The news in January 2006 that fledgling American TV networks UPN and The WB would be ceasing independent operations and combining programming to form a new network dubbed The CW sent shock waves through the US broadcast industry. While some pundits were unfazed by the name (culled from the initials of its parent companies, CBS and Warner Bros.), others were curious as to how the new network would position itself. And after winning the assignment to provide the brand identity for the network, that question became one of the chief challenges for Hollywood-based Troika Design Group.

Thus, Troika took six weeks in the pitch phase to address as many of The CW's needs as possible, establishing what Troika partner and ECD Dan Pappalardo calls a "war room" in its offices. Here, the core team of three CDs and several writers and designers would brainstorm over how to create a brand for a network that is not only geared towards a younger, 18 to 34 demo, but potentially made up of two different audiences - UPN's urban-skewed viewers and The WB's Gen Y, suburban set.

"We were looking for cultural parallels; pride in being unique and standing out, while sharing ideas and ideals," says Pappalardo. Other such parallels included a sense of connectivity within youth culture and an eschewing of the authoritative or corporate - "In a way, what a traditional broadcast network represents - 'We are the biggest and the best'. This was sort of a counter to that. And there was also the idea of being new and fresh; it's not the network your parents watch."

A color palette steeped in green ("a color that other networks wouldn't necessarily pick") was chosen to connote freshness and vitality, while design solutions incorporated elements such as a thumbprint icon to emphasize the network's unique nature and a "curved, linear, connective" font that would form the basis of the CW logo. Fluid signature animations flow through promos and bumpers, connecting from the word 'new' to the CW logo to hammer the point home.

As for a tagline, Troika arrived at "Free To Be ___" (the rights to the phrase "Free to Be" were unavailable), where the blank could be filled in by descriptors of the shows, the stars or the audience ("Free To Be Fabulous" for The Girlfriends, "Free To Be Fearless" for America's Top Model's Tyra Banks).

"We forced ourselves to look at how the brand translates beyond television - what does the branding look like on a billboard, or on a t-shirt, or on your cell phone," explains Pappalardo. "The main focus was the tone and language that can carry into whatever medium they need."

Troika Design Group> http://www.troika.tv
The CW> http://www.cwtv.com