Global News debuts rebranding across national, local news

Canada’s Global News has rolled out a rebranding and a new motion graphics package for its national newscast “Global National” and for its local stations.

The look eschews the glass and 3D bevels of the previous package — which debuted in 2013 — in favor of flat design elements inspired by the angles of the Global logo, with serif typography used throughout the package.

Motion Graphics

Global News

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Global notes that the logo, text and visual elements are designed to be “simple and consistent,” with the updates also hitting the organization’s website and mobile app. 

“We’ve really embraced the Global red, blacks and whites in this new rebrand as well as the font,” said Michael Churchill, Global’s national manager of brand and design. 

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“We wanted to ensure that we would be using typefaces that are likable, versatile and could seamlessly deliver a compelling story,” said Nadia Le, product designer, Global News.

“We’ve been really efficient at keeping a lot of work done internally by our crew, creative people that do this work and work with our brand every day,” said Churchill. “So very cost-efficient.”

For “Global National,” the design incorporates imagery from the day’s stories in the main open along with outsized rendering of the words “global” and “national.”

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The design brings the newscast’s branding more in line with competitor CBC, with the open of “Global National” and “The National” sharing some similar approaches. This focus on clarity is a larger trend across broadcast design, with many broadcasters opting for approaches that lack 3D objects and can easily be updated by a news producer.

At the local level, the look uses more rectangular geometry in the opens, alongside plenty of fluid movements.

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The design changes are at odds with the virtual sets used by Global News at the national and local level. This is expected, however, only to be a temporary mismatch, with updated virtual sets planned for the future according to sources from the network. 

Global News was an early adopter of virtual set technology with its national newscast and nearly all of its local stations utilizing large chromakeys and robotic cameras with graphics and virtual solutions from Avid.

Global News picks Avid graphics solution

Locally, the addition of blue in the package helps tie the pieces together, but the design of “Global National” focuses on only the primary colors of red, grey and white.