WildBrain Logo Evolution: Before-and-After Evaluation

The short answer

The WildBrain logo's evolution follows the name's corporate history. WildBrain began as the name of an independent animation studio. It was later attached to a children's content business inside DHX Media, and it became the company name when DHX Media rebranded as WildBrain in 2019. A fair before-and-after evaluation therefore compares the identity used under the WildBrain name since that rebrand with the marks that came before it.

No dated logo artwork, designer credits, brand guidelines or official statements of design intent were supplied for this assessment. As a result, this article does not describe exact letterforms, colours or construction details for any version, and it does not name the designers. It sets out what the corporate record supports, which claims still need sources, and how to judge both the design change and the logo files you find.

Which marks are under discussion

• The original Wild Brain studio identity, used before the studio became part of DHX Media.
• The DHX Media corporate identity, which was the parent brand before the name change.
• The WildBrain identity used for the company after the 2019 rebrand, plus any variants for divisions, channels or sub-brands.

These marks can easily be mixed up in search results, because the same name has covered a studio, a content and distribution business, and a parent company. Before you compare a "before" with an "after", confirm which entity each image represents and when it was in use.

What the documented history supports

The corporate sequence is a matter of public record. DHX Media acquired the Wild Brain studio, used the WildBrain name for part of its kids' content operations, and then adopted WildBrain as its company name in 2019. That sequence explains why the logo changed: the rebrand made a name that had previously described one business into the identity of the whole company. Confirm the precise dates against the company's own announcements or regulatory filings before you publish them.

The supplied material does not cover any of the following:
• who designed each version
• whether an agency or an in-house team produced the 2019 identity
• what design rationale the company gave
• whether any intermediate versions existed between the major changes
Any claim about intent, such as an aim to look more playful, more corporate or more digital, needs an attributable statement from the company or the designers. Without one, such a claim is interpretation and should be labelled that way.

How to evaluate a before-and-after comparison

You can compare two versions visually without knowing why the changes were made. Keep observation and interpretation separate: record what visibly changed, then label any conclusions about its effect as editorial judgement.

Aspect | What to compare | What counts as support

Wordmark | Capitalisation, spacing, weight, and whether "Wild" and "Brain" are joined or set apart | Side-by-side official artwork from each period

Symbol or icon | Whether a standalone mark exists, and whether it is new, adapted or dropped | Brand guidelines or launch materials showing the lockups

Colour | Primary palette, single-colour versions, behaviour on dark backgrounds | Published colour specifications, not screenshots

Small-size performance | Legibility as an app icon, favicon or channel avatar | Your own observation, labelled as interpretation

System flexibility | Whether the identity extends to sub-brands and channels | Official examples of sub-brand lockups

Design intent | Why each change was made | Statements attributable to the company or the designers only

Screenshots taken from video, social media avatars and compressed web images can shift colours and soften edges. Use them to identify which version you are looking at, not to make fine-grained claims about curves, spacing or colour values.

Checking whether a WildBrain logo file is genuinely vector

Many files labelled as WildBrain vector logos are not editable artwork. An SVG, EPS, AI or PDF extension shows only that the container can hold vector data. The file may instead wrap an embedded raster image, or it may be a raster preview of artwork that lives somewhere else. Open the file and inspect its contents before relying on it.

• Use outline or wireframe view in a vector editor. Real vector artwork shows paths and anchor points. An embedded image shows a single rectangular frame.
• Zoom far in. Vector edges stay crisp at any size, while embedded raster images become pixelated or blurry.
• Check the layers or objects panel for placed or linked images.
• See whether the text is live type or has been converted to outlines. Live type depends on having the font installed, and outlines remove that dependency.
• Compare the shapes against official artwork. Automatically traced files often have lumpy curves, too many anchor points or distorted letterforms.

For historical versions in particular, unofficial vector files are often recreations or auto-traces of old raster images. They can be useful references, but they should not be treated as accurate records of the original artwork.

Downloading a logo versus having permission to use it

Being able to download a WildBrain logo file does not give you the right to modify it or use it. The name and its marks are trademarks. Any typeface used in or alongside the logo may carry its own licence terms. A press kit, if the company provides one, normally covers only limited editorial use under stated conditions. Recolouring, redrawing, cropping or combining the mark with other artwork typically requires permission. For anything beyond identifying the company in editorial content, check the company's brand or media guidance, or contact its communications team.

Gaps to close before publishing a definitive timeline

• Dated official images of each logo version, taken from company sources or contemporaneous publications.
• The exact effective date of the 2019 rebrand and of any later refinements.
• Designer or agency credits for each identity.
• Any official explanation of the design choices behind the WildBrain identity.
• Current brand guidelines covering approved lockups, colours and usage restrictions.