The new, ultra-high-definition, “factual entertainment” channel INSIGHT is a free-to-air service in Europe and India backed by Russian media conglomerate General Satellite Group, which aims to compete with the likes of Nat Geo and Discovery by taking adventure-based programming to a new level of immersion. The brainchild of Mariam Zamaray, a former Fox International Channels executive turned CEO of INSIGHT’s parent company, Television Entertainment and Reality Network (TERN), the Netherlands-based channel launched with 200 hours of original UHD programming at MIPCOM on October 5 – a rather amazing development considering it was little more than a concept on paper as recently as summer of 2014.

That was when “we were approached by them,” said Marco-Paul de Jeu, co-founder and strategy director at the Amsterdam-based creative agency Cape Rock, which developed the positioning, logo, identity and all channel design for the brand including the music and the sound design. “We met with Mariam… and from scratch she came to us like, ‘I have investors, I have the plan and ambition to launch a full [ultra-high-definition] factual entertainment channel… within a year’s time.’ She was the only person. There was no organization yet, no content, no brand positioning.”

Cape Rock faced a daunting challenge. “The experience that you get from watching UHD content is amazing,” said de Jeu. Content creators can add Adobe 5.1 sound to UHD content, and when viewed on a surround-sound system, the combination of audio and 50 frames-per-second visuals makes you feel “as though you were part of the action,” he continued. But as cool as it is for the viewer, designing for the UHD television experience poses obstacles behind the scenes. “It was totally new for us,” de Jeu said. “We had to learn during the process basically.”

Cape Rock had to invest in larger hard drives, a faster server, two 4K screens and iMacs with retina 5K display just to begin working with the new video format. While “the color scheme is much broader with UHD” and “you can create a much richer experience,” de Jeu said, the “ultimate sharpness” of the format makes it tricky to set in-focus foregrounds against blurred backgrounds, an effect most viewers take for granted when watching TV but that happens to be extremely noticeable when it is no longer present. Within animation techniques for other formats, “you’ve got effects to blur content,” he continued. “With UHD that’s almost impossible. “Additionally, “render times take 16 times longer in UHD.”

Once the technical side of the equation was sorted out, Cape Rock began designing a brand identity that “stands for exploring the world with a cross-cultural perspective,” de Jeu said, “so rather than a Discovery or Nat Geo, who are much more US-focused in their presence and tone of voice, we tried to create a brand with the world’s orientation.”

After several iterations, the INSIGHT logo became a “crisp, modern” structure, said de Jeu, composed of the “I” and the “N.” It is strong enough to be bold against the vibrant backdrops presented by UHD yet malleable enough to “be played with,” de Jeu said. “It can be turned around, built up, placed in idents where it is filled with a water effect… It can be a temple or something more concrete to show the essence of offering different perspectives every time.”

Seeing the different logo materials manifest in UHD, de Jeu said, alludes to a collective imagination “that we all share. We wanted to show something to the audience that surprises them and induces wonder and visually sticks.”

In addition to the more abstract idents, Cape Rock created six talent ident that showcase presenters exclusive to INSIGHT’s 200 hours of original programming. The equation in these human-driven spots was “brand meets talent meets a specific theme from a program,” de Jeu said. “Those three elements all combine in a talent ident.”

Part of INSIGHT’s factual entertainment-driven objective involved making people “a little smarter by watching TV,” de Jeu said. “It’s not just entertainment – we have got information to share with you.” Fixing to give the brand a “more interactive and online feel,” Cape Rock designed an infographics system that is “about sharing facts and figures and data in a playful way… If you see the digital design of brands, it’s much lighter for a good user experience. That’s what we tried to bring into this infographic system: a really nice, smooth, well-fitting system that is added as a layer onto the content.”

After jumping on board at the very beginning, de Jeu said that Cape Rock will continue working with INSIGHT going forward, focusing a little more on promo package design as well as campaigns for specific content. The agency also created the presentation for the brand when it officially launched at MIPCOM on October 5.

Now available in 35 countries and broadcast to 60 million households, it’s amazing to think that less than two years ago, INSIGHT was nothing more than the vision of one woman who didn’t even have a staff yet. But then, “we are entrepreneurs as well,” de Jeu said. “We liked the adventure and we liked the ride.”

Tags:


  Save as PDF