Atari-X is an exclusive online members club for the most dedicated Atari fans. As part of its launch, Atari needed an ident - a short, punchy piece of animation to open their video content and immediately signal that what you're about to watch is something special. It needed to feel exclusive, evoke real nostalgia, and do all of that in just a few seconds. As briefs go, it was a good one!

Working closely with Atari, we knew we wanted the ident to feel like a transmission, something unearthed rather than produced. The VHS grain, the glitch artifacts, the way the colour bleeds at the edges, all of it was deliberate, a collaborative decision to lean into the analogue warmth of the era that made Atari what it is.

The animation opens with Pong. Two paddles, a ball, a deep red screen. Simple, iconic, instantly recognisable to anyone who knows the brand. From there the paddles begin to drift and warp, the familiar shapes pulling apart and reforming into something else entirely - the Atari Fuji logo, assembled from the ghost of the very first game Atari ever made. It's a sequence that rewards people who know their history, and we loved building it.

The ident then walks you through the Atari-X club itself, down a corridor and into the space, the neon glow of arcade cabinets lighting the way, before arriving at the secret Atari-X shop. The whole thing plays like a VHS you found at the back of a drawer - a little mysterious, a little worn, and completely unmistakable.

 

The ident gave Atari-X a genuine piece of brand identity to anchor all of their video content around. In just a few seconds it communicates heritage, exclusivity and personality, which is exactly what a great ident should do.