Opinion BY Armin

Cinemax’s New Angle

Launched in 1980, Cinemax is best known for its roster of action movies and after-dark softcore porn movies and series with really bad plots, which have earned it the nickname of “Skinemax”. Originally a single channel, Cinemax, owned by HBO Inc., is now a premium (meaning you have to pay extra to get it) network of eight channels and it counts with more than 12 million subscribers — by comparison, HBO has more than 28 million. Within the last few months a new logo has been popping up here and there and last week, to coincide with the launch of Cinemax’s app, MAX GO, the channel has fully implemented its new logo and look, rolling out across all channels. There is no press release or credits.

The Cinemax family of channels.

Trailer for the second episode of Strike Back showing the new look.

Opening disclaimers from Strike Back episode on YouTube.

iTunes store button for MAX Go app.

The old logo cemented Cinemax as a second-tier premium channel behind the more sophisticated and edgy HBO and Showtime. The typography was horrendous and the max’d out “max” was pretty embarrassing. The new logo is perfectly aligned with Cinemax: it’s action-ey, it’s bold, and it’s in your face. The typography is simple and well executed and the angle is enough to give it an edge but not too much where it becomes the defining feature, even though they milk the angle for all it’s worth in the identity application with almost everything set either at an angle or italicized. While the logo is a blocky sans serif, the rest of the identity uses Gotham, which seems to soften things up. The color palette is vibrant and helps anchor the whole identity, keeping things consistent and simple. Overall, a major improvement.

Thanks to Chris Ayres for first tip.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners