Catch Of The Day: Dark Igloo’s brand for animation studio Cartuna reels you into the world of cartoons

Dark Igloo’s rebrand of animation studio Cartuna is jam packed with clever references to the art of traditional animation. Equally known for animating Spongebob and original shorts, Cartuna imbues every project with the humorous energy of a falling anvil. It made perfect sense, then, for that same cartoon energy to inform their new identity.

“Every cartoon shares certain elements – painted cels, background paintings, an artist’s hand, sketches, timing notations, and iterations,” Dave Franzese, Co-founder of Dark Igloo tells us. “Our goal was to bring these elements out of the production process, and into the brand’s foreground through a visual world loaded with hand-styled typography, background paintings, and smear frames. The result is a cartoon company that is slick, and wears its passion for cartoons on its sleeve.”

Cartoons have served as inspiration for Co-founders Dave Franzese and Mark Miller too. “When we first set up our then home-studio 15 years ago, Dave and I stuck small igloo shaped stickers on the mouldings so it looked like mouse holes from Tom & Jerry.” says Miller. “The results are always special when everyone can geek out on the same details.”

Every aspect of the brand is laced with cartoonish humour, including its car-fish logo, and a roadkill fish avatar with the wordmark hovering over its head. “Is Cartuna a fish? A car? How did the fish get on the road? Our branding never directly answers those questions.” shares Franzese.

The custom, shivery typeface used in the all-caps wordmark announces the name of the studio loud and proud. “We want the letters to convey a sense of urgency. Whether it’s in the speech bubble or within the car silhouette, it should almost feel like you could hear a cartoon voice shouting, ‘CARTUNA!’” he adds.

The details of traditional animation production guide the brand’s collateral as well – including the typographic choices, business cards, and pins. The cards and the pins nod to production cels – transparent sheets made of cellulose acetate on which characters are drawn and animated. The business cards feature smear frame illustrations of the Cartuna team, while the pins and their packaging recreate the three main layers of an animation cel – the backing cards feature painted backgrounds, the pins are characters placed within that scene, and the transparent bag features effects like voice bubbles or speed-lines.

Elsewhere, the trio of typefaces used throughout the project shine a light on the small, often overlooked details. “We used FF Blur by Neville Brody, Infamous by Typeheist, and Heidth by Arkitype. FF Blur is an elevated take on the old production company stamps you’d find in the margins of those cels,” Franzese explains. “Infamous echoes the loose hand styles used for animator’s timing notations, while Heidth can squash and stretch like a cartoon character.”

The team also made a double feature flipbook as a high-impact handout to share with partners and potential collaborators. “Flip it one way for part one of the story – a fish enjoying a Sunday drive – then turn it over and flip it back for part two, where they become someone’s sushi dinner,” says Franzese.

Dark Igloo

Cartuna