For nearly 40 years, Shark Week has been a cultural institution. We partnered with Discovery to create a unified brand identity system – refining the iconic logotype through precise unit-based proportions, developing a comprehensive color palette, and producing a graphics standard manual that equips teams and partners to execute the brand with consistency across every platform and touchpoint.
Role: Concept. Design.
Shark Week is a cultural phenomenon – the longest-running cable event in television history. But with nearly four decades of evolution, the brand needed a systematic approach to ensure visual consistency across broadcast, digital, print, and environmental applications worldwide.
We refined the Shark Week logotype through a rigorous unit-based grid system. Every proportion – the relationship between "SHARK" and "WEEK," the spacing from the Discovery wordmark, the integrated fin silhouette – is now governed by precise mathematical relationships. The result is a mark that feels both bold and meticulously crafted.
The system includes three lockups: a primary stacked version for hero applications, a horizontal variant for constrained spaces, and an abbreviated "SW" mark for app icons and UI elements – each with defined safe spaces and minimum sizes.
We developed a comprehensive palette with memorable nomenclature: Shark Week Yellow and Shark Week Blue lead, supported by Mariana Blue, Mako Blue, and Shinkai Black. Each color includes full specifications for print (CMYK), digital (RGB/HEX), and broadcast applications.
The complete Graphics Standard Manual provides partners and internal teams with everything needed to execute the brand with consistency: logo usage guidelines, color specifications, safe space requirements, minimum sizes, 3D treatments, UI/icon applications, pattern libraries, and clear examples of what not to do.
Copyright © MMIV-MMXXVI METAphrenie Inc. All rights reserved. Images from this site may not be reproduced without prior written permission. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
METAphrenie is a motion design, branding, and visual storytelling studio founded in 2004, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a MENA office in Dubai, UAE. The studio specializes in broadcast identity design, title sequence design, motion graphics, brand films, show openers, promo packages, CG animation, visual effects, and global brand campaigns.
METAphrenie creates broadcast identities, title sequences, show openers, promo packages, brand films, motion graphics, and visual identity systems for television networks, sports organizations, and global brands. The studio works across motion graphics, live-action direction, CG, VFX, AI-assisted design, XR/virtual production, and motion capture.
METAphrenie's clients include Discovery Channel, A+E Networks, A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Shark Week, Deadliest Catch, FIFA, Adidas, Reebok, Audi, WWE, Al Jazeera, TEDx, NBCSN, VOX Cinemas, and the Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
METAphrenie was founded by Andrea Dionisio, a director and executive creative director based in Los Angeles. Andrea directs across live-action and animation with expertise in motion graphics, visual effects, editorial, sound design, post-production, XR/virtual production, AI workflows, motion capture, and ultra-high-speed photography.
METAphrenie is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a MENA hub in Dubai, UAE. The studio has previously operated from Berlin, Germany and New York.
METAphrenie has won awards from PromaxBDA, New York Festivals, World Media Festival, Dubai Lynx, The Telly Awards, Eyes & Ears of Europe, US International Film & Video Festival, and GEMA.
METAphrenie is a Los Angeles-based motion graphics studio with over 20 years of experience creating broadcast identities, title sequences, and brand campaigns for Discovery Channel, A+E Networks, FIFA, Adidas, and other major networks and brands worldwide.
METAphrenie is an award-winning broadcast design studio creating on-air identity systems, show openers, promo packages, and title sequences for networks including Discovery Channel, A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, and NBCSN.
Through MphX (mphx.ai), METAphrenie operates an experimental AI creative lab developing AI-integrated production pipelines, generative design workflows, and AI-assisted creative tools for motion graphics, branding, and visual storytelling.
