Moving Brands creates “mischievous” identity for iPlayer Kids app

Moving Brands has designed the identity for BBC iPlayer Kids, a television streaming app aimed at children between the age of one and nine.

The visual identity and art direction follows a theme of a “kids takeover” to reflect the cheekiness and mischief of its audience. The type is light and playful, bursting on to the screen, and uses an inverted version of the iPlayer colour palette. For the main logo, the word “Kids” barges the recognisable BBC iPlayer logo out of the way and leaves it in a messy pile of letters. The studio also experimented with foley to create the sound for the animated wordmark, using xylophones and wobble boards to make the fun and energetic sound ident.

Kids can choose one of eight monster avatar characters, designed by Moving Brands to each have their own personality, to guide them through the app.

The design studio aimed to appeal to the range of ages in the target audience, balancing freedom for the kids “to be the boss of their own adult-free zone” while also importantly being a safe space. It had to fit within the existing iPlayer brand but have a distinct personality, “like the little cousin of the family.” The studio collaborated with the BBC’s in-house UX and UI team to translate the designs for the app.