The document summarizes the creative direction for the launch of Al Jazeera America cable news channel. It describes the development of a brand identity and visual design system that transforms perceptions of Al Jazeera from a "terror channel" to a modern, unbiased news source for US audiences. The branding aims to celebrate Al Jazeera's reputation for journalistic integrity while presenting news in a clean, simple style that allows the content to shine through.

1. Al Jazeera America
Creative Direction

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In late 2012, Al Jazeera Media Network acquired Current TV, a cable
news network founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. In its
place would be Al Jazeera America, a new news channel presenting
compelling, modern and unbiased news to a U.S. audience.
Many people already had opinions on the Al Jazeera brand, which
ranged from the misperception and prejudice of a ‘terror’ channel, to
the informed - the world’s fastest growing media brand, reputed and
awarded for its strong journalistic integrity.
The creative team collaborated with editorial, business and marketing
teams to transform these misperceptions and prejudices about the
so-called ‘terror channel’. The challenge was to educate and inform
audiences of all sides and all angles, upholding the heritage and
integrity that has already been established by the Al Jazeera Media
Network brand.
It was important to celebrate the infamous Al Jazeera logo as a symbol
of value, transparency, fearlessness, objectivity and trust.
The on-air look needed to be innovative and provocative, but above all,
we sought to earn channel trust through the impact of accuracy,
integrity and speed, with a look that reflects this as a timeless elegance
with a cultural sensitivity; a style that is clean and simple yet strong,
and that can easily be translated across all media platforms.

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Created in 1996 with the launch of the master channel, Al Jazeera’s
trademark is a symbol of real pride for Qatar and the Arabic world.
Graphically executed in traditional Arabic calligraphy, the logo reads as
the word “AL JAZEERA” meaning “The Peninsula”.
With a color palette of golden sand, its provenance is undoubtedly
“Made in Qatar”. It’s been said that the logo design resembles the
fearlessness of a flame and the sensitivity of a teardrop – both
attributes that echo Al Jazeera’s core values.
Keeping the logo therefore was imperative, consolidating all our value,
and re-investing in the whole Corporation. For Al Jazeera America, the
presentation simply needs to be treated in a way that transcends its
traditional roots, a translation into a 21st century look. Our emphasis
is on the clarity, with a simple but confident design elegance, thereby
allowing the editorial content to shine.
The Al Jazeera
Logo Brandmark

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Master Brand Identity

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Font
AaBbCc
AaBbCc
AaBbCc
AaBbCc
AaBbCc
Helvetica Neue 95
Helvetica Neue 85
Helvetica Neue 75
Helvetica Neue 65
Helvetica Neue 55
Helvetica Neue
Helvetica is a long established part of the Al Jazeera Media Network
brand. It was therefore important that we keep this font for Al Jazeera
America especially as this sets us apart from the other U.S. Networks.
Helvetica Neue is used on all elements associated with the network;
e.g. schedules, promos, titles, lower thirds, etc. and is never
italicized – this enables us to build consistency across all Al Jazeera
America programming.
In its sans-serif form, the font maintains its integrity with minimal
degeneration through digital pixellation and TV scan lines (which can
happen with serif fonts).
Using a single classic font prevents a piece from dating too quickly.
It also saves time and allows for greater creativity with the actual
visual content.

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Al Jazeera America Primary Gold/Yellow Al Jazeera America Secondary Blue
Al Jazeera America Tertiary YellowAl Jazeera America Primary Blue
Al Jazeera America Tertiary Blue
Al Jazeera America Secondary Yellow
RGB RGB
RGBRGB
RGB
RGB
205, 141, 42 4, 26, 64
255, 255, 17738, 42, 104
211, 235, 244
242, 208, 114
Al Jazeera Media Network has an established palette, the essential elements of which have
been used for Al Jazeera America. The two components of the logo are used and a set of four
colors have been developed that are derivatives of these main colors.
Color Palette
Primary colors Alternative colors

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Master
Channel
Identity
The keyword at the heart of the Media
Network brand message is ‘Luminous’. We
are at the source, illuminating life with energy
and clarity. These values have been carried
over to the master channel idents.
A total of three channel identities were made.
The vastness and diversity of the American
landscape is celebrated and the channel logo
is at the center of this. It is important that the
branding confidently states, ‘we are here’,
in a bold but not brash way, and appeals to
both the existing fan base and new viewers
who are looking for real news. The whole
identity is connected to the logotype with
expressive paths of illumination, as well as
dimensionality. You can see many different
shapes and facets before it resolves.

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Interstitial
Idents
These interstitial idents are a continuation of
the main identity and further illustrate the
core brand values of Al Jazeera America. The
U.S. landscapes are shown in a 360 degree
panoramic format that reflect the
compelling unbiased reporting of the network
as well as the commitment to coverage that
is far-reaching and coast to coast.

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Promotional
Toolkit
The promo toolkit uses full frame
photography and video in favor of heavy
graphic branding. This along with the use of
the Helvetica font provides bold and clear
signposting. A single consistent style is used
across all promotions to reinforce the network
identity over individual program identities.

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Mondays 5 2/p ET p PT
Helvetica Neue 75 95 65 45 95 65

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News

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News Color Palette
RGB
RGB
RGB
RGB
RGBRGB
RGB
RGB
RGB
250, 250, 250
254, 172, 26
175, 21, 21
218, 69, 49
231, 101, 295, 5, 5
243, 135, 27
175, 175, 175
141, 13, 2
Primary colors Alternative colors

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The news opening sequences continue the theme of energy and illumination. One single
sequence reflects the global to local coverage and four alternate endings are used that
reflect the time of day.
News Openers

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On Screen
Architecture
Helvetica is used consistently for all lower
thirds and full screen graphics. Al Jazeera’s
commitment to clear and straight forward
news reporting is supported by compelling
photography and bold, clear typography.
The neutral black and white is deployed while
the gold/yellow accent color is used to
highlight important information.

