For more than 30 years, the MTV Video Music Awards have produced some of TV's most memorable moments. Think Madonna and the wedding dress, Kanye vs Taylor Swift, Miley and the foam finger.
In 2017, Champions worked with the in-house creative team to build the show's first identity system. In 30 years, the VMAs had produced no less than 30 logos. Redesigning every year allowed the art to be on trend but forfeited brand recognition and often dissociated the show from the network.
No custom lettering was needed. The V and the A were pulled directly from the network's iconic M.
The symmetrical structure of the new wordmark allows it to easily transform into countless permutations.
At the center of the VMA mark, the familiar MTV logo (circa 1980) comes alive to honor the best videos of the year.
A successful system would celebrate MTV's iconic network logo and forge a wholly-new, made-to-be-dynamic mark just for the VMAs.
MTV
Client
2017
Year
Bobby C. Martin, Jr.
Partner
Sarah Hermalyn
Brand Strategist
Taylor Hale,
Scott Allen Hill
Designers
Thomas Berger,
Catherine Chester's
Creative Director, MTV
Refresh
Brand strategy
Iconography, Motion
Visual identity
Cultural,
Sports & Entertainment
Expertise
Projects
Carnegie HallCultural
Carnegie Hall PlusProject type
MTV VMASProject type
DartmouthEducation
SVA MFADEducation
Studio Museum HarlemEditorial
Run for SomethingNon-profit