NBC’s Super Bowl design blends glass, bevels, stadium ‘spaces’ and AR

Designs frequently took on curved lines and shapes, a look that channels not only the SoFi Stadium’s architecture but sports arena design in general. Other shapes used throughout the package include the glassy curved elements seen in the score graphic as well as paddle-shaped elements that appear to a nod to the NFL logo in an upside-down position.

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A combination of AR elements was used to preview the singers performing “America the Beautiful” and national anthem just before a break, with full body shots of the artists standing on a star-ringed “platform” between two paddle elements and a segmented American flag design perched on a metal and neon support structure under the infinity screen. 

The open for the game included a large metallic outline of the NBC peacock that fills with textural colors before swinging out to showcase the famous “Sports” script logotype. Behind this are blurred electric blue “ceiling” elements that are suggestive of stadium architecture, while another element found in the look featured multiple light angled panels creating a space suggestive of an upside down “V” and perhaps suggestive of the negative space left in the center of the peacock icon.

A series of action shots “projected” on curved glass panels set inside a voluminous 3D environment are shown next, followed by a highly detailed take on the NFL logo that zooms out to become part of a 3D recreation of the Super Bowl trophy that, in turn, is placed behind the “LVI” roman numerals in the center of a circular “portal” ringed with spotlights. 

In addition to the heavy glassy effects in the open, both the NBC and NFL logos received strong bevel effects, something that’s particularly noticeable on the peacock’s “neck” and “head” and NFL letters.

Bevels were also featured on the full Peacock logo in most of the streaming service promos aired during the game.

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This effect is continued on much of the major typography elements used throughout the package to varying degrees — sometimes typography is rendered more in a 3D block style, while others have more of the bevel effect as well. It’s perhaps most prominent when current scores are shown prominently in any of the variety of lockups, typically shown before a break.

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The beveled NBC peacock also makes an appearance in one of the animated wipes used to delineate instant replay clips.

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In this design, faint laser lines, suggestive of the neon elements elsewhere in the package, appear subtly before the entire peacock appears briefly as additional lines shoot by comet style, appearing to “fly” on another level of the Z coordinate but still using the paths in the logo below as a guide.

When going back to live from the replay, a glassy and beveled version of the LVI was available and also incorporated lines of light along with its prominent angles.

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Another wipe, typically used between fullscreen graphics and gameplay, features a glassy angular panel based on the base of the trophy with the words Super Bowl visible and “LVI” in handwritten type behind.

Super Bowl LVI graphics also made use of a combination of full body and headshots of players from both teams, including animated sequences of players set inside another sprawling 3D environment.

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In these sequences, the graphics would move into the background while animated glass panels and other elements would slide into place, seemingly covering the previous elements. These sequences also made use a triangular textural pattern that also appeared in a handful of other elements in the package, including in several variations of bump scoreboards (one of which used transparent diamonds with rounded corners).

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Cutout clips were also used to introduce players near the top of the game in lower third style graphics as well as a on fullscreen graphics, which also used many of the same background and “building blocks” found in these animations.