OCD creates a “nonconformist” visual identity for the MTV Video Music Awards 

To celebrate the annual MTV Video Music Awards taking place on 27 August, New York-based design studio OCD has developed a new brand identity with MTV’s in-house team.

For more than 30 years, MTV has hosted the yearly celebration of music videos and artists bestowed by the channel. This year, the ceremony is to be held at The Forum in Inglewood, California, and will be accompanied with a visual update on the iconic logo.

As a “wholly-new, made-to-be-dynamic mark” created especially for the VMAs, the logo now features a symmetrical structure that “allows it to easily transform into countless permutations,” according to OCD. “In its most reductive form, the mark can be used as a full-bleed pattern or for the framing of content and the housing of imagery.”

Starting from 2017, the idea is to have a recurring logo for the VMAs with an annual changing identity around it — exceeding the previous interchangeable logo that altered with each edition. The team opted for for an extra wide layout, “nonconformist” logo plus a bold and light version of the GT America Condensed All Caps typeface.

MTV president Chris McCarthy confirmed in an interview with The New York Times that the infamous “Moon Man” will now be known as a “Moon Person”. Coinciding with their push for nonconformity, Chris will also be incorporating gender neutral acting categories. “Why should it be a man?” Chris says in the interview. “It could be a man, it could be a woman, it could be transgender, it could be nonconformist.”