TSR paid $1,000,000 for the Dragonlance logo? (New: Response from the authors)

I was digging around the Noble Knight store website and I came cross this interesting tidbit

TSR hired a national advertising company to come up with the new logo. At a cost of $1,000,000 they were presented with these 3 different variations. (click on this for link)

As a graphic designer (of nearly 10 years experience) that specializes in logos, I feel confident of my professional opinion on this: it's madness. The "logo" breaks every conceivable rule of logo design. It seems beyond unbelievable that any advertising firm could come up with this dribble.

Does anyone know the story behind this? Is Noble Knight making this up? Was TSR insane? I'd love to know the info on this...

Arravis said:

Is Noble Knight making this up?

Click to expand...

I doubt it, but I can't say for certain. I've never heard the $1,000,000 story and I've lost contact with the two former TSR employees I knew who would be able to fill in the details.

Was TSR insane

Click to expand...

Arguably. According to many former employees, they had a long history of bad business decisions and poor financial management.

I haven't heard this before, but the guy who runs Noble Knight knows a lot about the hobby and tsr. I wouldn't doubt a guy who has a case of those recalled versions of B3

Camel Advertising is a company that made art for video game covers during the late 80s and early 90s, those Nintendo boxes that made you cringe. I can't believe their talents would be estimated at a million dollars or that anyone outside the video game mistranslation industry would seek them out.

Probably a bunch of hokey.

Frukathka said:

Probably a bunch of hokey.

Click to expand...

You're defending the intelligence of TSR's executive suits?

Ranger REG said:

You're defending the intelligence of TSR's executive suits?

Click to expand...

Even so, one million dollars?

Cheers!

This story ought to be relatively easy to confirm or deny. Tracy Hickman would know, as would Larry Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, and Jeff Easley, one of whom probably painted the final logo (which looks almost nothing like the mock-ups). My money is on Easley, since the logo looks like his work.

I don't doubt these were done in some official capacity (otherwise, why waste your time doing ugly Dragonlance logos?), but the $1,000,000 quote seems outrageous without some kind of confirmation from a member of the Dragonlance team.

Other people who would probably know: Harold Johnson, Jeff Grubb, Margaret Weis, Douglas Niles, Bruce Nesmith, Mike Breault, Roger Moore, and several less prominent members of the "DRAGONLANCE Series Design Team," as they are credited in the "Dragonlance Adventures" first edition hardcover. I get the impression that this team was pretty tight, and if some pointy-headed executive dumped a million bucks on a crap logo, you can bet these people were bitching about it at lunch for a month straight.

--Erik

Erik Mona said:

This story ought to be relatively easy to confirm or deny. Tracy Hickman would know, as would Larry Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, and Jeff Easley, one of whom probably painted the final logo (which looks almost nothing like the mock-ups). My money is on Easley, since the logo looks like his work...

Click to expand...

I'm going to have to go with Caldwell, given the Celtic-y nature of the design. He seems to work that alot into his stuff.

$1,000,000.00 1983 dollars? For a logo?

Not a chance. The Blumes might have been a little loopy - but they were not *nuts*.

Ask the Colonel. Somehow - I think he'd remember *that*.