Get In The Robot

Brand identity for anime YouTube channel

objective

For 18-34 year olds interested in anime, YouTube only provided a space dominated by aggressive anime elitists. Frederator Networks hoped to create a channel that welcomed anime curious individuals, served as an educational tool for beginners and experienced fans, and ultimately created a safe space for a marginalized fandom and diverse audience.

solution

I worked with the channel manager and small production and marketing team from day one, naming the brand, designing a logo, identity, channel, in-video graphics, set, social media, website, merchandise, and extensive style guide. In less than 3 months of channel’s launch, the brand was recognized by fans at Anime NYC. Within 6 months, the channel hit 7.3 million views, gained 100K subscribers, and was awarded a silver play button. Numbers are currently around 10.6 million views and 176K subscribers, steadily rising on a weekly basis. Those views come from a global audience hailing from 50 different countries, our viewership being highest in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and the Philippines. We even have a few fans in Japan.

I chose to keep the Fred-Bot transparent so that you could see what was inside the robot. The robot, serving as a glass bottle terrarium, contains the unexpected. Instead of gears, we see nature and life thus giving a humanistic, emotional quality to something traditionally mechanical and emotionless. The Fred-Bot’s transformation into this safe space illustrated our audience’s destination for anime-fueled escapism.