Electronic Arts
- Visual Identity
- Design System
- Campaign Toolkit
- Style Guide
- Broadcast Package
EA Play Live 2020, or How To Make Lemonade
We’ve worked with Electronic Arts on EA Play Live for several years, but 2020 brought some unique challenges. Quarantine required us to bring a physical, fan-first event to our fans in their homes. By early March, we had already designed an entirely new fan experience at the Palladium, when it became abundantly clear that we were not going to have in-person event. Working closely with our partners at Electronic Arts, we were able to help build the tools for what would be one of the first shows live streaming during a pandemic.
A Branded Experience
We wanted to ensure that this was unquestionably an Electronic Arts show, versus people just talking into cameras. We built assets to flex between the campaign leading up to and carrying through the show. Because EA Play Live became a real-time streaming event for a home audience, the system needed to include a variety of broadcast package deliverables, like lower thirds, transitions, and end slates.
Energy
Without the scale of a physical event and its towering built environments, or the hum and buzz of the fans, we knew we’d need to create a flexible system that was both bold and dynamic. The opportunity of a digital experience meant we could expand on some iconic elements from Electronic Arts’ deep history in the gaming world with expressive new dimension .
Play Live and beyond
One of the more subtle but significant changes with this years event was obviously the name. What started as EA Play in 2016, became EA Play Live as we worked with Electronic Arts to make a larger strategic shift that would better position them to engage in a whole new audience of gamers in the future. And, as part of our collaboration with typographer, Jeremy Mickel at MCKL, we developed a custom logo for EA Play Live. If you look closely, you’ll notice a custom word mark on the Electronic Arts website appeared, built from the same shared DNA.
Black Lives Matter
We firmly believe design can be a tool to help imagine a better tomorrow. Sometimes the world demands we think bigger. We are proud to work with clients brave enough to address social injustice, who remember George Floyd by stopping the traditional count down clock at 8:46 and listing organizations we can support. It was one of the more powerful things we’ve been able to lend a hand to.
