New York creative agency Undefined Creative put together the winning brand marketing touch for the launch of NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution’s new nationally syndicated daytime entertainment show, “Harry,” starring Grammy and Emmy award-winner Harry Connick, Jr. Watch highlight reel HERE.
Delivering a smart and sleek look, Undefined Creative devised the brand identity for the “Harry” pilot episode and then went on to design and create the entire graphics package for the syndicated series, which debuted on September 12, 2016.
Undefined Creative, which has a long-standing relationship with NBCUniversal, went for a clean, classic and masculine look, building static and animated deliverables for in-show, marketing/promos and social media.
“Once the show was picked up, NBCUniversal decided they loved the look we had created for the pilot and hired us to refine and expand on the graphic elements we had initially developed for ‘Harry,’ which is really a designer's dream come true,” said Cathy Humphrey, executive producer for Undefined Creative.
In pursuing that dream project, Undefined Creative's founder and Creative Director, Maria Rapetskaya, did incur some challenges.
“We used a lot of teal in the pilot graphics, and it was a pretty unique palette choice for daytime,” says Rapetskaya. “But the final decision was to go blue, so we had some lengthy and detailed deliberations about shades of blue, and primary and secondary color schemes, ultimately expanding the show’s color palette to include the multitude of shade variations based on our 3D renders.”
The set for the pilot utilizes a backdrop with stylized letters spelling out H-A-R-R-Y, which the Undefined Creative team decided to set as a blueprint for the custom typeface which became the final “Harry” logo. The stylized letters now appear in background animation loops, becoming the backbone of the overall package. “That shared geometry hidden under the hood is something only designers geek out on, but I believe it went a long way in unifying the aesthetic between the physical space and the graphics that the show’s team appreciated,” explains Rapetskaya.
Ultimately, Undefined Creative delivered the logo package and brand guidelines, on-air and promo packages with a wide range of elements, including looping backgrounds, in/out bumps, slates, bugs, transitions, supers, snipes, as well as social media templates. A style guide was also provided for each package.
Starring versatile entertainer Harry Connick Jr., “Harry” reflects the unparalleled hosting and entertainment skills of Harry Connick, Jr. as well as his broad career in music, film, television, and Broadway. “Harry”, the brainchild of Connick and brothers Justin and Eric Stangel (the duo served as executive producers of “Late Show with David Letterman” from 1997 through 2013), brings the party to daytime, entertaining viewers with Connick’s touring band and delivering laughter through a variety of comedic segments, hilarious man-on-the-street interviews, as well as audience participation, human interest stories, celebrity interviews and lots of surprises.
While the graphics packages visually convey the attitude and personality of the first-run talk show, “Harry” has already proven to be an audience favorite as evidenced by its strong debut performance. “Harry” earned a 1.4 household national rating in its premiere week (ending September 18), according to Nielsen Media Research. That gives “Harry,” this season’s only nationally cleared newcomer, the strongest debut performance of any talk show launched in the last three years.
“Harry” Project Credits:
NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution
Justin Stangel Executive Producer
Eric Stangel Executive Producer
Jason Kurtz Executive Producer
Undefined Creative
Maria Rapetskaya Creative Director
Cathy Humphrey Executive Producer
Stephen McNally Lead Animator
Jesse Roff 3D Artist
About NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution
The NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution division is responsible for the production, sales and distribution of NBCUniversal products to broadcast television within the United States. The division develops and produces first-run programming and distributes these shows, along with off-network content, in broadcast syndication. Current first-run broadcast syndicated programming includes “Harry,” “Steve Harvey,” “Access Hollywood,” “Access Hollywood Live,” “Maury,” “The Jerry Springer Show” and “The Steve Wilkos Show.” In addition, the division distributes the retro television broadcast network, “Cozi TV” and weekend syndicated series “On the Money” and “Open House.” Current off-network programming includes “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “The Office.”
About Undefined Creative
Founded in 2010, Undefined Creative is a creative agency blending uncommon ideas with sophisticated design and polished execution to establish and cultivate brand awareness, through motion graphics and animation. The agency’s clients include national consumer and media brands across platforms. For more information, please visit www.undefinedcreative.com.
