When Funny or Die and TruTV came together to develop Prank Panel—a late-night-style prank show hosted by Trevor Moore (The Whitest Kids U’ Know) and executive produced by Adam Small and Fax Bahr (In Living Color, MADtv)—Ogmog was brought on to craft the visual identity and motion graphics package. As Creative Director, I led the visual development of the series’ title sequence, logo design, lower thirds, transitions, bumpers, and network-friendly deliverables.
The show’s hybrid format—a chaotic prank show housed within a structured late-night panel show—called for a title sequence that could embody both the slick polish of talk television and the gritty irreverence of subversive comedy. I worked closely with motion designer Jesse Benjamin, who handled design and animation, guiding his visual decisions and narrative framing throughout the project. From our earliest conversations (some literally at a picnic table in Funny or Die’s backyard), I helped shape the creative strategy that would define the show’s look and feel.
We took tonal cues from Trevor’s musical inspiration (Queens of the Stone Age’s “Go With The Flow”) and visual references from Rob Ashe’s work for Conan. The final sequence combined dusky flat color palettes, confident typography, and organic light leaks to balance polish and punk. A key visual motif—animated word bubbles—reinforced the panel discussion format while providing a playful backbone for transitions and motion type.
My role also included shaping the structure of the final After Effects project to ensure seamless updates and versioning, including customizable drop zones for guest intros—a must for a rotating panel of celebrity guests like Pete Holmes, Erin Gibson, and Eric Andre. By maintaining a clean, scalable project architecture, we ensured the assets were broadcast-ready and network-friendly, built for easy handoff or future iteration.
We presented three distinct style frames to the show’s leadership team—executive producers, Funny or Die’s development team, and Trevor himself. In a rare (and funny) twist, each stakeholder picked a different direction as their favorite. Rather than discard any of the visions, we synthesized elements from all three into a final style that everyone loved—an approach that helped preserve each stakeholder’s voice while creating a unified, dynamic visual identity for the show.
The final product reflected our creative team’s close collaboration and the deep trust Funny or Die placed in us. Our work helped visually define Prank Panel as a bold, stylized, and self-aware entry in the world of hybrid-format comedy.