CONCEPT

Designed as a five-second ident for the National Geographic Channel, this concept originated from the company’s core. Although they have a vast variety of communication mediums, at their origin, National Geographic is about telling stories in an effective and entertaining way. With that in mind, the inspiration for this piece comes from one of the earliest moving picture storytelling techniques, the zoetrope. 

The imagery on the zoetrope is locomotion photography of Eadweard Muybridge, Cat Galloping (Animal Locomotion, 1887, Plate 720). Playing with the optical illusion created by the persistence of vision, a historical progression is symbolically shown with the element’s change speed and orientation, moving from a zoetrope to more modern film reel movement. The rectangular shape of each photo frame made it seamless to tie National Geographic’s iconic yellow shape into the piece.