The expanded College Football Playoff (CFP) presented a significant design challenge for ESPN. Six months of planning, development, and thousands of hours of rendering were invested in creating a new visual system to navigate the more complex 12-team tournament. This system unifies broadcasts across ESPN and TNT Sports, departing from previous CFP branding and ESPN's existing college football aesthetic.
The new package, built around the theme “there’s never been a playoff like this,” features bright motifs, premium textures, and glass elements to enhance the presentation and educate viewers on the new format. ESPN began planning in early summer, fostering collaboration across departments to align marketing, programming, and live production.
“We have a whole new 12-team bracket experience. It’s a completely new fan experience,” said Marissa Dempsey, senior manager, creative strategy and integration, ESPN Creative Studio. “Part of the strategy is really understanding what that means, what the education strategy is for the fan as it relates to the overall creative strategy for the brand.”
Educational elements explaining the bracket structure were introduced during summer programming, building anticipation before the playoffs began. The ESPN Creative Studio led the creative development, establishing a cohesive messaging plan across all platforms. “Within that creative strategy process, we partner with all teams across the business. That’s our marketing team, programming, content, digital, et cetera,” said Dempsey. “We capture all the brand goals and work together to ensure a cohesive messaging plan.”
The “living gridiron” concept incorporates interactive field lines and dynamic motion derived from gameplay. Premium textures and glass effects add depth and movement. “We’re trying to balance the intensity, the tension, the excitement of playoff football, but also, this is essentially its season finale,” said Brian Girardin, art director, ESPN Creative Studio. “So, we wanted to bring in the premium texturing… very sleek, polished look.”
A brighter aesthetic than previous packages sets this design apart. “Last time, it was dark, and you had those pops of team color. We have a lot of packages at ESPN that are darker, cinematic, a bit moody,” said Girardin. “How do we not go down that road even though we do love it? How do we make this one bright and a celebration? But it also has to read football.”
A new logo system supports various shows and marketing materials across ESPN and TNT. “The CFP has its own brand identity, and we worked with them to create a logo system structured around how we need to use it,” said Girardin. “There’s a million shows and different titlings that need to be accomplished in the logo system.”
The design maintains the CFP shield but offers broader flexibility for various applications. “Our logo system previous to that was everything kind of in that shield and that was the only place that existed,” said Girardin. “This time around, we wanted to have a broader approach that could more easily communicate the titles and all the brand language in multiple spots, whether it’s on promotional elements, in-game, web banners.”
The CFP football icon is central, appearing in 3D versions that transform into various graphic elements. “The football comes up, cascades out, and sort of reveals the scoreboard. The shapes and the way things are laid out are a reflection of that football icon, which is universal to both networks and signature to CFP alone,” said Girardin. The motion is partially derived from actual gameplay.
Nordt and Shapiro typefaces ensure readability while maintaining the premium aesthetic. Partnerships with Tendril and Two Fresh contributed to the brand film and marketing assets. Cinema 4D’s Redshift and Octane were used for rendering. The trophy animations posed the biggest render challenges.
A new score bug integrates the CFP football icon and cascading elements. The insert graphics system uses silver for early rounds and gold for semifinals and the championship.
The package is a part of ESPN’s broader college football coverage refresh, with additional elements planned for the 2025 regular season and “College GameDay.”