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Old Graphics That Still Look Great


Jess

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Was watching some old CNN breaking news footage, and I noticed that the graphics package looked far better than the one currently in use today... so I was wondering if anyone has any similar opinions. What old graphics package still holds up today?

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CNN's current graphics are garbage. If anything, they've inspired stations and station groups to cram as many words as possible into a single lower third. Not to mention the endless use of "boxing" wallpaper video to fill up time and space. If journalism hadn't gone down the toilet, making a on-air graphic should be like the art of making a newspaper headline was many years ago.

 

I would say many of the John Christopher Burns/tvBd packages hold up by means of their execution and design. The technology may have been limited when many of them came out and some of the fonts are dated (mostly the ones that used the 1980s era CBS News "Rockwell-esque" font), but the design and attention to detail makes them hold up to this day.

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Not sure what period of CNN you were looking at, but I always thought CNN International looked really timeless in the late 90s/early 2000s. I loved the lower third design — two lines of text in Futura, a nice shadow, and a red stripe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyPBUkFeJps

 

Also, CNNI's 2006 look was really ahead of its time. It has a lot of similarities with CNN's current look, only executed better and not so shouty.

 

 

I think much of TV news design was at its best in the late 90s and early 2000s. Software had gotten good enough by then that designers could make some really great stuff, but it was before they tried to push it to the limits in the HD era, and it was long before all the corporate stuff we have everywhere on every channel today. Just look at the

market. Every station in that time frame had a completely different brand from each other, and their looks were all more customized to the market they served. Or look at KTVU's
open used from the late 80s until 2001. There's nothing quite like that today. Now, it's almost all corporate. Nothing necessarily bad or offensive, just nothing that really stands out.
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How about the gfx that RenderOn designed for WFTS in 2009. They lasted from the Summer to around November of that year, and were gone WAY too soon. I hope WPLG gets Their hands on these gfx soon. They're owned by BH Media, not Graham Media, like they used to be.

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WBZ 2007-2010 Graphics Package

 

Pre-HD:

 

 

After Going HD:

Pretty much WBZ was going the "Clean and Simple" route before it was cool. It was light years ahead of its time and it's a package that's aged very well, unlike the CBS packs that came after it.

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An old graphics package that holds up today? No doubt it's CBC News.

 

 

and for the flagship program The National:

 

Besides having the fastest visual roll-out across a network in Canadian television history, this package really sticks out personally because of its timeless concept and its unconventional execution. From the lower-thirds to the intros, no one ever thought this radical approach would permanently define the CBC News division AND become a industry standard years afterwards (i.e. flat visuals and solid colours). Its primary competitor even adopted a package very similar to theirs.

 

To this day, all of the original 2009 tracks, bumpers, and visuals are still being used albeit some widescreen alterations and slight refreshes late last year. It's good to know despite 8 years on the air, it still looks fresh.

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WBZ 2007-2010 Graphics Package

 

Pre-HD:

 

 

After Going HD:

Pretty much WBZ was going the "Clean and Simple" route before it was cool. It was light years ahead of its time and it's a package that's aged very well, unlike the CBS packs that came after it.

These were one of my favorite graphic packages. To me it had more of a west coast feel to them. This package could have worked well for CBS 2 LA.

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These were one of my favorite graphic packages. To me it had more of a west coast feel to them. This package could have worked well for CBS 2 LA.

Completely agree that WBZ's package was amazing. I do think that KBCW's Nightbeat graphics package is a nice evolution:

 

I agree that KBCW has a nice look (and isn't that bad of a newscast). Also out west, KCNC's 2008 look was partially-inspired by WBZ's at the time. The lower third design was very similar, but they didn't have a powerful engine like Viz to make them pop, and for whatever reason, they went with a more traditional looking mish-mash of fullscreens and OTSes that didn't match. This was one case where I thought the O&O look that replaced it was an improvement.

 

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WPTV's 2009 graphics probably still go down as one of my favorite graphic packages ever. I love how the peacock animates in the very opening sequence.

 

I'm also a fan of KSHB's graphics from the mid 00s. Pretty certain these were done by Giant Octopus. The music goes quite well with them.

 

Finally, I can't find any videos of them, but WDAF's pre-Fox O&O look in the mid 00s also still looks pretty good today.

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WPTV's 2009 graphics probably still go down as one of my favorite graphic packages ever. I love how the peacock animates in the very opening sequence.

 

I forgot how cool these were. Another graphics package that didn't last long thanks to standardization.

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I forgot how cool these were. Another graphics package that didn't last long thanks to standardization.

 

Come out here to Phoenix...KPHO picked them up in early 2014. They've since changed the L3s though, to match KTVK in size.

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KDVR's 2011 graphics package before the 2015 update.

 

 

WTVR here in Richmond used this package from January 2013 to April 2015

 

 

 

WQAD in the Quad Cities currently uses them, but with a blue-green variant.

 

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WPTV's 2009 graphics probably still go down as one of my favorite graphic packages ever. I love how the peacock animates in the very opening sequence.

 

Gotta love WVUE's 2009 RenderOn package.

 

 

RenderOn made some very good packages that still look great to this day. My favorite would have to be WWL's old graphics prior to going the standardization route.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=9nvFpI84Uac;t=17

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WPTV's 2009 graphics probably still go down as one of my favorite graphic packages ever. I love how the peacock animates in the very opening sequence.

 

I'm also a fan of KSHB's graphics from the mid 00s. Pretty certain these were done by Giant Octopus. The music goes quite well with them.

 

Finally, I can't find any videos of them, but WDAF's pre-Fox O&O look in the mid 00s also still looks pretty good today.

Love the KSHB graphics. I'm pretty sure those are a variation of the graphics that were created for WDTN, which was an amazing package. I'd love to see more stations pick that up.

 

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The gold ole Gannet Graphics created by Giant Octopus! WTHI used a blue variation of these from 2006-2012. Seriously the best package ever!

 

 

 

 

 

I think the only station using this pack now is WLUK.

 

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KDVR's 2011 graphics package before the 2015 update.

 

 

WTVR here in Richmond used this package from January 2013 to April 2015

 

 

 

WQAD in the Quad Cities currently uses them, but with a blue-green variant.

 

 

WQAD will be the last station to use this package as Kelly Donnell, the former CSD as KSWB, is the new CSD as KDVR and is pushing for a graphics overhaul on both KWGN and KDVR. Personally, I'm not all that excited to see the Trib West standard here.

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Love the KSHB graphics. I'm pretty sure those are a variation of the graphics that were created for WDTN, which was an amazing package. I'd love to see more stations pick that up.

 

 

Looks like WLEX used a very similar version, beginning in 2005. The lower thirds still look great.

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Love the KSHB graphics. I'm pretty sure those are a variation of the graphics that were created for WDTN, which was an amazing package. I'd love to see more stations pick that up.

 

This is back in Giant Octopus's glory days. They made some pretty classic stuff. It's too bad they're gone now.

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