Smartypants Pictures / PBS Studios—
Self-Evident
Self-Evident is PBS’ new digital miniseries derivative from the network’s American Portrait series. Self-Evident piggybacks on the series by also posing the question and examining: “What does it really mean to be an American today?”
2020 has been a turbulent year, with the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread social unrest following the killing of George Floyd and a polarizing election, the series explores American challenges and triumphs as the country perseveres through this time.
The stories are told in a variety of styles, but heavily relies on footage filmed by individual participants, letting them tell the story of America in 2020.
I was brought on to create the branding, graphics and animation direction.
At the 2021 48th Daytime Emmys, the series was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Daytime Non-Fiction Program in the Children’s & Animation and Lifestyle Category.
The series needed tie back in with the American Portrait parent series, but also have distinct characteristics of its own. The below helped set the ground work for the Self-Evident series, from GFX in the actual videos to supporting marketing and promotional material.
Series Trailer
Framing Device—
This series heavily relies on footage filmed by individual participants, which gives it a unique “self-captured” aesthetic.
I used this as a stepping off point in creating the identity of the series and created a framing motif mimicking the devices footage was captured on.
In the digital age, since video and imagery is no longer just viewed and captured horizontally, the framing device was created to have the flexibility to expand and contract representing both horizontal and vertical screens.
Dynamic Lines—
To help create some depth and add a modern touch of dynamism, a moving geometric line art pattern is incorporated as a background element.
With the series living under PBS Digital Studios’ Voices channel, the moving lines represent the individuals featured and their voices of the stories they’re telling. Also, with a fingerprint-like pattern, it’s a nod to individualism.
Color Wipe Transition—
When looking at the graphics in American Portrait, key type animation and word graphics were led and drawn on by color lines.
So to create a subtle nod back to the series, I broke that out as a fullscreen color-bar wipe that is to be used as a transition piece between graphics and segments.
Logo—
The logo features the framing device from above that houses the wordmark. For a strong connection with the parent series, the typeface is the same, but set in lowercase instead of all caps to create distinction between the two.
Series Animaton
Self-Evident for Smartypants Pictures & PBS Studios
Visual Identity System and GFX