FOX Sports 1 recently partnered with entertainment branding agency loyalkaspar for its debut as a national multi-sport network. Available in more than 90 million homes in the U.S., this marks one of the largest network launches ever.
FOX Sports 1 will feature nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually, including live-sports programming for NCAA Football, UFC, NASCAR, NCAA Basketball, NASCAR, Major League Baseball and professional soccer.
“Our strategy was to have FOX Sports 1 be a distinct and vivid extension of the FOX Sports brand,” said Robert Gottlieb, FOX Sports 1 EVP of marketing. “Loyalkaspar was asked to create a bold and exciting brand identity and graphics package that would not only stand out in the crowded playing field, but also unite our broad range of programming. They did all of this while staying true to our brand promise of presenting sports to our fans in a way that celebrates being colorful, being vibrant, and being fun.”
Led by creative director Anna Minkkinen, the company designed a package around the idea that FOX Sports 1 is the “color commentator” of sports networks. To express this, loyalkaspar developed a playful network voice that works when woven into the on-air graphics toolkit or as part of stand-alone network or talent IDs.
The presentation of type was a key aspect of the design package. In order to remain consistent with the overarching brand, loyalkaspar used UScore, a family of custom fonts developed for FOX Sports.
“We offered various visual options for FOX Sports 1 to represent its talent, connecting them to the network’s brand attitude through bold cropping and expressive copy,” said Minkkinen. “FOX’s talent pool is full of charismatic personalities and former athletes with colorful stories to tell, so we felt it was a key place in the network design to express a sense of fun. Our design strategy enabled us to build a fluid and varied graphics toolkit that could be used for any other design needs.”
While designing the graphics package, loyalkaspar drew inspiration from the motion of sports fans doing the “wave” and developed a complex world of cascading walls that could be used to create environments and reveal information and imagery.
