Visual and conceptual creative studio Trollback + Company has created an extensive rebrand of Canadian broadcast network The Movie Network that launched across six channels on April 1, 2008.
The package includes The Movie Network's five multiplex channels broadcasting cinematic entertainment - M, MMore, MExcess, MFun! and MFest - and The Movie Network OnDemand. Challenged to develop one creative platform that could be integrated into all of the channels, T+Co created a visually restrained package with a versatile language that enhances the individual personalities of the channels, while maintaining the consistency of the package.
The primary navigational element, a single, individual film chip, was derived from the channels' existing logos, which all feature the icon in some form. "While the icon clearly represents an abstracted frame of film, we intently avoided common filmstrip cliches when applying the symbol in motion," says Joe Wright, Creative Director of Trollback + Company. "The chip acts as a catalyst throughout the navigation and threads across all channels, representing bold, contemporary and timeless style." The icon is complemented by an info bar - a graphic band used to hold programming information - that is a vital element of the visual identity, emboldened by its unexpected center-screen placement.
To amplify the voice of the brand, the visual language was combined with an exploration of the network's tag line, "Always Riveting." By attaching an array of extensions to "Always," T+Co created a powerful vehicle that emphasizes the breadth and diversity of the network. Says Wright: "Expanding the tag line into a whole language allows the network to take ownership by connecting all channels to the main tag line of the brand, yet emphasizing their differences in programming focus." The independent-oriented MFest is tagged "Always Inspiring" and "Always Worldly," the edgier MExcess is "Always Adventure" and "Always Intense," and comedy-focused MFun! is "Always Hilarious," before they all resolve to "Always Riveting."
The use of color also reflects Trollback + Company's commitment to visually define each of the channels while keeping the creative style coherent over the package. Each channel has a clean, simple color palette with a main color reflecting its personality - MExcess has elements of intense magenta, MFun! a playful orange, and M, the main channel, a signature blue.
Original music for the package was composed by bicoastal music for media company Man Made Music.