Design of on-air branding of RTÉ TV's tween/teen channel TRTÉ.
Alan Dunne // Brand Design, Illustration, Art Direction & Classical Animation.
Stephen McNally // After Effects Compositing & 3D Animation
Ivan Fitzpatrick // Sound Design & Music Composition
On 20 September 2010 RTÉ launched the biggest overhaul of its children's television schedule to date. It consists of two new programme strands. RTÉjr is broadcast for under 6’s and TRTÉ for children aged 9 to 16 on RTÉ2. RTÉ Young Peoples Programme commissioning editor Sheila de Courcy said the new programme strands were "quintessential public service broadcasting for 21st century audiences.” RTÉjr would be a "safe, fun, magical place for children" while TRTÉ would reflect the demands of the older cohort. "These schedules ensure that our audiences are never more than 30 minutes away from Irish production, from stories and output that reflect their immediate world and their lives," she said.
Whatever was to replace The Den had a legacy to live up to – there would be anticipation and expectation – not only among the current crop of children and teenagers but it would also come under the scrutiny of the generations who fondly recall the years of joy The Den brought– of which I am one! RTE decided early on in the branding process that a programme which catered for an audience aged between 0-16 created a major branding issue. The decision was made to take a ‘divide and conquer’ approach; RTÉjr catering to the 0-6 year olds and TRTÉ would cater for an audience of 9-16 year olds. 7 and 8 year olds wandering somewhere between, perhaps having to resort to reading a book or partake in some appalling outdoor activity!
The TRTÉ identity does indeed look to be part of the extended RTÉ visual family which would, no doubt, have been a main focus point of the design challenge. There is an inherent familiarity to the colours and the form that place it as part of the RTÉ family. It leads the audience from the safe world of RTÉjr and ushers them into the adult world of RTÉ Two. It resides visually somewhere between the two, echoing certain distinguishing traits of RTÉjr such as its position over the RTÉ logo while looking like the more angular older sibling. Infact it seems that the efforts to establish its familial lineage is its’ problem. The decision to position the new TRTE logo over the main RTE logo is questionable and diminishes the communication considerably. The viewer is essentially presented with two visual entities appendaged together. Why the reluctance to drop the main channel logo? To a degree, it smacks of a lack of self-confidence, and demonstrates a degree of ownership that visually constrains and smothers the fledgling programme strand. The name itself binds the newbie to its mother but it would have been advisable to cut the apron strings. One gets the feeling that the decision was very much a management one as the visual effect is quite compromised, especially when viewed in relation the rest of the design work produced for TRTE. (If your wondering what the ‘T’ in TRTÉ stands for, its a “deliberate enigma” according to the channel, but one assumes it alludes to some extent to the target audience of tweeagers and teenagers.)
Most tweens have aspirational tendencies. Aspirational as in they want to be spoken to like teenagers by brands. So the visual style seems to target a slightly older audience, hinting at MTV in its efforts to entice. The visual inspiration seems to come from an urban, surf/skater culture, and is reminisant of the tendency of Irish teenagers to customise their schoolbags and pencil cases with intensely detailed pen doodles. All of which works well as do the colour combinations for the branding.
This back to basics doodle approach by RTÉ's in-house Graphic Design Department is really effective. The highly detailed doodle illustrations communicate ‘street cred’ and I while I would never purport to understand the teenage mind, there is I feel a distinct element of ‘cool’ here. The hand drawn classical animated idents have a beguiling psychedelia to their style and kudos must go to their originator Alan Dunne. He produced something in the region of 1500 hand drawn frames for the animation process and the result is an approach that one imagines would have huge audience appeal and appreciation. It offers attainability and a level of achievable aspiration.
The unique ‘hands on’ approach has a strong level of visual sophistication that stands out for all the right reasons. Often it is just too easy to go down the route of 3D animation or the route of something which is obviously computer generated artwork, traditional classical animation has an air of timeless craft in the field of motion design. The notion that a fluorescent light box would be a key piece of equipment for the project is admirable, well that and some After Effects courtesy of Stephen McNally! This video post production work really brings the illustrations to life. Most importantly it looks like fun and punches above its weight among competitor’s identity designs that in the main feature big budgets.
I, for one, am easily impressed when it comes to motion graphics, filled with giddy “how do they do that” enthusiasm. There is available to us such a procession of styles that have evolved over time – those that are earnest in their initial efforts and as technology advances they gain an extroverted confidence. (A similar pattern is visible in the realm of print, from an illustration on the cover of an early 20th century magazine to the holograms and special effects possible, and visible, on covers today). And so with TRTE it is enjoyable to see simple 2D animation revisited in a contemporary context. It is refreshing in a world of highly polished computer game graphics to be presented with an exciting rendition of achievable grounded animation. Yes, it lacks that mesmerizing allure of polished perfection, but it is precisely in its ‘girl next door’ qualities that its’ success lies. Now there’s a message to bring into the home to your average 9 to 16 year old!
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