nailgun* for Universal

nailgun* recently posted a redesign for multi-national network Universal. (Yes, that Universal.) It’s a beautiful set of semi-narrative vignettes all viewed through a stylish, sleek lens.

universal.jpg

Massive props to nailgun* for—well…nailing the color control on this project. They took an extremely limited palette and suffused all the visuals with a jewel-like brilliance that is perfectly coordinated with the live action. That combined with nailgun*’s fluid motion and animation sells me on the whole package.

About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.

14 Comments

dom

Justin, we’ve got 3 talented SCAD alumns credited on these!

squares

in a bizarre way these feel like they have an 80’s feel to them. the subject matter of the pieces themselves isn’t anything new. I mean, they’re in super 3D land, but I feel like they’re out of touch. but then again… it’s for universal. nailgun did a good with the visuals.

staticjoe

captivating visuals, but it seems like something is missing to me. Definitely almost has an 80’s feel to me too. maybe it’s the soundtrack that takes away from the clips.

joe_walker

I agree with staticjoe. Something IS missing. There’s so much going on for such a weak concept — I almost don’t get it.

plus385

go SCAD, I am an alum myself. It is becoming a household name.

habitat

there are quite a few noticeable errors in the keying on a lot of these. Particularily the “whats on” video.

plus385

“there are quite a few noticeable errors in the keying on a lot of these. Particularily the “whats onâ€? video.”

the dirt to the right of the final woman’s head? also, wonder if the “universal” logo is supposed to pop off?

monovich

The ideas seem a little lean, but the visuals are nice. I launched that network at the place I used to work, so its interesting to see how the design evolved into something more modern.

jamesw_2300

Beautifully done but the direction and soundbed have a very early 90’s ‘Disney Epcot Center’ feel to them, do you know what i mean?

habitat

“the dirt to the right of the final woman’s head?”

yes, the light wrapping is also a tad too extreme in a lot of areas. might be just the compositor in me, but I sure hope these are addressed before i see this on air or it will irk me to no end. ;).

double a

These are very well done. I like the little stories (even though they are a bit opened ended). I get the network via satellite and i must say this is a huge step in the right direction for the look of their network.

david

Windows is my favorite. Also, I don’t think that elevator is up to code.

L3nZ

i think the dirt is caused by QT compression?

tinapinxit

Doesn’t work for me. Sure, it’s nicely executed. But it’s cold, and it most certainly doesn’t say “universal”. I always assumed that Universal’s branding was, ..well, supposed to be universal, but somehow these spots focus on the shiny people and the shiny buildings and the shiny world enclosed in a perfect shiny bubble.
I actually think the old spots were more powerful.

But the colors are pretty.

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