The context
Operating in over 30 countries and reaching audiences in over 150, Fremantle is a leading global television production and distribution company. After having worked with them on their Celebrating The Storytellers campaign, they came to us with an intriguing proposition. Could we refresh their brand both as part of their celebration of 25 years in the industry, and make it big enough and bold enough to take on a life of its own beyond the event? Set to premiere at the annual Fremantle Presents in London, this new brand had to reflect who they are today, where they’re going next, and unify their global identity beyond the event.

‍The craft
When the deadline is a red carpet event, you have no choice but to get to it with real focus. And with the momentum of weekly creative development sessions with their in-house design team, we kept the project moving apace.

First on the slate and central to the celebratory part of the brand, we needed to create a logomark that could both exist as the hero for the entire celebration, but then seamlessly revert to Fremantle’s primary logotype once the year was through. Taking influence from the former and being modular in its makeup, the 25-year lockup we designed creates a hybrid yet harmonious celebration mark.

Drawing on our new logotype and Fremantle’s original graphic device, we created a dynamic, graphic gesture whose organic form guides and informs messaging, confidently contains content, and flexes across all facets of the business. Having always previously been static, we saw the opportunity to give this version of the gesture energy and range. Through experimenting with animation, depth, and form, we brought the gesture into another dimension and created uniformity to an eclectic set of key art, giving the in-house team a more fun and free graphic system to work with.

Beyond the gesture, our typographic approach focused on celebratory phrases and confident tones delivered by bold sans serif statements. We then chose a serif font to contrast and communicate a softer voice for internal and event language. We wanted to inject this same personality and confidence into the existing colour palette, which was originally limited to three hues of blue. Adding more vibrant shades also elevated the 3D gesture, with varying tones and highlights simulating light and shade. All of these elements ensured the in-house design team could create content that felt individual but part of the campaign collective.  

The end result
From lighting up Leicester Square to an underground takeover, we breathed new life into the Fremantle brand to celebrate the now and look confidently into the future.