MIHIR LELE
47 NEWS
Art Direction | New Bulletin Template Design
Client
All Things Small
Logo Design
Bombay Duck Designs
Animated Template Design and Motion Graphics
Mihir Lele
Brief
I was approached by Sidin Vadukut of All Things Small (ATS) to design and produce all the graphic assets required for a digital news bulletin, "47 News", developed by ATS. These assets would include everything one would need to package a 5-7 minute news story wrt animation and graphics. The comprehensive list included-
A 5 to 10 second opening sting with the name of the show.
2. A 2 to 3 second animated sting to introduce the name of the topic being discussed.
3. Astons to introduce names.
4. Picture in picture (PIP) on the side to annotate the story with visuals.
5. Full screen video jacket to play an additional video (From YouTube or other canned content from news channels, etc.)
5. Standard background video loop for green-screens and end slates.
6. Transition to go from one section to the other (or to use as an edit cut point).
7. Logo unit on the side of the screen showing name of the channel (47)
8. Standardised thumbnail design template that would be followed for each video release, to maintain consistency and uniformity in design language across platforms.
The animation was to be in sync with the "47" logo created by
Bombay Duck Designs.
My Role
In addition to designing and animating the graphics mentioned above, I also had to create a "how-to-use" deck for the animation assets. This deck was to be shared with multiple editors who would work with reporters on field, to create the bulletins and release stories under 47 news from around the country. The deck contained all information regarding how to use the animation wrt the edited footage, where to place the logos, etc. The ideas was to use these animation assets to maintain a standardised look for the property.
Furthermore, the idea was to expand 47 News, from English spoken bulletins, to other languages, so hyper local news could be covered. The logo (Bombay Duck Designs) was also adapted in multiple languages for the same reason. Hence, the graphic assets I created, were to be adapted in other languages, so as to maintain a uniform design aesthetic for the overall property.
I started out by designing the assets for two languages- Hindi and English, for all testing purposes. Once these were refined and locked, they would be adapted in several other languages as the property expanded.
The following are the animation assets I created for the News Stories, in sync with the brand and logo.
1.Opening Sting
The Opening Sting is to be used at the beginning of the news bulletin.
It introduces the name of the channel along with any additional information about that week’s bulletin, for example, "Weekly bulletin no.24."
(Above) Screenshots of the animation opening into the news desk.
2. Transition
A transition is a quick dynamic animation that can be used to go from one segment to the other or as a palette cleanser to switch between topics/ videos/ discussions.
(Above) Screenshots of the transition from the news desk to a reference video (hypothetical).
3. Aston Band
The Aston band is to be used to introduce the names of the hosts/ guests on the show and also to annotate important information being said on screen.
(Above) Screenshots of the aston band being formed.
4. Topic of the Week
This segment is to emphasise on or to introduce the topic or idea being discussed in the video for that week.
(Above) Screenshots from the “Topic of the week” segment intro, transitioning back to the newsdesk.
5. Picture in Picture
The Picture in Picture (PIP) is to emphasise on or annotate verbal information in the video with visuals.
6. Video Jacket
The video jacket is to be used as hygiene to play any video to compliment the information
(for example, videos from YouTube, news channels or any other canned content, etc.)
7. Logo Placement and Marquee Strip
The placement of the logo and the marquee strip is uniform across all news videos. The logo placement helps in annotating other graphics like aston bands,etc. The bottom strip is to be placed at the bottom end of the screen at all times. The strip is to accommodate any marquee text OR subtitles.
8. Video Loops for Background
The video loops are to be used as backgrounds for any green screen/chroma replacements or end slates (slight color change in the hue is a result of YouTube compression.)
(Above) Video Loop Mockups - The bottom one can be used as a slate for end credits too.
9. Video Thumbnails
The thumbnails for the videos are standardised 16:9 images with one design language,
to create one homogenous look across all platforms. The topical pictures on the right are designed to change with every bulletin, but the overall design language is to remain uniform to give the social media assets a unique, identifiable look.
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Usage Guidelines
Once these assets were created and approved, the usage guidelines to be shared amongst the editors who would ultimately use these animations, was created. This would help them understand the usage and placement of the above assets when making the video.
Usage Guidelines for 47 News Animation Assets (English)
The same assets were then adapted for the Hindi logo and a usage guidelines was created for that as well.
Usage Guidelines for 47 News Animation Assets (Hindi)
The final transparent files of these animation assets along with the mockups and usage guidelines were then shared with the editors to begin work on 47 News Bulletins.