Often, the first thought that springs to mind concerning National Geographic is its incredibly rich tradition of visually documenting every nook and cranny of Planet Earth, either through the magazine or the TV channel that bears its name. It's a tradition that's held in high esteem by National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) - thus, when a new channel, Nat Geo Wild, was set to launch in select territories, creating the right graphic identity from the outset was of paramount concern.

"As the contents for the core channels are turning out to be always more about science and technology in general, we felt the need to create a specific channel on wildlife and nature, targeted at the family," explains Florencia Picco, the Rome-based senior art director for NGCI, a division of Fox International Channels. Calling in pitches from assorted design studios in Buenos Aires, Eloisa Iturbe's "artistic" initial sketches and mood boards got the nod. The Argentine designer set to work from a generic brief to, as Picco puts it, "evoke nature and its beauty" through representing "the environments of wildlife and not wildlife itself." Thus, the onus was more on scenery and wildlife scenarios than on specific renderings of hippos, monkeys and assorted flora.

With the branding divided into five categories (Earth, Jungle, Water, Air and the more abstract Wildlife), Iturbe and her colleagues hit the outside world, "taking pictures and filming a lot." A color palette of brown, green, turquoise, sky blue, orange, and of course, National Geographic yellow was settled upon. From there, the team eschewed "an artificial, computer look" in favor of natural textures, derived from combining the photos and filmed content with Photoshop and After Effects treatments.

"We experimented with many different materials in order to get the textures we wanted," she says. "For instance, some of the water textures are [made with] feathers."

Beginning the project in December, Iturbe's studios provided "around 45 deliverables", ranging from more evocative landscapes to specific animal or flower imagery for certain idents. Picco says that while the geographic distance between Iturbe's Buenos Aires studio and the Italy-based client resulted in "lots of emails, and phone calls for months", the collaborative nature of the project resulted in work both sides can be proud of. The on-air package, minus the idents, is currently airing in the UK, with plans to launch the channel in Italy and Hong Kong in October and then in other regions.

"The tag for Nat Geo Wild is 'the natural home for wildlife'," she says. "I think the graphic package represents that perfectly."

Nat Geo Wild http://www.natgeowild.co.uk
Eloisa Iturbe http://www.eloisaiturbe.com