UA), one of six finalists for the re-design of the World Trade Center site at Ground Zero. Combining storytelling, filmmaking and architecture to address the social, emotional, urban, national and international issues, the UA model is now a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. UA recently collaborated on an immersive architectural media exhibit, "Bubbles in the Wine," for the "New York, New York" exhibition in the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The company also designed most of the graphical elements for MTV's "Virtual Laguna Beach," based on the popular reality TV series, and created projections for Director Julie Taymor's operatic production of "Grendel."
Imaginary Forces: https://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7434