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The New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) on Tuesday unveiled a new branding and identity package.
The new look refreshes the organization’s logo and updates its overall look. NATAS awards news, sports, documentary and daytime Emmys, both nationally and on local and regional bases, while its Los Angeles-based counterpart, the TV Academy, handles the Creative Arts and Primetime Emmys.
“The Emmy Awards are stronger than ever, with new distribution platforms driving record-breaking entry levels in each of our competitions,” said Adam Sharp, NATAS president and CEO, in a statement. “The new NATAS branding captures the long history of the iconic Emmy Award, now right at home in the digital age. It is a polished yet approachable design that evokes key themes of excellence, community, and transformation.”
The new look was designed by Los Angeles-based brand agency XK9, which also has done branding work for Millennium Films, EA Games, Google, and Universal Animation Studios.
“This was a challenging project; it was an honor to be a part of it,” said Bill Dawson, the lead designer on the project and founder of XK9. “National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a mouthful of a brand name. The design needed to balance this descriptive name with the Academy’s iconic symbol.
“The Emmy is a potent, timeless avatar for this vital organization. Our goal was to present the Emmy—to amplify her beauty and energetic form. Here, the figure breaks from confinement and pushes beyond perceived limits. That’s an apt metaphor for the work of the Academy and the excellence it celebrates.”
To help maintain consistency and scalability as the rebrand’s various assets are distributed to chapters and partners, NATAS is using Frontify as its brand management platform.
Based in Switzerland with new offices in NYC, Frontify provides a cloud-based platform for maintaining up-to-date style guides, shared media libraries, and in-depth collaboration across brand, design, marketing, and front-end developers. Other Frontify customers include Facebook, Lufthansa and Allianz.
NATAS also selected MOO as the organization’s preferred national provider of print materials, including business cards and letterheads.
“The collaboration between The Emmys, XK9, and MOO drives directly back to the founding vision of Frontify,” said Jaclyn Kalb, Frontify GM, also in a statement. “We pride ourselves on being a central brand hub to help drive efficiency amongst various internal and external stakeholders. We were thrilled to be approached by the Emmys, and now after careful consideration, it’s an honor to be the official brand management platform partner of such an iconic brand.”
“Few marks of distinction are as globally recognized as the Emmy Award,” added NATAS’ Sharp. “Protecting this prestigious mark is critical as we aim to achieve a broad yet consistent distribution across our academy, our chapters, and our external partners.”