Comics Logos

At the risk of sounding like this is a lettering blog….

A friend recently asked my advice on creating a comics company logo

………….not that I have any real experience with this other than a lot of pen and ink parodies of them on fake covers done for fanzines back in the day.

And Nate Piekos at Blambot has some good advice on successful logo design.

But… here goes.First off, instead of starting with your own design, aim for the stars by looking at professional ones with an eye towards what works for you as a consumer.

Think of the great ones past and present. Come up with a list of ten or so that you think stand out and you’ll already be looking at what works for you and what doesn’t.

Keep in mind that logos are less informative and more iconic.

Their purpose is to allow someone scanning the stand to find all the brand-x titles if they’re a zombie, or alternately to realize that all the kewl stuff they like are coming from the same folks.

( This was part of my recent reevaluation of Image. )

Don’t limit yourself to the present day.

Here are my faves.

The Milton Glaser version of the DC bullet.

The Dark Horse logo.

Boom Studios

and Image.

Past companies whose logos I liked include

Vortex ( OK, maybe a bit fussy. )

Comico

Eclipse

and the short-lived Atlas-Seaboard.

They’re all pretty basic, iconic, easy on the eyes and not overly informative. ( That’s what the indicia are for. )

I would aim to emulate for myself what I liked in others.

And, of course follow Robert McKee’s advice and “overcreate.”

The first few ideas you come up with off the top of your head were there at the top because you’ve seen their sort over and over again. In short, they’re the easy-outs and might be cliches.

Aim for ten good different designs. Try to top yourself, take chances, go in interesting directions, each better than the last. Once you have ten logos choices you can narrow it down.

Good luck.