Vice launches TV channel Viceland with an "unbranded" identity

New York-based design agency Gretel has designed the identity for Vice’s newly-launched television channel Viceland. The 24-hour channel curated by film director Spike Jonze is the result of a partnership between Vice and A&E Networks, and will continue Vice’s reputation for immersive journalism with eight original programs.

Gretel worked closely with Jonze and Vice’s chief creative officer Eddy Moretti to develop what is being described as an “unbrand” for its back-to-basics design. The highly functional, adaptable identity is intended to objectively frame the different tones of the network’s content, while offering a smooth transition between platforms.

The design agency describes the Viceland brand as being “equal parts exhibition catalogue and street flyer; Craigslist and couture; generic and refined. It is simultaneously the elevated ‘high’ and vernacular ‘low.’ A translation of the Vice sensibility, it’s blunt and raw. An exposed structure, a functional language free of decoration, artifice and veneer.”