Bleeding Cool first broke the story that DC Comics applied for trademark on a couple new logos. They’ve since followed up with an image of what that logo could be. (The other logo is the same as below, but the text below reads “DC ENTERTAINMENT” with the same line breaks.)
As someone who stares at logos all day – both in terms of food art or outright designing new ones – I’m brimming with opinion.
First, to confirm Bleeding Cool’s report, disregard that the logo is set in greyscale. It just means we could see this logo in any number of colors, like the MTV logo. A color-unspecific logo allows it to blend in or stand apart from whatever its being used with. depending on the applicaiton.(It also means I can use ANY FOOD UNDER THE SUN to recreate it!)
Take the Foogos wordmark I use to stamp the photos of the food art I create; I typically match the wordmark to whatever colors the logo is (the team/brand’s real colors, not necessarily the colors of the photograph.)
As for the logo itself, I am in the minority of people who liked the current (or should I start saying “previous”) incarnation of “DC.” It was dynamic and easily recognizable, with a kinetic element that this new, sterile logo is lacks. The sticker peel effect to reveal the “C” beneath the “D” is playful in thought, but the execution screams CORPORATE.
Then again, now that DC is in the midst of an entertainment boom with a string of blockbusters from its spandex bigshots – Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, a Superman reboot in the works, and the financially successful Green Lantern – and a popular relaunch of its entire superhero book line, maybe a more buttoned-up presentation is what they want to represent the company as a major player going forward.
If that’s the case, branding the company by literally including a turned page in the logo sounds like a good idea.
Personally, I think this logo looks more like the icon I’d see slapped onto the van of the guy installing my cable, not of the company responsible for what I’m about to watch on TV. (Click here for another opinion from Wired.)
What do you think? Pass or fail on DC’s new logo?
