ITV's new streaming brand launches today, and turns the 'plus' trend on its head

The newly launched branding includes revamped identities for five of its channels and, most notably, the introduction of the new streaming service: ITVX. The result? A digital-first ecosystem designed to be a cultural destination for the UK and home to shows that have united the nation for over 60 years: from Coronation Street to Family Guy, and Love Island to The Big Match Revisited.

The new brand endeavours to create a seamless ITV experience across broadcast and streaming, breaking the silos between traditional and digital formats and positioning ITV for the future of digital entertainment with ITVX as their leading service. Replacing ITV Hub, ITVX jumps from 3,000 hours of content to over 10,000, launching ITV from a catch-up service to a streaming destination for discovery.

ITV has been a staple in British households since 1955. But as streaming has become more dominant year after year, the broadcast network has set its sights on reclaiming the power of popular entertainment by launching a new, expanded streaming service with a modern, culturally relevant brand to match.

The X is the stand-out feature of the new identity for ITVX, immediately putting it in conversation with global streaming services and simultaneously setting it apart. The X represents a deliberate deviation from the ubiquitous 'plus' that many streaming services around the world have adopted. DixonBaxi and ITV Creative chose to avoid the 'plus' naming convention, instead turning convention on its head with the name ITVX (a '+' rotated 45 degrees becomes an 'x').

X is a multiplier – it represents a premium experience, as well as potential, scale, anticipation and entertainment. It challenges, creating space for flexibility and heralding a new perspective. And it unites in its suggestion of collaboration.

Alongside the hero wordmark, DixonBaxi designed a range of behaviours to bring X to life in motion, sparking every story and amplifying every moment. A series of echo effects links the identity together, all born of the X. The system positions ITVX as a destination rather than a service, driving viewers to the service from advertising, social and broadcast.

The new identity is accompanied by a brand mnemonic, which DixonBaxi and ITV Creative created in partnership with London-based music and sound production studio, The Futz Butler.

The X isn't the only thing ITVX does to stand out from the crowd. The ITVX core colour palette occupies a vastly different colour space from ITV's competitors. The palette is dominated by what DixonBaxi calls a "retina-searing yellow," designed to bring attention to any screen. A grounding shade of deep blue complements the sharp yellow.

Meanwhile, ITVX's type suite, which heroes a chunky pseudo-script, also avoids falling into streaming category cues. But the aim here was less about deviating from the norm as it was centring accessibility. For the typographic approach to resonate with every part of ITV's audience, it needed to work for everyone. To that end, DixonBaxi collaborated with type studio F37 Foundry to craft a bespoke suite of typefaces for ITV that prioritise form and function in equal measure. The team ensured the typeface did not hinder any person's ability to interact with it, designing for accessibility rather than around it.

By drawing on the tapering and radius of the X in the ITVX logo, the team instilled the same visual DNA in the wider type family. The typographic system for ITV boasts six fonts and three styles: serif, sans and sans text. ITV Display Serif is inspired by historical British typography like William Caslon's foundry, while ITV Display Sans is sharp and modern with a few anomalies that add character. And ITV Sans Text is a utilitarian typeface. Each style comes in a range of weights and widths for added flexibility and expression.

The design principles and mnemonic used for the ITVX brand also extend to five of the ITV channels. By using the same framework to bring the different parts of the ecosystem to life, all of ITV's services can exist on the same hierarchical level, making the identity feel holistic and cohesive. Meanwhile, the flex of the identities allows the channels to have distinct personalities by building opportunities for unique expression into the logos, colour palettes, cursors and tone of voice.

The new, unified brand moves ITV from a siloed model to one that is seamless and immersive. With ITVX as the connective tissue across the brand ecosystem, the new streaming service is at once the harbinger of all things ITV and the network's future in an increasingly digital sector. The brands work together to allow for cross-promotion, pulling viewers into a refreshed world of broadcast from ITVX and vice versa, but affirming the streaming-first digital destination with shared visual threads that always lead back to X.

By imbuing every part of the brand family with an honest, inclusive and unfiltered take on British identity, DixonBaxi with ITV Creative has transformed ITV into a future-facing brand able to reflect and connect with modern Britain.