While MTV already has a youthful spirit, the 40th anniversary of the brand called for a new identity system that could propel it further into the future of relevancy. The new three-color logo creates an instantly bright association and allows people to quickly grasp the brand’s attitude of light yet bold entertainment. The new visuals are energetic, courageous, and continue the brand’s mission of providing expressive content.
MTV celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, unveiling its new brand identity system. As a brand, MTV has an attitude and a youthful spirit that embraces escapism and activism — loyalkaspar’s new system both allows for MTV’s bold expressiveness and unifies the brand in its appearances across TV, social media, and streaming.
MTV’s new three-color logo evokes the brand’s classic logo, fondly remembered for its colorful, expressive, and confidently flexible applications. “We created a system based on the famous shape of the M taking on different personalities, forming and reforming, and decking itself out with patterns. The brand can dress up or down, with the flexibility to be as loud as it needs to be,” explains Anna Minkkinen, Executive Creative Director at loyalkaspar.
Loyalkaspar designed a motion language and library of custom patterns for MTV inspired by the brand’s iconic logo shape and graphic heritage. “Every design system needs consistency with specific elements, the things people absorb subconsciously. The tighter a brand is with those elements, the more expressive it can be everywhere else, and that freedom will allow MTV to naturally evolve as culture changes,” says Chris Harmon, Creative Director at loyalkaspar.
There are only a handful of brand elements that can remain cohesive across platforms—you don’t want your logo on everything. “MTV’s typeface is called Gravity because it is a force that, like gravity, helps hold together the world of the brand across platforms. A typeface creates a consistent through-line for the brand that can be present in ways that don’t feel oppressive or promotional,” Minkkinen continued.
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