BRIEF

A corporate identity for a new-age streaming service that provides quality, thoughtful content in an age of binge-watching. The brief specified the networks support of emerging talent and their dedication to hosting avant-garde content for tastemakers and film buffs. The platform was to host a range of niche content, from classic films and animation to documentary journalism and would respond to the needs of its audience whose taste in content typically leans towards art-house and education. The identity was also to appeal to schools and libraries as a primary source of revenue for the platform.

SOLUTION

The brand essence of ’Thinking beyond the box’ led to a guiding philosophy for Knack to ‘Let your brain play’. While many streaming services force you to switch off, Knack’s content encourages thoughtful engagement by sharing stories that stay with you and make you think. The brand development pays homage to the ‘event’ of watching television back in the day. ‘Switching on’ the TV required more presence, wonder and thought, when now it has become a rather passive experience.

Illustration informs this playful aesthetic. The creation of small, inexplainable systems resembling a game were created to apply the brand essence. These isometric worlds appear to have no rules or perceivable order, but a sense of movement and progress nonetheless, which lent itself nicely to development with motion. The brand champions play for the sake of exploration and discovery — a metaphor for an active mind.

The brand was sectioned into sub-brands to represent various genres on the platform. Shapes of the logomark were distilled into characters to represent each of the unique genres streamed. This formula allowed for growth in the service, as it planned to expand it’s genres in time. The brand’s key focus is on the individuality of its subscribers and their diverse and unique tastes in film and television. Here their quirks are celebrated. Knack is a platform for alternative tastes, with an offbeat aesthetic to support it.

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