CHECK it (also known as It's A Fun Thing in Asia and Australia) was a new branding for the channel that was first unveiled on March 22, 2010, and introduced on-air on May 29, 2010 in USA and October 1, 2011 in Asia and Australia, succeeding the Noods era. This era featured new shows that would define the network's future direction, such as Adventure Time, Regular Show, and The Amazing World of Gumball.
The network's tenth branding, designed by Brand New School, makes heavy use of the black and white checkerboard motif which made up the network's first logo, as well as various CMYK color variations and various patterns. On May 20, 2013, the channel's bumpers and UP NEXT screens were revamped with their new branding, CHECK it 3.0. The UP NEXT bumpers, for example, consisted of a spinning cube with an animated picture of a character from the show up next in a CMYK color palette, used alongside specially commissioned music from Impactist. On June 1, 2015, the bumpers were revamped again, and relied on heavy gradients and new emojis to become known as CHECK it 4.0.[1] The slogan "CHECK it" is a common quote in Regular Show.
From this era, it is a transition period from using 3D graphics to a flatter design with more vivid colors. CHECK it 1.0 is the last era to use such 3D graphics. It is concurrent with the Dimensional era on some other international feeds. The United States feed on June 14, 2016 made Dimensional the successor of CHECK it era. As of now, CHECK it 4.0 is the last supported rebrand of all of the international feeds.
Programming[]
Several new original series premiered in this era, leading to the network's "renaissance" period.
- Adventure Time (premiered April 5, 2010; logo and era unveil)
- Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (premiered April 23, 2010 (logo and era unveil) and ended March 31, 2012)
- Generator Rex (premiered April 23, 2010 (logo and era unveil) and ended January 3, 2013)
- Chowder (ended August 7, 2010)
- The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (ended August 30, 2010)
- Destroy Build Destroy (ended September 21, 2011)
- Dude, What Would Happen (ended September 21, 2011)
- Regular Show (premiered September 6, 2010)
- Sym-Bionic Titan (premiered September 17, 2010 and ended April 9, 2011)
- Tower Prep (premiered October 16, 2010 and ended December 28, 2010)
- Robotomy (premiered October 25, 2010 and ended January 24, 2011)
- The Problem Solverz (premiered April 4, 2011 and ended September 29, 2011)
- The Amazing World of Gumball (premiered May 3, 2011)
- Secret Mountain Fort Awesome (premiered August 1, 2011 and ended February 17, 2012)
- Level Up (premiered January 24, 2012 and ended February 19, 2013)
- Ben 10: Omniverse (premiered September 22, 2012 and ended November 11, 2014)
- Incredible Crew (premiered December 31, 2012 and ended April 11, 2013)
- Uncle Grandpa (premiered September 2, 2013)
- Steven Universe (premiered November 4, 2013)
- Mixels (premiered February 12, 2014)
- Clarence (premiered April 14, 2014)
- Over the Garden Wall (premiered November 3, 2014 and ended November 7, 2014)
- We Bare Bears (premiered July 27, 2015)
- Long Live the Royals (premiered November 30, 2015 and ended December 3, 2015)
- The Powerpuff Girls (2016 revival) (premiered April 4, 2016)
Graphics[]
CHECK it 1.0[]
CHECK it 1.0, also known as the 2010 On-Air Brand Expansion, was the first version of the CHECK it era to be used that was unveiled on March 22, 2010 when the network's current 2010 logo was registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and then at the network's 2010 upfront on April 21, and started on-air on May 29 replacing the Noods and Let's Go eras. It featured CMYK styles resembling the Checkerboard era. The Next bumpers were revamped to be 3 random clips of shows inside 3 checkers, but sometimes a dynamic next bumper was used where the character(s) interact within the checkerboard. Initially, the Next bumpers had no statements regarding the name of the show, and whether it was new or not. The bumpers had an announcer just saying "Next" and/or "Later," and that was it. Eventually, around a month into the rebrand, sometime between late June and early July of 2010, actual dialogue, including the phrase "Coming up on Cartoon Network", stating the name of the show, and whether it was new or a premiere or any other special, was added to the Up Next bumpers.
