The Oscars launches new logo

The rebrand has been led by Amsterdam- and Los Angeles-based consultancy 180LA, which has created a new identity for the Oscars awards, as well as a new identity for the Academy, which operates the scheme.

The rebrand comes ahead of the planned launch of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles. The museum is being designed by architect Renzo Piano and is set to open in 2017.

The Oscars identity is a simplified ‘Oscars’ wordmark, represented in gold, which features the famous Oscars statuette in the ‘A’.

The Academy wordmark, meanwhile, ‘spotlights’ the Oscar statuette from above, and creates an Academy ‘A’ which surrounds the award.

Richard Harrington, head of design at 180LA, says the ‘A’ mark ‘visually pulls the whole brand together’.

He adds, ‘We can invite other artists, photographers and film-makers to interpret the A shape as a visual constant through everything from poster design to magazine covers right down to something as simple as a business card.’

Harrington says the identity was inspired by the Academy’s archive and library.

He says, ‘We looked at execution techniques, the way the typography was treated, imagery, and we’ve brought some of these into the future.’

Christina Kounelias, chief marketing officer for the Academy, says the new identity ‘gives the Academy a presence in its own logo for the first time and underscores our efforts to support creative arts and sciences year-round.’

Kounelias says the Academy began the rebrand process two years ago, with the aim of creating ‘a new design system that reflects the creativity of our organisation’.