Elephant

FX Networks: Website Redesign

Palette for shows to shine

Television, Film & Streaming / Nominee

Elephant

Television, Film & Streaming

Nominee

The most challenging aspect was how to design for the wide variety of shows that FX offers. Chris May, Chief Creative Officer

Q: Can you briefly describe your project and the concept behind it?

A: FX is a network that empowers creators to push entertainment forward, embrace fearlessness, and build a brand reputation as a curator. So we were tasked with creating a site that both celebrated the unique ideas of each creator and show but also held them all together under the idea of the FX brand.

Q: Once you settled on your idea, what influenced your decision on the chosen technical approach? How did it differ or go beyond approaches you’ve taken in the past?

A: Our role was Strategy and Experience Design, FX used a company called Diamond for technical implementation, who we worked very closely with throughout the process.

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Q: What were some of your biggest learning and takeaways from this project?

A: Truly understanding the usability of our designs through user testing was a big takeaway. We tested our designs with eight participants and identified three key areas for success: navigation (e.g. finding a show page), interactions (e.g. flipping through an episode carousel), and accessibility (e.g elements being visible on a dark background). Identifying these key areas helped us to improve the design where it mattered, ensuring a usable site.

Q: What web technologies, approaches, tools, or resources did you use to develop this experience (WordPress, headless, AI, Sublime Text, HTML5, Adobe XD, etc)?

A: We wanted to breathe life into everything we designed for the FX experience. One way we did that was through motion and animating static screens. We used Principle to animate our designs from full page scrolling to individual components. Given the nature of FX, it was also a way to see how video playback looked on pages. It was a great way to visually communicate how the designs worked in real-time rather than explaining via static screens.

Q: How did the final product meet or exceed your expectations? What results did you see?

A: The design system that we created was an opportunity to evolve aspects of the brand, from how color is used to adding a new typeface. It’s become the foundation for all their digital projects going forward.

Q: Why is this an exciting time to create new digital experiences? How does your team fit into this?

A: As a company we love opportunities where digital product design and brand come together. What was really exciting with this project was to think about how the identity and personality of each show could really come through in the experience.

Q: How did you reach a good balance of your own creative ideas and technical capabilities with a fair representation of the client’s brand?

A: FX is a creatively driven company and so they came into this project with an abundance of ideas. Before we started design there was a lot of time spent discussing with different groups in the organization what they wanted it to be both from a creative and content perspective.

Q: What did your initial moodboard, wireframe, or prototype look like? How did those ideas change throughout the design process?

A: A lot of inspiration was taken from editorial design. From there we created multiple concepts and explored how those cues could be applied to our work. We looked at a lot of front covers from iconic publications such as Vogue and played with how they could become interactive. As the work developed it was then a case of looking at all the shows, and the rich content surrounding them to make sure the design really embraced that.