I watched the Troika Design Agency because I find title work interesting and I have long been interested in television. (On a sidenote, there needs to be better words for interesting. Continue.) Although I have certainly watched my share of television, I have never given much thought to the work behind the graphics and interstituals – the network promos – that run before and after a show runs.
Troika doesn’t call these promos; on their site, they list them by category – logos, network branding, design, etc., although to me they are all basically the same thing. They’re paid for process, as one of the heads says, and they spend a lot of their time thinking, trying to understand needs of the client, what they want to communicate. The trick is, of course, in any “creative” or “communication” profession, how to do that. That is reinforced throughout all the videos we’re watching for this class. It’s the central conundrum no matter what medium used – infographic, motion typography, a poster or website. They pointed out that they usually don’t know the end product. I took that to mean that the client just said “We want a redesign,” and they might give some direction (if the campaign has already been determined), or they might not, and it’s up to the agency to deliver one. They will ask questions about attitude and style, and come up with different versions, but they don’t know what it will look like, how the whole package will appear, until much further along in the process.
Another thing these videos have taught me is all the opportunities available to those who have these skills. Perhaps because I am unaware of a lot of what art and design students actually do, it never occurred to me that hey, people out there who have animation skills do more than just work for Disney – they design the graphics that say, “An all-new HOUSE tonight at 8!” I thought about the people in the promo department, cutting the clips to make the ad (or rather wondered who were the people in charge of these terrible, misleading promos!), but not the designers. Very cool job.
When I think of communications jobs – a large spectrum encompassing many of the artists and designers we’ve been exposed to in this class – they often go back to the idea of connection. Connection with an audience. Connection with an idea, a movement, an attitude. What Troika does is network branding – “creating a connection between a channel and its audience,” as one of its employees said. (I’m a poor note-taker here because I did not record any names, and am not going back to find who exactly said what.)
Although the two case studies included were Starz and Oxygen, I was unfamiliar with both of the, partly because they are elite cable channels that I didn’t watch/have access to, and partly because they aren’t that well known. However, I do know Fox’s logos (although not the name of the campaign – “So Fox”), and agreed that they do a good job of appearing “So Brash” and “So Bold” precisely because they use bold color and typography — which fits with the announcer’s voice and style of voiceover. The Troika employees go into the details in the video, which I appreciate. Sometimes you don’t realize something is new or innovative until you see what exactly came before, what is pointed out, and they do that here – I never realized that most promos don’t include close-ups, or shots at odd angles, but Fox does. (Sidenote: How long does a campaign last? Troika said they did three rebranding campaigns. Fox is still using its “So Fox” campaign, although they have made their website less bold and more basic recently). I definitely paid attention to them because they did seem fresh and bold – certainly not boring. I believe they also used one accent color for each show, to differentiate each program yet bring consistency.
My other notes also detail:
- The importance of emotion. Mood boards as a term channel “new age,” but the agency uses them to get a sense of what they want the brand to be, to try to capture a feeling. Nice to know this is getting traction in the business world – or at least in California.
- How technology changes what they do. Tivo made many of their clients request that graphics don’t appear on the bottom third of the screen, because Tivo covers that area up. Adaptability.
- Think about the audience. Who will be watching this? How will they interpret it? Sometimes it’s hard to step away, but always think about how the audience will react.
- A style guide is “a summarization of the whole product.”
- “Chase a concept, not design trends.”
- Design is about elements seen and used in different ways.
- Impressions make the brand.
- A solid foundation in the basics of design and typography is important. But so is having a wide set of skills – even if you don’t use them. Sound, music, editorial, live action, etc. That’s what the iMedia program is preparing us for.
- And to follow what many of our professors say – get away from a computer to think and conceptualize.