During the daytime, the mid commercial bumpers were 5 seconds long and showed random situations on differently colored CMYK grid backgrounds. Bumpers that came right after a show ended with the Cartoon Network logo, but most of the bumpers that came right before a show began did not. During the nighttime however, bumpers consisted of random clips from the shows. The clips from bumpers that came right after a show ended were longer at 10 seconds and ended with differently colored doors closing to the Cartoon Network logo, but clips from bumpers that came right before a show began were only 5 seconds long and ended with differently colored doors closing to a blank gray closed door. An alternative ending to the nighttime mid commercial bumpers included black rectangular tiles colliding into each other to align into the Cartoon Network logo, apart from the closing doors.
The mascots for this era were sentient letters named C and N, who were played by the channel's new announcers, Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, respectively, which were based on the network's brand new logo. Their heads were visible only for the first three days of the rebrand until Memorial Day, and were dropped promptly afterwards. They are costumed by Jamie Moore and Brandon Seavey, with the costumes designed by Scollon Productions. Kocher and McElhaney still voiced the characters until the end of the CHECK it era in 2016, when they were replaced by unknown voice actors. The mascots were even given a series of shorts in France on Cartoon Network's French YouTube channel, with French voice actors voicing C and N. The mascots were dropped in 2018.
The network's four-note mnemonic (as of today) was also introduced in this era, which is composed by Michael Kohler for Bluetube and echoes the four syllables in the name "Car-toon Net-work".
Description[]
"It’s a brand new Cartoon Network. After months of drawing, erasing, snacking, singing, dreaming, painting on dogs, arm wrestling, and, above all, animating, we’re finally ready to share our top-to-bottom brand expansion of the 18-year-old network. Our graphic overhaul included everything from redrawing their logo to creating a typographic system that could be played out on the airwaves, online and in print.
We imagined the checker as a gameboard, ready to be played; a graphic designer’s grid; a rule-based system that encouraged unexpected permutations. Leading an incredibly robust (and checkered) team of designers, illustrators, animal trainers, and animators, Brand New School created an arsenal for the CN team. From lower thirds, to bugs, to menus, to endpages to idents, to tapping our favorite illustrators for network IDs, we constantly looked for ways to explore this simple idea, building a visual language that fit a multitude of different parts together in harmonious yet unpredictable ways.
A giant thanks to everyone at Cartoon Network who both encouraged our creative process and gave us invaluable insight along the way. Kudos also go to Mad Decent and Michael Kohler for fantastic music and sound design. And now, without further ado, check it…" - Brand New School
Read official press release about the rebrand here
CHECK it 2.0: YEEEAUHHHH![]
- Main article: YEEEAUHHHH!
Cartoon Network 2011 YEEEAUHHHH (CHECK it 2.0) Bumpers
The CHECK it 2.0 or the YEEEAUHHHH! era is Cartoon Network's tenth look that debuted on May 29, 2011, a year after CHECK it 1.0 was first aired on the same date. It was used alongside the CHECK it 1.0 look, and it added several new bumpers, but there were several structural changes which made the YEEEAUHHHH! era quite different from the earlier CHECK it 1.0 era. This era is similar to the Yes! era as it uses a quote from Regular Show, much like the other one did by using a quote from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.
It has similarities with the Block era used in Latin America and Europe.
CHECK it 3.0[]
The CHECK it 3.0 look, also known as the 2013 Summer Refresh, was introduced on May 20, 2013 and made a major overhaul to the design language. They featured updated next bumpers, as well as other interesting elements. They also made "GIF animation" bumpers from current series to be played on loop a few times with music. It was defunct on May 31, 2015 after 4.0 was introduced. The sign-on bumper was a morning background when Uncle Grandpa says "Good Morning." Although 3.0 brought a ton of new bumpers, branding, and totally new soundtracks, it still used things like the morphing and letter bumpers from the previous two CHECK it eras.
Although CHECK it 3.0 is defunct in the US, a few international feeds still utilize 3.0 assets, some along with 4.0 and most use Dimensional.
CHECK it 3.5: CN Sayin'[]
CHECK it 3.5, also known as Are You CN What We're Sayin'?, was introduced on June 23, 2014, and this was concurrent with 3.0 and it introduced an app (CN Sayin) where kids can record themselves and sometimes appear on Cartoon Network. This era was mostly seen in "(Fresh) New Thursdays" promos. The bumpers had phrases on their shows at the time like "Homies Help Homies, Always" or "You Can't Touch Music, But Music Can Touch You". This was also an America-exclusive era. It was defunct on May 31, 2015, along with 3.0, after 4.0 was introduced.
