Sneak Peek At Hawaii News Now's New Look

Hawaii News Now will debut a new set Tuesday that will reshape HNN’s stations ― and better reflect the people, environment and stories of the islands.
The last set update was more than a decade ago when KGMB and KHNL merged.
HNN News Director Scott Humber said a fresh, modern approach was needed.
“It’s more than a long time coming. We have always felt that our on-air look lagged far behind the product that we were putting out daily,” Humber said. “Now we have a storytelling tool that complements the hard work of the men and woman of Hawaii News Now.”
He noted that KGMB, KHNL, K5 are iconic to the islands and the new looks reflects that.
Hawaii worked with Devlin Design Group to design and implement a new set design that would connect the station to the community. Viewers will recognize several details in the new HNN set that are reminiscent of the state, including the color scheme and background patterns.
“It needed to be a set that really belongs and captures the beauty of Hawaii,” said Kartik Dakshinamoorthy, Devlin Group vice president of scenic design. “We have used colors, textures and materials that really capture the natural feel and showcase the beauty of Hawaii.”
The design also focused on maximizing storytelling venues to better tell the news, weather and traffic stories of Hawaii ― with multiple large screens to showcase video and images.
Former HNN General Manager and current Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recently took a tour of the new set and was impressed.
“Honolulu is a big city and I think you want to have that sophistication,” Blangiardi said.
While the new set is packed with technology, it’s not just a fancy makeover. It will fundamentally change how news is presented on HNN stations, said HNN General Manager Katie Pickman.
“To have the ability to be able to refresh our look and actually meet the technology of how people are consuming our product in a very modern way, that is just a huge accomplishment.”
“Another big piece of this is that we serve all of the islands of Hawaii and now we’ll have screens all around all of the people doing this work to be able to tell those stories.”