Sky is unveiling a brand new on-air look for its suit of family entertainment channels, Sky 1, Sky 2 and Sky 3. The refreshed branding, which has been created by Sky Creative and The Moving Picture Company, reflects the strengthening positioning of Sky’s flagship entertainment channels and puts the channels’ standout content right at its heart. It’s the largest brand refresh since launch and will be supported by a major through-the-line marketing push later on in the summer.

The new creative will be headed by Sky 1, Broadcast Magazine’s Digital Entertainment Channel of the Year, with consistency of branding and theme running across the whole family of channels. The new on and off-air look and feel will break on 31 August 2008 at 6:00pm.

The creative concepts for each of the channels are based on each of the channels taking on distinctive ‘elements’ or states – ‘solids’ for Sky 1, ‘liquids’ for Sky 2, and ‘particles’ for Sky 3. Using a combination of 3D post production and a cutting edge live presentation system, the new ‘element’ led logos and idents will incorporate exclusive Sky content – including the likes of Lost and Bones - to establish a closer association between channel brands and programming.

Sky Creative’s design brief was to create a entertaining cross-media identity for Sky 1 with a premium feel and which positioned the brand as synonymous with must see and exclusive content. The creative team also worked on strengthening the family association of Sky 1, 2 and 3.

“For the first time our new dynamic idents feature Sky 1 talent embedded within our channel creative. This puts our standout content right at the heart of our brand. Nothing defines our channels more than our fantastic content so it made complete sense to be led by the shows and stars that our viewers connect with”, comments Richard Woolfe, controller, Sky 1, 2 and 3. “We now have a creative framework which really aligns with the personality of our channels and which will helps viewers better identify with the programming that means so much to them.”

The ‘elements’ concept was developed by Sky Creative’s Senior Designer, Jonathan Yeo, and was selected due to its ability to combine a strong brand narrative with programming and talent.

“Each of the idents feature a single piece of action and each of the logos react in a different way depending on their behavioural elements. It was important that we captured a sense of scale and grace to the channel ‘elements’,” comments Yeo. “Functional navigation has also been a huge consideration and influence in the design. Moving to a numerical design makes the logos more compact for on screen positioning, and has helped it to carry the many messages that often accompany it.”

Although the design was created in-house, Sky Creative chose The Moving Picture Company to produce the new look.

“Long gone are the days of a re-brand consisting of a new logo and a few idents,’ adds Andi Granger Creative Director, Sky Creative. “Aside from on-air there’s much more to a channel’s armoury, including HD, online, video on demand and mobile. The challenge lied in creating a brand and brand framework that could successfully flex and resonate across all those platforms and content touch points.”

“Combining the broadcast design knowledge of in-house design with the credentials and production experience of The moving Picture Company has helped to create something that is innovative’