New TAG for NDTV

After a hugely competitive pitch from the world's top-class graphics and design agencies in the world, Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV has finally appointed Los Angeles-based TAG Creative Brand Solutions to design the on-air look of its proposed Hindi and English news channels.

Radhika Roy, NDTV's managing director and executive producer confirmed TAG's appointment. "TAG is one of the best, if not the best graphics and design group in the world," said Roy.

She also admitted that in the last few months at least four international companies from different parts of the world flew down to India to make a bid for the NDTV business.

"We chose TAG as it was, quite simply, outstanding. There are only a handful of companies that specialise in strategic design of television networks anyway," she added.

Some senior members of the TAG team, currently engaged by NDTV, were also employed by Steven Spielberg to create half a dozen commercials for his film Minority Report.

Though TAG has been hired to design the "look and feel" of the NDTV news channels, neither the design agency nor NDTV officials are willing to divulge details. TAG's creative director, Jim Kealy, said that NDTV has given them a very interesting design project.

"News graphics are usually very neutral, practically cold. But the rich colour and design motifs of the Indian culture bring a sense of humanity to the look," he added.

An NDTV official, however, said that it was too early to share the design details as the entire packaging would be ready only by the middle of March.

"No news channel has invested the kind of money we have earmarked for creating channel identity. Though the design will be world class, we're focussing on giving an Indian look and feel to our channels."

Jim Kealy, who's working on the NDTV project, is an Emmy Award-winning designer with over 16 years experience in broadcast design and a client list comprising ABC Nightline, HBO, RTL (Germany) and CBS.

An expert in building integrated graphic systems, he's worked with TV networks such as Hallmark Channel (US), Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America/Taiwan/India), Telecine (Brazil), Mega (Greece), Kermit Channel (India/Asia), and Starz! (US).

Kealy is part of the top level TAG team that will be in India soon again to work alongside the NDTV team of graphics designers and animators. 

Commenting on bagging the NDTV contract, Anne White, TAG's principal and managing director said, "We have launched channels all over the world, but this project is very special to us. The opportunity to assist in the birth of an important new source of information for India is both inspiring and humbling."

White was also executive producer and head of busines development at the graphics design company 3 Ring Circus.

An international brand communications expert, her career spans assignments across technology, commercials, film, television and consumer projects with clients as diverse as Prince, Spielberg, TechTV, Target, SC Johnson, Canal +, US Technologies, DIRECTV, Medtronic, Best Buy, Aveda and entertainment companies in Asia, Europe and North America.

According to White, technology has played an important role in its work relationship with NDTV.

"We've set up a project staging area that has become an archive of the entire project. The time difference has been favourable during the design phase because we could post our designs on the Internet in the evening and read NDTV's response the next morning," she said.

TAG Creative Brand Solutions, a privately held company, was founded by Tom Connor. It offers a range of services in visual media design including logos and corporate identity that could be on-air, in print or on the web.

It also offers brand communications solutions- audits, brand positioning briefs, marketing communications plans and brand research studies.