PBS
PBS Rebrand
BACKGROUNDPBS had an opportunity to develop a new brand identity for a new era — one that would keep content fresh and membership vital for the future. The challenge? Rebrand PBS by distilling 40+ years of being America’s most trusted media organization into a modern, sleek look, uniting a fragmented visual system and helping PBS connect with younger, more diverse audiences.
OUTCOMESThis cross-company and cross-org effort reimagined PBS’ visual and design system at scale, bringing a new brand to life across a new foundational platform and identity, color, typography, graphic elements, imagery, motion design, illustration, on-air packages, and digital product experiences.
Our digital design team played a core role in the brand’s development from start to finish. We delivered comprehensive design guidelines shared with internal teams across the PBS ecosystem, refining a severely fragmented and diluted brand into a system of brand consistency.
We also created guidelines and operational processes for creating and delivering co-branding solutions adopted by 100+ local PBS stations across the country with diverse needs.
ROLEPart of core team that developed and launched PBS’ new visual and design system. Engaged internal teams and 150+ stations to implement the brand at national and local levels.
Creative Direction, Brand Strategy, Visual + Design System
CREDITSPBS: Chris Bishop, Laura King, Don Wilcox, Jen Allen, Andrea Iezzi, Emily Cooper, Kenji Thielstrom, John Ruppenthal, Jared Traver, Chris Richard
External: Teams at Lippincott, Monotype, Nate Howe Studios, Evolve Studios, illustrator Jerome Masi
Reimagining PBS for a new era
The brand in motion
The motion design brought the brand to life and spoke beautifully to how our graphic elements were deceivingly simple in isolation, but powerfully versatile and allowed the content to shine when paired with motion.
Sizzle ReelA peek into the process
DISCOVERY & STRATEGYFrom here, to there
Previously, too many pre-approved logo variations was creating a confusing, outdated visual story. Attribution suffered from inconsistent name and symbol use, especially on third-party platforms where we saw increased consumption of PBS content.
Thoughtful and thought-provokingDefining the brand platform
Our Lippincott partners led initial discovery and strategy phases, defining the foundational brand platform and purpose. They also led work in re-thinking the new logo. After exploring a full range of possibilities, they landed back close to home, guided by findings that the existing mark held a lot of brand equity and recognition that was too valuable to lose. Key updates softened and humanize the profiles, re-scaled “PBS” to optimize readability across screen sizes, and modernized the typography.
THE NEW DESIGN PRINCIPLESMoving, Welcoming, Bright
COLOR AND TYPOGRAPHY Setting the foundations
Our digital design team took the high-level design principles as the foundation to develop the new visual system. Through rapid and continual iterations, we established the brand’s core visuals. The first step was developing PBS Blue, our signature brand color. We chose it because it was vibrant and energizing while serving as a marker of trust.
Typography was a key element to communicate a unified personality for PBS. We worked closely with Lippincott and Monotype, who created our custom PBS Sans font family, inspired by our logotype. It’s human, contemporary, and highly legible.
CROSS-PLATFORM COLLABORATIONCross-platform collaboration
We collaborated closely with Nathaniel Howe Studios, who led explorations of the on-air motion graphics package. Meanwhile, I led high-concept creative directions of how the new brand could manifest on high-touchpoint digital experiences, specifically our TV and Mobile apps. These concurrent explorations helped the team hone in on our core graphic design elements, which provided flexibility in expressing our brand across platforms.
GRAPHIC ELEMENTSKeeping content at the heart
As we iterated, we kept coming back to 1 universal truth: our content had to be the star of the show, and the design can’t encroach or overwhelm the actual subject matter. The graphic elements were born from the logo’s circular forms and played a supporting role imagery and footage.
IMAGERYSimple, Immersive, Unexpected
We collaborated with Evolve Studios on capturing new brand imagery, based on 3 key principles: simple, immersive, and unexpected. We aimed to invite viewers into being part of the moment, deliver a new perspective, and explore new angles. The visual system aims to highlight and elevate the beauty of our content, introducing our audiences to new worlds through immersive experiences and storytelling.
ILLUSTRATIONHumanity, illustrated
We worked closely with illustrator Jerome Masi to create a set of brand illustrations derived from circular shapes, soft lines, and human forms. Inspired by the aimless simplicity and humanity of our logo, the illustrations capture our creative spirit, evoke emotion, and complement our imagery in a bright and welcoming way.
SCALING ACROSS THE PBS ECOSYSTEMComprehensive design guidelines
Our Digital Design team spearheaded defining the brand’s comprehensive design guidelines and style guide. Shared with all PBS internal employees, stations, and producers, we aimed to refine what had become a severely fragmented and diluted brand into a system of brand consistency.
CREATING and launching co-branding solutionsSuccess with 100+ PBS stations
Our new visual elements aimed to highlight PBS programming while unifying local and national communities across member stations. I was part of the core team that engaged over 150 PBS stations through localized workshops, conference, webinars, and many hours of direct outreach. We advocated the importance of a more consistent PBS brand presence and ensured that stations understood how to practically implement the new brand.
I built and managed the process for creating and delivering co-branding solutions to 100+ stations with diverse needs. I established the design guidelines, continually maintained priorities, tracked progress, and worked closely with our Station and Brand Strategy teams to optimize the project’s workflow.
Press coverage
Fast Company, "PBS Unveils a New Brand for a New Media Landscape”
