John McFaul brands over-50s TV station Vintage

McFaul, who founded McFaul Studio, worked on this project as a freelance consultant. He began working on the project in September 2009 after Vintage TV chief executive David Pick became aware of his work through the South Coast Design Forum.

McFaul was originally appointed to work on the channel’s logo but was made Vintage TV’s brand director as the project grew. He was briefed to create an identity and brand guidelines that reflected the channel’s programmes, which feature music and culture from the 1940s to the 1980s, and could be used across a variety of media.

Pick says, ’These decades are stylistically quite different so we needed a concept that would reflect that diversity and the authenticity of the original artists that the channel will be broadcasting.’ The identity features a range of iconic items from each of the decades, which have been used to spell the word ’vintage’ for the channel’s logo.

The concept has been developed and abstracted for the promotional material and stationery, and will be animated to create idents. Pick says, ’Our target audience is having greater longevity. It’s the start of their real life and so the brand needed to be vibrant and lively.’

McFaul adds, ’We didn’t want it to be stuffy or a pastiche. We also wanted to stay away from a “kiss me quick” style.’ The branding will be seen on the channel, which launches on 1 September on Sky and Freesat, as well as on print publicity, stationery, promotional material for investors and a website, which will launch in the summer.