‘Sunday Morning’ gets new open more aligned with network branding, updated logotype

CBS News Sunday Morning” morning introduced a revamped version of its open that also included an update to the show’s logo May 21, 2023.

The show still retains its famous fanfare theme, the sun icon and much of its old look and feel.

Updates include a more prominent “deconstructed eye” element sporting metallic animated beveled outlines that merge to form an oversized iteration of the network’s logo.

The kitschy-on-purpose topical graphics that change each week are also still a key part of the look. 

However, most of the individual elements animate in separately from each other, as opposed to entering from the top of the screen already mostly in place.

Instead of traveling from the top of the screen toward the bottom, the clip art-like elements now fade out as one.

Advertisement

The sun icon has also become a bit more prominent in the new design. Previously, it was partially faded into the background during much of its time on screen in the open, but it now bolder and has more prominent facial features.

The color has also been shifted to be brighter and the entire icon is visible for most of the open, including near the end when it slides to the left of the screen to make way for the logotype, which has dropped the bold Helvetica look in favor of TT Norms, the network’s signature typeface. 

The 3D effect with gold edging remains, though in a bit more of a refined look that’s more in line with the quasi-flat look the network has largely transitioned to.

In addition, the broadcast stopped using the geometric sans serif for host Jane Pauley’s name, replacing it with a lighter version of Norms.

The line also now includes the word “with” to read “with Jane Pauley,” with horizontal lines capping each side to fill in the width of the word “Morning.”

The design also now includes the CBS News logotype above, which animates with the eye icon popping on screen from the far right before sliding left and revealing the typography as it moves, a common animation technique in other network graphics.

Overall, the result is a much more cohesive look — especially in the typography arena — that still manages to keep the general look and feel that the show is known for. 

It wasn’t immediately clear how these changes might be incorporated into studio intros because the show was the show’s annual design edition, and featured Pauley’s intros taped on location.

On Sunday, May 28, 2023, CBS switched back to studio-produced intros from Pauley.

It incorporated the updated look behind her, including having the sun graphic from the open stick around and then shrink down below the show name on the panel behind her, with the logotype fading out.

The “Sunday Morning” set no longer stands permanently, but sources say CBS did put up at least parts of the set earlier in 2023 and shot a series of new, highly quality pictures of it that can be composited as needed and inserted behind Pauley. The space Pauley is taping her intros in also appears to either moved or gotten a significant lighting upgrade, because there’s much less green glow and the color shading is more in line with the backgrounds. 

“Sunday Morning” does not include the brief animated element with the oversized “CBS” and “CBS News” typography that is used on many other news broadcasts (though “CBS Evening News” largely removed this when it shortened its open and added a headlines feature in February 2023.

“CBS News Sunday Morning” still uses a distinct sun icon from “CBS Mornings,” the network’s weekday morning newscast that dropped the name “CBS This Morning” in 2021

Advertisement

The weekday broadcast uses a version with cleaner lines and slightly less 3D effects to more closely align with the overall aesthetic of the network-wide branding.

Ahead of its debut, CBS announced the “CBS Mornings” name was largely inspired by the “Sunday Morning” name and meant to tie the two brands together (the Saturday edition of the show became “CBS Saturday Morning” later in 2021).

The broadcasts that air Monday through Saturday also use a different version of the fanfare music.

The weekday and Saturday editions also do not have the word “News” as part of their official names, though the news division logotype is still used prominently in the graphics. “Sunday” is also sometimes referred to as simply “Sunday Morning” or “CBS Sunday Morning” (“CBS Sunday Morning” and “CBS Sunday” are also used on social media).

“CBS Mornings,” “CBS Saturday Morning” and “CBS News Sunday Morning” have distinct editorial team organization as well, though they are all produced by CBS’s news division.

As of the introduction of the “Sunday Morning” update in May 2023, “CBS Evening News,” “Face the Nation,” “CBS Mornings” and the CBS Streaming Network all draw on similar design motifs, with “48 Hours” and “60 Minutes” being the most notable major exceptions.

Combined, this does meant, however, that the bulk of CBS News-produced programming uses at least some of the updated branding look.

That said, the branding does allow for a fairly broad range of interpretation, allowing each show to have its own unique elements, such as the nighttime satellite and world map motif used on “Evening,” while still remaining visually connected to the main look.