Sprout

Integration
Comcast's acquisition of PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-focused cable channel, offered the perfect opportunity to revamp the website into a central hub for its extensive and growing content library under the NBCU brand.

Problems
The original site struggled to support Sprout’s ever-growing library of streaming videos, online games, and activity pages. Beyond technical issues, content was buried, poorly represented, and wrapped in a misaligned design, undermining the recent NBCUniversal integration.

Solutions
The new design pushed household names to the forefront (Elmo, Barney, Bob the Builder) for a character-driven experience. Navigation was restructured for content discoverability (videos, games, recipes, crafts) while supporting on-air programming. Social features allowed parents to create and share cards, home videos, and photos of their kids’ milestones, adding an extra layer of brand engagement. Behind it all was a new, cost-effective CMS for the expanding site.

Design Language (Required Chaos)
The redesign followed Sprout’s strict TV branding guidelines and was mandated to embrace its playful, slightly chaotic aesthetic. TV patterns, textures, and cut-out styles were translated online to recreate the network’s illustrative language across platforms, aligning it with the broader NBCU brand.

Note: Sprout later rebranded as Universal Kids, further aligning its identity with NBCU. It ceased operations in March 2025 when NBCUniversal consolidated its children’s content under the Peacock streaming platform.