Indianapolis station gets new graphics with elements drawn from Fox logo

WXIN, Nexstar’s Fox affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana, debuted a new graphics package — that isn’t the normal group look.

Rey Rodriguez at Nexstar’s design hub led the creation of the package, which draws heavily on the shapes found in the Fox network wordmark, most notably the “O” and “X.”

“They were looking for a fresh package that aligned with the Fox brand — new school flat design with a touch of 3D, featuring lots of constant motion and flow,” said Rodriguez in a LinkedIn post.

“It was a really fun project with so many possibilities; I ended up overdelivering!” he added.

The “O” finds its way into the graphics through circular elements that drive much of the animation in the opens, including a final ring that uses counterclockwise circular movement to draw out the basis of the “O” in the station logo. Opens also sport regional imagery, including a flat outline-style iteration of the skyline and a top-down view of the city’s iconic Monument Circle paired with the “O” animation.

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Meanwhile, the negative space at the bottom of the “X” is repurposed as an arrow-like element that pops out of the main logo and playfully moves down below the main logo to point to the newscast’s title.

The negative notches on either side of the “X” are also incorporated throughout the design as additional arrow-like elements meant to literally point out where the eye should go for key on-screen information. They appear next to the bug, pointing the way to the time and temp, while also showing up in lower thirds to the primary text area, including a double arrow look for talent.

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In addition, the ticker design uses the element as both a reveal element and indicator for both branding elements and labels information such as current temperatures from around the region. 

Often, the arrow helps point out the flow of information from one side of the screen to the other, particularly in weather graphic headers, which can feature multiple colored boxes and other elements side-by-side with arrows sitting along the verticals. 

The touch of 3D Rodriguez mentioned often appears via the use of an oversized Fox wordmark rendered with subtle edges and bevels in the background, often slightly masked over other colors. 

This approach is a nod to the Fox-owned stations’ graphics package while the use of shapes from the logo is reminiscent of the network’s 2019 branding design.

For typography, the station uses the open-source Sofia Sans, the font is inspired by “technical” sans serifs. Its “W” with distinct middle connector stands out in the WXIN graphics thanks to its frequent use in words such as “News” and “Weather.”

While Nexstar has several base motion graphic packages that its stations tend to share, it does not have as consistent of a design as some station groups.

Nexstar may have been inspired to create this new look because it previously owned WISH in the market, which still uses graphics that have elements of its Nexstar-era package, meaning WXIN may have been looking to differentiate the two stations even more.

The WXIN package could likely be modified for other stations, though Nexstar did not indicate if those plans are in the works.

However, the look is likely to work best at Fox-affiliated stations thanks to its heavy use of accents inspired by the Fox logo. That said, the circular elements could be modified to work with other network logos, with the arrows simply becoming a standalone accent.