FOX Sports 1 taps loyalkaspar to capture the network’s personality through a playful visual identity, brand design and on-air graphics.
FOX Sports 1 recently partnered with entertainment branding agency loyalkaspar for its debut as a national multi-sport network. Available in over 90 million homes in the US, this marks one of the largest network launches ever.
FOX Sports 1 will feature nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually, including live-sports programming for NCAA Football, UFC, NASCAR, NCAA Basketball, NASCAR, Major League Baseball (starting in 2014), and world-class professional soccer.
“Our strategy was to have FOX Sports 1 be a distinct and vivid extension of the FOX Sports brand,” says Robert Gottlieb, FOX Sports 1 EVP of Marketing. “loyalkaspar was asked to create a bold and exciting brand identity and graphics package that would not only stand out in the crowded playing field, but also unite our broad range of programming. They did all of this while staying true to our brand promise of presenting sports to our fans in a way that celebrates being colorful, being vibrant, and being fun.”
loyalkaspar, led by Creative Director Anna Minkkinen, designed a package around the idea that FOX Sports 1 is the color commentator of sports networks, delivering all of the analysis and expertise with personality, passion, and entertainment. To express this, loyalkaspar developed a playful network voice that works when woven into the on-air graphics toolkit or as part of stand-alone network or talent IDs.
The presentation of type was a key aspect of the design package. In order to create consistency with the overarching brand, loyalkaspar used UScore, a family of custom fonts developed for FOX Sports. The slanted bars that anchor the typography echo the 1’s oblique form and underline the boldness of FS1’s attitude.
“We offered various visual options for FOX Sports 1 to represent its talent, connecting them to the network’s brand attitude through bold cropping and expressive copy,” explains Minkkinen. “FOX’s talent pool is full of charismatic personalities and former athletes with colorful stories to tell, so we felt it was a key place in the network design to express a sense of fun.”
While designing the graphics package, loyalkaspar drew inspiration from the motion of sports fans doing the “wave” and developed a complex world of cascading walls that could be used to create environments and reveal information and imagery.
“Our design strategy enabled us to build a fluid and varied graphics toolkit that could be used for any other design needs,” concludes Minkkinen. “We were thrilled to be part of such an ambitious network launch – and one that has made cable sports history.”
Source: loyalkaspar
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
