It’s a brand new Cartoon Network. After months of drawing, erasing, snacking, singing, dreaming, painting on dogs, arm wrestling, and, above all, animating, we’re finally ready to share our top-to-bottom brand expansion of the 18-year-old network. Our graphic overhaul included everything from redrawing their logo to creating a typographic system that could be played out on the airwaves, online and in print.
We imagined the checker as a gameboard, ready to be played; a graphic designer’s grid; a rule-based system that encouraged unexpected permutations. Leading an incredibly robust (and checkered) team of designers, illustrators, animal trainers, and animators, Brand New School created an arsenal for the CN team. From lower thirds, to bugs, to menus, to endpages to idents, to tapping our favorite illustrators for network IDs, we constantly looked for ways to explore this simple idea, building a visual language that fit a multitude of different parts together in harmonious yet unpredictable ways.
A giant thanks to everyone at Cartoon Network who both encouraged our creative process and gave us invaluable insight along the way. Kudos also go to Mad Decent and Michael Koehler for fantastic music and sound design. And now, without further ado, check it…
Production
Brand New School, New York
Creative Director
Jonathan Notaro
Managing Director
Danny Rosenbloom
Head of Production
Devin Brook
Producer
Greg Babiuk
Associate Producer
Michele Watkins
Production Coordinator
Ilona Klaver
Production Assistant
Madison Brigode
Art Directors
Eric Adolfsen, Mike Calvert
Associate Art Director
Forest Young
Logo Designers
Jonathan Notaro, Jens Gehlhaar, Eric Adolfsen, Mike Calvert, Ryan Waller
Lead Designers
Adam Wentworth, Damien Correll
Icon Designers
Mike Calvert, Aaron Stewart
Pitch Designers
Eric Adolfsen, Mike Calvert, Forest Young, Josh Parpan, Will Frohn, Pat Arrington, Philippe Intraligi, Ryan Cox, Sal Dell’Aquila, George Vincent
Flicks Movie Package Design
Mario de Toledo-Sader, Jungeun Kim
Storyboarding
Will Rosado
Lead Animators
Hyesung Park, Andy Mastrocinque, Arthur Hur
Digital Animators
David Rasura, Chase Massingil, Cyprian York Sadlon, Mark Thomspon
Additional Animation
Eric Bauer, David Lucido
Flicks 2D VFX Supervisor
Arthur Hur
CG Director
Vadim Turchin
3D Animation
Walter Lubinski
3D Lighter/Compositor
Bill Dorais
3D Tracking
Han Ho
3D Modeling
Walter Lubinski, Adam Rosenzweig
Flicks 3D VFX Supervisor
Han Ho
Flicks CG Director
Han Ho
ID Design and Animation Design
Meg Hunt, Mike Calvert, Ryan Cox, Travis Millard, Eric Adolfsen, Ricardo Villavicencio, Stephen Kelleher, Andrew Poneros
Animation
Kat Morris, Freddy Arenas, Walter Lubinski
Stieg Retlin, Andy Mastrocinque, Jessica Milazzo
Original Music/Compositions
Mad Decent and Michael Kohler