CHECK it 4.0: Burst[]
CHECK it 4.0, also known as Burst was introduced on June 1, 2015, and this era makes a major change in the design language after 3.0 was defunct. It introduces gradient-based backgrounds that are applied to bumpers and a new 'emoji' motif was, where every show would be given their own emoji. The Next bumpers were short clips of shows that are accompanied by an emoji of the show in the corner of the screen. The sign-on bumper was changed to an upbeat tone, whereas the sign-off bumpers were from the same assortment from 3.0.
CHECK it 4.5[]
CHECK it 4.5 was confirmed to be the Dimensional era in June 14, 2016.
Branding Credits[]
CHECK it 1.0 [2][]
Produced at Brand New School, New York[]
Staff:[]
- Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
- Managing Director: Danny Rosenbloom
- Head of Production: Devin Brook
- Producer: Greg Babiuk
- Associate Producer: Michele Watkins
- Production Coordinator: Ilona Klaver
- Production Assistant: Madison Brigode
- Art Directors: Eric Adolfsen, Mike Calvert
- Associate Art Director: Forest Young
- Logo Designers: Jonathan Notaro, Jens Gehlhaar, Eric Adolfsen, Mike Calvert, Ryan Waller
- Lead Designers: Adam Wentworth, Damien Correll
- Icon Designers: Mike Calvert, Aaron Stewart
- Pitch Designers: Eric Adolfsen, Mike Calvert, Forest Young, Adam Wentworth, Josh Parpan, Will Frohn, Pat Arrington, Philippe Intraligi, Ryan Cox, Sal Dell’Aquila, George Vincent
- Flicks Movie Package Design: Mario de Toledo-Sader, Jungeun Kim, Adam Wentworth
- Storyboarding: Will Rosado
- Lead Animators: Hyesung Park, Andy Mastrocinque, Arthur Hur
- Digital Animators: David Rasura, Chase Massingil, Cyprian York Sadlon, Mark Thomspon
- Additional Animation: Eric Bauer, David Lucido
- Flicks 2D VFX Supervisor: Arthur Hur
- CG Director: Vadim Turchin
- 3D Animation: Walter Lubinski
- 3D Lighter/Compositor: Bill Dorais
- 3D Tracking: Han Ho
- 3D Modeling: Walter Lubinski, Adam Rosenzweig
- Flicks 3D VFX Supervisor: Han Ho
- Flicks CG Director: Han Ho
- ID Design and Animation Design: Meg Hunt, Mike Calvert, Ryan Cox, Travis Millard, Eric Adolfsen, Ricardo Villavicencio, Stephen Kelleher, Andrew Poneros
- Animation: Kat Morris, Freddy Arenas, Walter Lubinski Stieg Retlin, Andy Mastrocinque, Jessica Milazzo
- Original Music/Compositions: Mad Decent and Michael Kohler
Gallery[]
Original Version[]
This version was made sometime in 2007-2010 with Qube Konstrukt, but creative difficulties led them to pick Brand New School.
"The studio pitched on a complete broadcast design package, encompassing logo redesign, examples of package elements and keyframes for animated channel idents. Leveraging the checkerboard motif of the original logo and inspired by Rube Goldberg machines - the rebrand featured animated 'blocks' that transformed and constructed themselves into 'fun generators' - a metaphor for the Cartoon Network brand itself." - Qube Konsturkt[3]
Trivia[]
- Like with its successor Dimensional era, the CHECK it era has many versions throughout its usage.
- Tom and Jerry was the first show to air under the CHECK it era and using the current 2010 Cartoon Network logo on-air two months after they were unveiled on March 22, 2010 when Adult Swim signed out at 6:00am.
See also[]
References[]
| Eras |
|---|
| Checkerboard (Starburst) • Powerhouse • Block • CN City (Yes!) • Summer 2007 • Fall • Noods/Toonix (Let's Go!) • New Wave • CHECK it (1.0 • YEEEAUHHHH! • 3.0 • Burst) • Dimensional (1.0 • GO! • Mashup • Swirl • Sticker) • Redraw Your World • Pastel |