The Emmy for Title Design goes to...
September 17, 2025
Did you know there’s an Emmy category for outstanding title design?
Most of the Emmys discourse centers around the prime time event, but there’s an entire world of creative arts that rarely gets discussed. In short, the Emmys can be broken down into two categories: the night for people in the creative industry, and the night for everyone else. It’s time to bring the Emmys' creative conversation into the spotlight.
So, let’s talk about one specific category within the creative arts: title sequences. They’ve changed over the years–a lot. For better and for worse.
The 2025 nominations for Outstanding Title Design were:
- Severance
- The White Lotus
- House of the Dragon
- The Penguin
- Dark Matter
- The Decameron
Can you guess the winner?
SURPRISE–it was Severance. However, if you’ve seen the title sequence and second season of Severance, that’s probably not surprising at all. The title sequence was filled with dissectible hints for what was to come and visually stunning. Oliver Latta & team 100% deserve their flowers for a beautiful sequence that dives into Mark's subconscious anxieties– a core theme of the season.
But these nominations, and the theme we’re seeing with nominations over the years, can’t help but make us wonder if title sequences are trending away from awarding the most creative, original, and thought-provoking work. Is great title design now synonymous with gritty, dark, and CGI? Have we lost the creative plot in our aim to make television feel more serious and cinematic?
The last 4/6 Emmy title design winners have similarly had creative visuals in this category of dark, micro-scale, CGI, where we’re often viewing a close-up set piece from the show recreated on a miniature scale. It’s certainly become a go-to type of visual for a number of shows.
Yet, title design has had a rich history and a wealth of styles over the years. For an art form with so much creative potential, why have we gotten stuck in such a limiting trend? We’re not saying all title sequences fall into this category. Even among this year’s nominations, The White Lotus, The Penguin, and The Decameron all explore differing styles. Yet the Academy hasn’t awarded a win to a sequence outside of this CGI-based darker style since The Good Lord Bird in 2021.
What happened to the playful identities of the 90s? Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, and the X-Files were fun, punk, and expressive.
What happened to the experimentation and graphic boldness of the 2000s? Shows like Mad Men, Carnivàle, and The Sopranos all had unique sequences that weren’t afraid of chaotic cuts and unique motifs.
What happened to the pure variety of title sequences during the “golden age” of television in the 2010s? Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad all have completely unique-looking openers.
Title sequences are a beautiful art. They set the tone for what’s to come and create unique conversational opportunities for people to discuss hidden easter eggs and meanings. They’re an art that blossomed even more in our unique age of streaming. We love how visually breathtaking they’ve evolved to be, but we encourage more diversity and celebration of uniquely creative ideas in the medium.
Title sequences should be playgrounds for creativity, not an exploration of how many times we can create the same thing in a different font.
