Netflix Debuts New Logo Animation for Originals, With an Exploding Rainbow of Colors

Netflix has revamped its five-year-old logo animation that appears in front of original productions — and the new look is a veritable color fiesta.The new animation features the same trademark Netflix sound. But the new logo, which will begin playing on the service beginning Friday when subscribers start an original TV show or movie, is a much more dynamic visual. The animation, called an “ident” in designer lingo, explodes Netflix’s “N” into a spectrum of colored vertical light beams that shoot toward the viewer. What’t the point of the overhauled ident? The exploding-N animation is “inspired by the spectrum of stories, emotions, languages, fans and creators that collectively make up who we are as a brand,” the company said in a blog post. The updated design also is supposed to reflect the diversity of Netflix’s global audience, with the service now spanning over 190 countries. In addition, Netflix noted that the new ident features a darker background, compared with the former red-on-white treatment. That’s designed to get viewers “in the mood for an immersive, cinematic experience at home, on the subway or wherever you’re choosing to watch,” the company explained. Netflix had used a version of the dynamic-color-band logo animation on the fall 2018 film festival circuit — although in that iteration, multicolored bands swooped across a black background to tighten in on the red “N.” That version appeared at screenings including Paul Greengrass’ “22 July,” the Coen brothers’ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” and Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma.” at the Venice International Film Festival, and before David Mackenzie’s “The Outlaw King” at the Toronto International Film Festival.