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New logos are rubbish

Started by JamesC, 17 August, 2016, 07:36:20 PM

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JamesC

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 August, 2016, 08:20:17 AM
Couldn't it be argued that heavily stylised titles age really poorly? Whilst some minimalist ones, like ROM or the classic, jagged Judge Dredd logo, have aged well despite not being particularly stylised.

You could argue it but I wouldn't agree.
There are many very stylised logos which still look great. Sticking with 2000ad I give the logos for Slaine, ABC Warriors and Nemesis as examples. All very stylised but all still look great. Other non-2000ad examples off the top of my head would be the classic Conan logo and the fantastic Dungeons and Dragons one.
An example of a stylised logo which maybe hasn't aged so well (back to video games here) would be Wipeout. It looks very 90s but I still admire the sensibility of the design - it has an unmistakable futuristic look. If you saw the logo on it's own, and were told it was from a Videogame, you'd guess that it was something with a Sci Fi element.

JamesC

Quote from: radiator on 19 August, 2016, 05:45:25 PM
QuoteAs for film posters, I'd like to ban photoshopped collages.

That's like saying cgi should be banned because a handful of movies overuse it or do it badly.



I was being a bit flippant there but hopefully you get what I mean. It's a shame to see it used badly (often lazily) for films which have the potential for awesome artwork. Like the last couple of X-Men films or the Avengers films.

M.I.K.

The reason those old logos are bright and garish and far more interesting is because back then all the games were aimed at children/teenagers and not boring old adults, terrified of looking daft but unable to fight the compulsion to pretend to be a zombie-killing cyborg astronaut cowboy Indiana Jones lady whose consciousness has been sent backwards through time via a computer simulation, (or something).

Steve Green

Way back when, collections of stories weren't quite the big deal they originally were - it's understandable if the GN editor doesn't want massive logos every 7 pages or so, or dead space for the art where the logo would originally have been.

I'll always have a soft spot for the original 2000AD logo, the others, not so much. With any of those things, it's so tied into nostalgia, particulary the further back you go, I can't be particularly objective about them.

Frank

Quote from: JamesC on 19 August, 2016, 05:45:39 PM
(The) Wipeout (logo) has an unmistakable futuristic look. If you saw the logo on it's own, and were told it was from a Videogame, you'd guess that it was something with a Sci Fi element.

That's ironic.

The styling of the Wipeout series was intended to distance it from the geekyness of similar LucasArts or EA games. The box was supposed to look like a Japanese dance music import CD on your bedroom floor, and the advertising was channelling contemporary rave flyers or the logos above the doorways of Ibiza clubs.

It's an example of the same cultural cringe and determination to appear grown-up that Mr Biffo identifies as a result of games players still feeling a bit self conscious about enjoying the same stuff as wee kids - but I agree it's a distinctive design in the context of games.



JamesC

In the 90s Japan was futuristic and Sci Fi! :D

radiator

QuoteI was being a bit flippant there but hopefully you get what I mean. It's a shame to see it used badly (often lazily) for films which have the potential for awesome artwork. Like the last couple of X-Men films or the Avengers films.

No, I have no idea what you're talking about... :lol:



Being serious, though, I feel like 'photoshopped movie posters' are a bit of a whipping boy and easy to knock, but there are plenty of counter-examples out there.

To me it's like the oft-made argument that practical effects are 'better' than cgi.

Frank

Quote from: JamesC on 19 August, 2016, 06:20:03 PM
In the 90s Japan was futuristic and Sci Fi! :D

That's true! Again, ironic, since the defining characteristic of Japanese society today is that it's an elderly, sexless, closed, dead end culture in decline. See also: Brexit.



JamesC

I wonder how many great poster concepts featuring Iron Man had to be binned because they didn't feature RDJ's face?

radiator

QuoteI wonder how many great poster concepts featuring Iron Man had to be binned because they didn't feature RDJ's face?

I'm not sure bringing up Marvel helps your case - they regularly produce, license and distribute dozens of posters to promote their movies, many of which are often genuinely creative (and don't prominently feature the actor's faces).






radiator

Also - Marvel movies generally have bloody awesome logos:




JamesC

Yeah, those logos are brilliant, really like them both.
I love that Ant Man poster but have only ever seen it on the web, never at the multiplex. Those other posters are pretty great too but are totally new to me. I only ever saw the general photo collage ones at the cinema and on the buses. Good on Marvel for doing something different as well though.

Fungus

No coincidence that the only poster above (perhaps never widely distributed, I wouldn't know) I like is Ant-Man - it actually has an idea.

Why is 'aging badly' a criticism? It's an irrelevance.