CNN International cuts onscreen clutter with image overhaul

by Sam Matthews, brandrepublic.com, 01 February 2006, 08:10AM

LONDON – CNN International has undergone its biggest redesign in five years with a new-look logo, graphics, music and less on-screen clutter.

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The redesign, led by CNN's in-house design team with input from London-based design agencies Kemistry, Brand42 and CC-Lab, aims to make the 24-hour international news channel cleaner and fresher.

The on-air branding moves away from traditional heavy news graphics that tend to clutter the screen. Instead, the block of the news font is easier to read and covers less of the screen, while a rotating news bar replaces the scrolling ticker to allow the viewer to concentrate on the main news stories.

Brand42 and CC-Lab designed the new CNN logo, which keeps its classic red logotype but is set in a white box. The CNN globe branding has been updated with a silver and glass globe image within a square window.

Other features of the redesign include improved navigation through the channel with boxes informing viewers about upcoming shows, and new music and on-air promotions.

In addition, new colour coding has been introduced where news is black and white, business and markets are blue, sport is green and breaking news is yellow -- the international colour for alert.

The redesign was developed after research in 2005 revealed how best to engage the viewer and help them navigate through the news and programming.

The new-look CNN International channel debuts on February 5 at 11pm.

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