Partnering with Warner Bros. and Adult Swim, we set out to elevate the visual fidelity of Toonami, the premier Saturday night anime destination. Our mission was to refine the block’s "cool older brother" persona—a trusted voice that cuts through the noise of the streaming era. While Adult Swim thrives on irony and chaos, Toonami serves as a sanctuary for sincere, high-stakes storytelling. We needed to forge a distinct identity that balanced modern design with a tip of the hat to classic sci-fi, creating a "show within a show" that honors the brand's roots without feeling like a retro gimmick.
The Interstellar Night Drive
To achieve this, we developed a "UI-first" visual language dubbed "Space Noir." Drawing inspiration from 70s sci-fi interfaces and vintage automotive HUDs, we transformed the viewing experience into an immersive cockpit journey. The aesthetic utilizes deep blacks, neon cyans, and terminal-inspired typography to treat the viewer as a co-pilot rather than a passive watcher. By integrating menus and snipes directly into host T.O.M.’s diegetic dashboard and pairing the visuals with a head-nodding landscape of lo-fi hip hop, we created a cohesive, atmospheric wrapper that lets the diverse content lineup shine.
The refresh successfully cemented Toonami’s status as a lifestyle brand, proving that linear television can still command a massive, loyal audience. The new "retro-tech" identity bridged the gap between legacy fans and a new generation of viewers, keeping the block consistently #1 in its timeslot among adults 18-34. Beyond the ratings, the design sparked global engagement, with #Toonami trending worldwide on Saturday nights—confirming that the Absolution is still the undisputed king of the late-night airwaves.