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12-07-2008, 04:20 AM | #1 |
So much drama 'n the LBCs
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 4,844
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I am a graphic designer, and have been doing some version of my current job since I first held a crayon at age 2 or 3.
Now, it may be that I've grown up with them, and they're so engrained in my memory and due to my obsessive love of G.I. Joe, but dammit if I don't love the design of the G.I. Joe, Cobra, Autobot, Decepticon and Transformers logos/typography. There are some 70s/80s logos that are pretty good, others bad. While I hold some sort of fondness for them, there are ones that are merely "okay", like the Masters of the Universe logo, some that are "dated" like the Star Wars logo (while still really awesome and iconic), and some that I consider "blah" like the M.A.S.K. logo (or it could be that I just hate it that bad)... Other than MAYBE the Thundercats logo, which I feel the logo and typography are both pretty cool even to this day, the logos I mentioned loving above don't seem to feel too dated, and they're far from just "okay" or "blah". I think they're really well done, and coming from someone who has had some branding experience, they're really solid graphics. Above all, I really love the Cobra emblem, and the Autobot and Decepticon faction symbols. They've held up really well over time, and except for the G2 fiasco "redesign" attempts of the TF logos, they have lasted nearly 30 years. AND there's no type to anchor them either. Which means they hold up, unchanged, across international markets. The G.I. Joe logo has seen some updates, but not enough to change it much from it's basic form. And I consider it the most dated of any of them, but it's still pretty iconic and held up well if you ask me. Same with the Transformers logo/logotype. Some slight edits, but the core typographical elements have held up nearly 30 years now. My questions: • Does anyone know the history of these, or who designed them? I'd love to know. I haven't been able to dig up anything. • Who else on here is a trained graphic designer, and what do you think about them? Love or hate? Sure they're no Coca-Cola or Apple logo, but I think for a toy brand, they're awesome. Hell, even Hasbro's updated it's face since then, while G.I. Joe and Transformers has stayed unchanged for nearly 3 decades. • For non-designers, what do you think? I'm not trying to be snobby or anything, I just think it's interesting to separate the general feel from us "design nazis" who do this day-in-and-day-out and have been trained to see in terms of "good design" and why it's good, or bad. Last edited by Mandingo Rex; 12-07-2008 at 04:22 AM.. |
12-07-2008, 04:23 PM | #2 |
So much drama 'n the LBCs
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 4,844
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Anything? I'm sorry I write too much, Tankers don't like to read.
This has been something I've always wanted to know. Hopefully someone can help out. |
12-07-2008, 04:51 PM | #3 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Selkirk, NY
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I dont know about the history of any of the logos...but I think all that you mentioned, ESPECIALLY the COBRA symbol, are fantastic...and have held up better than any other of them...
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12-07-2008, 04:57 PM | #4 |
I Brake For Asari!
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Thessia
Posts: 32,377
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Yeah, the ones you mentioned are great....there is a certain symmetry and simplicity to them that holds up well.
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12-07-2008, 05:10 PM | #5 |
Zarana's lover
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Lajas, P.R.
Posts: 706
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Quote:
Now I see how you do make that great Sarge Slaughter custom card.
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12-07-2008, 05:19 PM | #6 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Posts: 9,585
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Quote:
• Who else on here is a trained graphic designer, and what do you think about them? Love or hate? Sure they're no Coca-Cola or Apple logo, but I think for a toy brand, they're awesome. Hell, even Hasbro's updated it's face since then, while G.I. Joe and Transformers has stayed unchanged for nearly 3 decades.
• For non-designers, what do you think? I'm not trying to be snobby or anything, I just think it's interesting to separate the general feel from us "design nazis" who do this day-in-and-day-out and have been trained to see in terms of "good design" and why it's good, or bad. I myself like the logos for the most part... GI Joe's is a tad cheesy but not too much. Cobra, Autobot, Decepticon are all very good.
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12-07-2008, 05:23 PM | #7 |
Fliegende Sturmtruppen
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: miami, FL
Posts: 994
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I guess it all has to do with Symbology...certain visual archetypes are associated so strongly with whatever the design/icon is, that it subconciously sets off visual cues which immediately make you take notice...take the Radiating icon for nuclear material, the biohazard icon for infectious material, hell even the swastika itself immediately causes a reaction as soon as the eye picks it up and the brain processes the emotions of fear or repulsion in the cognitive center. So I guess it's whatever you associate emotionally with a symbol/icon that gives it its power. Just my humble ramblings, take'em with a grain of salt.
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12-07-2008, 05:37 PM | #8 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Ga.
Posts: 6,091
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Sometimes the simplest things are the best things
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12-07-2008, 05:43 PM | #9 |
Banned
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 2,647
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I think simplicity is best for the general public?
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12-07-2008, 06:07 PM | #10 |
So much drama 'n the LBCs
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 4,844
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Quote:
(Talking in a Booker T's voice tone) Tell me you just didn't said that. No, seriously the toy companies have been traditionally more secretive about their marketing strategies than other big scale businesses for reasons unknown. I think you should personally request that question to Hasbro in a future Q&A round.
Now I see how you do make that great Sarge Slaughter custom card. Haha, I never knew about M.A.S.K. as a kid, oddly. I just don't remember it at all. So I may be a tad biased, with not being familiar with it and having it engrained in my mind like TFs or Joe/Cobra... But, it's not one of the better designed logos. I think something like Ghostbusters or Thundercats is better, and more iconic than something like M.A.S.K. or Masters of the Universe which is just not that great of typography, from a design perspective. I may pursue Hasbro directly, since a Q&A should be future-focused, instead of past-focused like my quest for the source of their logos... But you're right, probably best to contact the source directly. But for something like UPS, or Apple, or Coca-Cola, they publicly acknowledge the designers... It's odd I can't find anything on the TF logos or the Joe/Cobra marks. |
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