Times, they are a changing. In an effort to keep up with the ever-modernizing entertainment industry, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) decided to give its branding a major overhaul. The New York-based organization, which handles the Daytime Emmy Awards, just unveiled a new official branding and identity package that includes an updated logo.
The reveal marks the first brand refresh in at least a decade and was long overdue, says NATAS president and CEO Adam Sharp, who joined the organization last year.
"We as an Academy face the same challenge as any other media company, which is adapting to the changing marketplace," he says in Variety. "For us, that comes in several levels. We have to produce our content for more platforms and have a more flexible brand in order to do that... The last time the logo was revisited, you didn't have streaming platforms. There was no Netflix streaming of Amazon Prime. You had cable, but our awards were traditional network focused. And so our Academy has changed considerably since the logo was last revamped, and what we honor has changed incredibly over that time."
Sharp also explains that the update to a simple, more contemporary design was born from practical reasons, as well.
"[The former logo] didn't scale well, it wasn't well-formatted for digital," he explains. "It had one real design that didn't have enough variations for different use cases. When we entered this process, we started it from that practical standpoint. Let's look at the logo and make it more flexible."
Sharp notes that the new logo -- which will also be used for its sports, news, and documentary awards -- features the Emmy statue bursting out of a box, which is an apt symbol for how the industry can no longer be defined in one way.
"[We tried] to strike that balance between tradition and history, and the modernity and polish," he shares. "Certainly that meant a cleaner, simpler design while still maintaining that iconic Emmy statue at the center."
The Emmy rebrand isn't the only major change that Sharp has implemented since taking over NATAS. He commissioned an independent investigation into the Daytime Emmy voting process and instituted changes after the four daytime dramas threatened a boycott after losing confidence in the Daytime Emmys voting system. He also recently gave the show new production oversight. On the horizon, there's a rumor that the Daytime Emmys are considering introducing gender-neutral categories rather than separating actors and actresses into their own performance categories.
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