Final Frontier and Art&Graft gave China's CCTV Kids a three-age character system

CCTV Kids, the dedicated children's channel of China's national broadcaster, needed a unique, modern on-air package: logo design and animation, idents, and mixed-media live action and animated promos, appealing to a demographic that runs from toddlers to teenagers. It is unusual for the Chinese state-run network to work with an international design studio.

A three-tier brand system — separate character families for under-6s, 6-12s and 12-plus — building fantasy worlds that carry Chinese cultural heritage.

Shanghai production company Final Frontier teamed with London animation studio Art&Graft. Art&Graft devised a three-tier brand system with a family of original brand characters — distinct sets for under-6, 6-12 and 12+ audiences — set in harmonious fantasy worlds incorporating the rich heritage of Chinese culture, and delivered over 60 final assets across core branding, a modular on-air design system, idents and promos.

The 60+ asset package was built to represent the channel for years to come across a network watched by more than 1.3 billion viewers annually; no audience results were disclosed.

In 2019, Shanghai production company Final Frontier teamed up with London-based animation studio Art&Graft to execute the complete rebrand of CCTV Kids, the dedicated children's channel of China's national broadcaster — an unusual move for the state-run network, which commissioned international talent for a full visual make-over.

Art&Graft devised a three-tier brand system to appeal to the channel's wide demographic, creating a series of harmonious fantasy worlds while incorporating the rich heritage of Chinese culture. The package included a brand family of original characters, segmented by age — under 6, 6 to 12, and 12 plus — set to represent the channel for years to come. In total the studio delivered over 60 final assets: logo design and animation, idents, and mixed-media live-action and animated promos.

CCTV is one of the world's most-watched television networks, with more than 1.3 billion viewers per year; CCTV Kids is its only dedicated children's channel, mixing original IP, licensed Chinese programming and international shows. It was an unusual commission: Art&Graft's Mike Moloney described an ambitious, character-led concept with a modular on-air system, following the studio's rebrands for Boomerang, Pogo, W Channel and Alibi.

Final Frontier's executive producer Gustavo Karam called the project validation for the company's model of connecting clients to studios anywhere in the world, praising a local client willing to harness talent globally. Moloney called it Art&Graft's biggest project in China to date and credited Final Frontier's on-the-ground support in Shanghai.

The age-tiered character families solved a problem most kids' brands paper over: a six-year-old and a fourteen-year-old watch differently, and the channel served both.

For a state broadcaster to hand its children's channel to an international duo — a Shanghai connector plus a London studio — was itself the notable decision.

The modular system shows how 60+ assets stay coherent: one visual language, expanded rather than reinvented per format.

Designing down a demographic ladder — under-6, 6-12, 12-plus — lets one channel identity flex from toddler to teen without fragmenting the brand.

The source records the completed package and the studios' account of the collaboration; no later results are mentioned.