Kemistry look encourages digital viewers to Avago

Kemistry has completed a six-figure identity and screen idents for interactive digital channel Avago, which is launched to consumers tomorrow (Thursday).

An original design fee of £50 000 has ballooned to more than £100 000 to accommodate extra work, says Kemistry creative director Graham McCallum.

The group participated in the naming process and the development of the channel personality, as well creating the logo, on-air channel idents, presentation tool kit and all interactive screen design.

Avago is positioned as a ‘mass entertainment channel’, specialising in interactive gaming formats that allow any viewer to become a contestant ‘by touching the red button’, says its managing director Debbie Mason.

At present, the channel, which broadcasts from 2pm-11pm daily, has a single format – a ‘best numbers game’ – but Mason says her ultimate aim is to have five game-types.

She confirms Kemistry is now working on the design of several new formats, one of which is due for launch in September.

The design brief, according to McCallum, was to produce a ‘good fun, easy-to-use, friendly’ interface. For a ‘tabloid, populist’ audience, the brand essence is ‘come and have a go’, he says. Mason adds, ‘We wanted the first screen [of the website] to look like a magazine cover.’

A character called Arry Avago was created by the consultancy to help audiences through the game. His behaviour changes during the day. ‘For post-pub audiences, Arry will have a bit of a dance and fall over a bit the worse for wear,’ McCallum explains.

The narrow bandwidth over which the work is transmitted limited its complexity and colour palette, says McCallum. ‘Sometimes that works quite well – sometimes you’re forced to get a bit ingenious,’ he adds.

The consultancy was appointed by the Digital Interactive Television Group at the channel’s inception in September 2001, following a three-way unpaid creative pitch.