I'm a little baffled by this one. DC Comics new logo and rebranding is supposed to, according to DC, "...strongly resonate with our loyal fans who will want to proudly express their affinity for DC Entertainment and their passion for their favorite stories and characters..."
Years of working in the graphic design biz, both for comics and other companies outside of the industry, I still don't understand why people "improve" their logo and brand by making it bland and lifeless.Now, let me say that first off, the original black and white version of this looks like pure, unmistakable... blah. It's not a bad logo, just horrible for a company primarily in the business of superhero fisticuffs. Most people agreed it was bad right off the bat.
But, now that people see COLOR and a bunch of Photoshopped sparks, coils, and smokescreens added, it seems to be "warming" to people. What?!?
Like I said, it's not a horrible logo for something ELSE. But, what does the actual logo say about comics? ...or superheroes? ...or fun? ...NOTHING.
Now, here's a nice logo design from Taste of Ink for a LAW FIRM:
Now, let's add some of the "branding" that makes the DC logo "pop":
See what I mean? It's the Photoshop effects people are reacting to. And trust me, these effects on top of a comic cover will look like overkill.
But, well... what do I know? I just do this kind of stuff for a living.
-Matt Wieman
Categories:
logos
The trend in graphic design over the last few years seems to be one of extreme simplicity to the point of homogeneity. I understand that is many cases, less IS more. But when applying such thoughts to logos that are supposed to promote something larger then life, a simple white on black sans serif "logo" seems not just lazy, but counter productive.