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Bespoke Graphics Treatment

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America
Votes 2016
Shedding the obvious and literal visual
clichés used in Presidential elections, from
waving flags to glass rendered White Houses,
we look to present clarity and focus on the
design of information and vote results. To that
point, we use those same visuals but inferred
them rather than lifted them directly, resulting
in a presentation that is fresh, contemporary
and yet quite familiar. The information is
cleanly presented and free of clutter and
other distracting elements. Visual protocols
were established to distinguish between the
various statistics and focus attention on the
most important information.
Brand package for ongoing
election coverage

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Election Information Graphics

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Studio Graphics Treatment
The large format video wall in the news studio is used to present a variety of expansive and epic
views of the globe. This continues the theme from the news openers and reinforces Al Jazeera’s
commitment to wide ranging global reporting. Story specific imagery is also used and always
kept clean and free of graphics branding.

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Presenter Shots

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Programs

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America
Tonight
The network’s flagship show, America Tonight
tells urgent, important and under-reported
stories with quality and depth. The opening
sequence uses overlays of typography and
information graphics to convey the depth and
complexity of some of the big issues in the
country today.

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Ali Velshi
On Target
Ali Velshi On Target speaks truth to power
through debate, in-depth interviews, expert
analysis and on-the-ground reporting.
The brand for this show exemplifies the fresh
and clean approach of the channel. The open
and bumpers are short, large format type is
used throughtout to create a high impact
fast paced show format.

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The Global View Primetime news show
presents stories from around the world giving
a perspective on international events not
seen anywhere else on U.S. cable news. A
fresh and bold graphic approach emphasizes
the alternative view, analysis and deep focus
on the stories.
Global View

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Third Rail
Third Rail presents passionate, dynamic
conversations that help the viewer understand
issues and stories in ways they never have
before. The idea of debate and opposing
points of view is explored and reflected in the
brand package.

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Inside Story
Inside Story brings the viewer an in-depth
look at the story behind the headlines from
different points of view. The show branding
has an emmersive and exploritatory feel to
re-iterate the shows value. The same
aesthetic is continued throughout the studio
and graphic backdrops.

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The Stream is an online community and
daily television show powered by social
media and citizen journalism. The branding
for this show seeks to capture the online
community through thousands of squares or
pixels. The opening sequence shows all the
cubes/conversations/ideas forming into the
logo brandmark.
The Stream

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Open Question is a discussion show that
travels to college campuses around the U.S.
and will be filmed in front of a live studio
audience. The branding and opening
sequence is centered around a simple iconic
logo that resembles the arena in which the
discussion will take place.
Open
Question

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Techknow is a fast-paced show that
explores how the latest scientific discoveries
are changing our lives. The opener features
a terrarium to represent the incubation and
development of ideas.
Techknow

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Studio Design

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News Studio
The main news studio was conceived as a
multi functional space to broadcast short
bulletins and long format events such as
elections. The set is a bright space
composed of clean, sweeping curves that
reference the main brand identity.
Sport, Business and Weather bulletins are
anchored from here as well as in-depth
interviews and round table discussions.
A large format video wall acts as a backdrop
and can display multiple looks and brands.

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America
Tonight
Situated in Washington DC’s Newseum, the
set for America Tonight is a multi-use space
created for one-on-one interviews, round
table discussions, and single piece to camera
shots. The front of the studio uses the
expansive views of the Capitol and offers a
more formal setting, while the back of the
studio offers an informal, softer interview area.

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The Stream is a show powered by the voices
and opinions of the viewers through social
media. The studio is a hub for all the
information received as well as a dynamic
interior space to present stories and discuss
ideas. The presenters are surrounded by the
faces and messages of the people taking part.
It reinforces the idea of the online community
that is central to the show.
The Stream

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Inside Story
In-depth conversation is central to the
Inside Story concept so an environment was
created that gives a sense of focus. The
central area is a large round table
surrounded by concentric circluar elements.
In contrast, the background features are
more linear and recede into the background
when needed but can also be used as
alternative presentation areas.
There is a seamless integration between
physical studio elements and graphics.

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Digital and Mobile

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The overall design ethos of bold simplicity is applied to all plaforms both broadcast and digital. The
Helvetica font family is used throughout the website as well as the same clear graphic signposting.
This allows for an enjoyable and easy viewer experience on any screen size.
Website

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For an efficient workflow and consistent brand messaging, the information graphics designed for the web
and social media based videos are almost identical to the broadcast news graphics. The information is
presented in a larger font and more sporadically used for smaller screen formats.
Digital Videos

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Users of the mobile application will have a similar visual experience to the web and broadcast formats.
Once again brand consistency is of the utmost importance. A simple user experience was developed
to allow for easy browsing of stories in a horizontal direction and navigation into story details in a
vertical direction.
Mobile App

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Interior Spaces

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Reception Area
The main entrance and lobby at the New York headquarters is many visitors first impression of the
network and thus it is very important that the area convey the main brand values. The area is bright
modern and clean. It is certainly distinctive and designed to leave a lasting impression.

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The main newsroom stands in the place of a
former banking floor in an iconic art deco
building in the heart of Manhattan. The room
retains the classic features of the building and
is also a clean bright functional space.
Newsroom

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