Giant Octopus 2003 work samples

[qunewsguy 370]

I'm working on tossing old CDs and DVDs I've had laying around and I came across these work sample images taken from Giant Octopus' website in 2003. Probably the peak of their design trendyness. It's amazing how much things have changed in 20 years!

[Geoffrey 725]

They really did some great work.

[speed053 35]

They did an excellent job with those news graphics packages, especially with the graphics for WBBM and WREG.

[10Viewer 315]

I remember their website from back in 2001. It had this super cool 'techno' track playing in the background. 

[MidwestTV 1138]

A lot of that work would still hold up today if updated for HD

[The Romeo Show 5]

Does anybody have examples of Hothaus Creative's work from this far back or further?

[Brain 78]

I have to argue that today's main design trend is almost a regression in terms of technical capabilities.

 

Yet there seems to be many non-flat haters out there.

[ttvn2000 301]

34 minutes ago, PowerTVNewsFan said:

I have to argue that today's main design trend is almost a regression in terms of technical capabilities.

 

Yet there seems to be many non-flat haters out there.

It’s all about efficiency these days.  Flat renders faster and is scalable across multiple stations in a group.  But I agree - I miss the distinctive branding you’d see across stations.

[Brain 78]

29 minutes ago, ttvn2000 said:

It’s all about efficiency these days.  Flat renders faster and is scalable across multiple stations in a group.  But I agree - I miss the distinctive branding you’d see across stations.

I was sort of getting at the subtle "Your flashy CGI graphics are cluttered crap and European style rules" crowd. Wanting everything to be like Europe is becoming almost overrated (this is addressed to American TV graphics specifically as I know that there are many Europeans on here too). Not saying it can't go too far the other way either, like WSVN/WHDH in the 90s and early 00s with their over-the-top tabloid format.

[qunewsguy 370]

Not to derail this thread but a lot of broadcast design has trended digital-first in the last few years. Heavy 3D and gradients look horrible on highly compressed video formats and contribute to visual clutter. Had smartphones not taken off I think design trends would have gone in a completely different direction.

[ATLNewsExpert 241]

1 hour ago, qunewsguy said:

Not to derail this thread but a lot of broadcast design has trended digital-first in the last few years. Heavy 3D and gradients look horrible on highly compressed video formats and contribute to visual clutter. Had smartphones not taken off I think design trends would have gone in a completely different direction.

THIS! Makes sense as the whole perception even in the 90's and 00's was that in the decades to come was graphics were going to become heavily 3D based, which was of course before the rise of smart phones and people getting their news through forms other then TV, look at the Onion's prediction for 2137!