Blue Sport Rebranding 2023
2023Blue Sport3D Design / Animation / Art Direction
How can a sports identity become more expressive while keeping information easy to read? For blue Sport’s 2023 refresh, the answer began with its existing language of light. UnitedSenses renewed the idents and branding elements and extended the live graphics package. The design direction gave that familiar idea a more defined spatial presence: a stadium built from light, connecting the energy of the action with the clarity of the information around it.
My contribution: 3D design, animation and art direction within the UnitedSenses team.
2023 identity compilation · 53 s · source audio retained
Evolve the idea, sharpen the experience
For a broadcaster positioned as Switzerland’s Home of Football, recognition has to carry across domestic leagues and European competitions. Swisscom’s description of blue Sport also emphasises coverage in German, French and Italian. That breadth gives the refresh a useful context: the visual identity needs enough consistency to belong to one channel, and enough flexibility to frame different competitions and information formats.
The brief called for a fresh interpretation within the established concept. The task was to give light a stronger sense of form and depth, with an approach that could work across openers and graphics. That continuity matters: the brand should remain recognisable when the broadcast moves from sporting action to analysis.
A dark blue space provides the common ground. Lines of light describe an arena, frame the action and establish a sense of scale. The central idea is simple enough to connect different formats, but expressive enough to give each its own atmosphere.
- Dieci Challenge League · 10 s
- UEFA Champions League · Countdown · 10 s
- Swiss Super League · Live · 10 s
- UEFA Europa Conference League · Highlights · 10 s
- Stadium form study · 10 s
Let the information belong to the game
Clarity, legibility and practical use were the foundations of the graphics brief. The refresh added a second ambition: greater visual presence and a stronger sense of entertainment. Both have to work together. A league table still needs an obvious reading order, even when the surrounding brand world carries movement and depth.
The design aim was to treat graphics as part of the viewing experience. Tables, line-ups and scores occupy the same luminous environment as the wider identity. Dark information surfaces give white type and player portraits a clear foreground; the surrounding light provides the connection to the brand.
One world, different match atmospheres
Competition colours offer variation within a shared blue Sport setting. In the supplied design studies, cyan, violet, red, green and amber change the atmosphere around the information while the panel structure remains consistent. The balance is between a recognisable channel identity and the character of each event.
Motion gives the information a place within the luminous arena. Perspective establishes the panel as part of the brand world; typography and hierarchy keep the reading task clear. The design works when the atmosphere supports recognition without competing with a score, a line-up or a table.
- Graphics entry and parallax study · 30 s
- Competition-colour study · 38 s
Credits
- Client
- Blue Sport
- 3D Design · Animation · Art Direction
- Matthias Lein
- Agency
- UnitedSenses