Plug TV Analysis
Plug TV is a channel aimed at predominantly male 15 to 34 year olds, and aims to be a generic, slightly crazy, alternative to other channels. "The tone is simultaneously fun, Zen, with no taboos, on the edge of provocation, trash or irrelevance. The station look is hyper trendy, representative of young people of today." It is also "daring, fun, controversial, diverse and most importantly, slightly deranged." This is achieved within a collection of "cult films and series, reality TV, crazy entertaining broadcasts and music programmes (concerts, music videos, etc.)" - Sven Mastbooms (Creative director of seven)
The design philosophy is loud and fun, a result of confidence in the founding team by the owners, the RTL group. RTL is one of the worlds largest broadcast production companies through ownership of a great number of smaller organisations, some of the more recognisable shows they are responsible for are 'The X Factor, Pop idol and The bill'. The whacky design aesthetic of Plug TV is surprising when considering that the RTL group is an organisation driven by profit.
The visual design of the station forms a universe with a diverse range of characters and graphic environments which interact in small humorous scenarios. As the content evolves so does this surreal world. In a similar way to Fuel TV the visual style is defined by an abstract concept, rather than a set of graphic rules, which allows for an incredible variety and constant innovation. The similarities do not end there, each have an almost identical target audience and cultural awareness although separated by the Atlantic. This provides an interesting comparison of approaches between a US and EU broadcaster. Fuel has opted for an aesthetic based on 'freedom of expression' that comes across as taking itself slightly more seriously than Plug which characterises itself as 'deranged', 'cuckoo' and 'nuts'. Interestingly the baseline "Complement PLUG" translates as 'Completely PLUG' and aims at creating a phrase that effectively means 'Completely nuts'. The design studios sense of fun comes through strongly in their designs making it hard not to love what they produce, "After all, everybody has a twisted side."