The D&D Logo

[I'm A Banana]

So there's a new D&D art article up about the design of the logo. There's not a lot concrete in it about what WILL happen, but there's a lot of talk about the process of developing a logo, and an interesting experiment: he asked for a series of D&D logos done in the style of other brands, and tried to figure out why they didn't work, to better help define the boundaries of the D&D brand.

Here's the picture from the article:

What do you think of those logos? Any guesses as to which other brands match up with which logos? Any that you really hate, or really love, or think are pretty cool?

Personally, faves: 5, 10, 14, 17. I'm a fan of the thinner, more elegant designs that speak of myth and modernity all at once. I'm probably the biggest fan of #17: Simple, quiet, self-contained, but interesting.

Least faves: 2, 9, 13, 16. Lame colors and a belligerent, in-your-face aggressiveness that screams for attention like a desperate drunk girl at a party. "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!! I AM COOL!!!" is the sense I get from them, which makes me instantly not want to do it. It's all artificial action and manufactured excitement. It's not self-confident.

Honorable Mention: I like the "sketchy" style of #4. Though it doesn't say "heroic fantasy RPG" to me, it's a really cool logo anyway. #3's retro-pixel look is also cool, though, again, not great for a PnP RPG.

 

[Rampaging Lawn Gnome]

Not that I could do better, and the making of a logo is difficult, but honestly, I didn't care for any of them. Either the letters were too blocky or the font was difficult to read, or didn't evoke any emotion. IMO. I might choose 7 if pressed.

Looking at them all side by side in the article, I actually liked the 1E logo best.

 

[Mercutio01]

This discussion is going on here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-ho...d-d/318703-d-d-next-weekly-art-column-14.html

Jon Schindehette even stepped into the conversation a bit as well.

 

[kitsune9]

5,7,9, and 11 are my picks.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Man, now I really want to see a Soviet-era font, hammer-and-sickle ampersand D&D logo..

 

[Lwaxy]

I'd like the logo I'm used to please

Edit: With that I mean the 3rd Edition logo.

 

[Raith5]

I vote for 5,7, 15.

 

[was]

If they have to change it I'd vote for 5,7 or 9

 

[KesselZero]

I generally agree with preferences here, and I adore #3 and intend to steal it, but I have to say I really don't like #17. To me, it doesn't look fantasy at all; rather it looks like an attempt to unnecessarily modernize a hobby that's based in nostalgia, tradition, and history (both of the game and in the real world, plus dragons). I don't want my D&D rulebooks to look like the owner's manual for a smartphone.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Man, now I really want to see a Soviet-era font, hammer-and-sickle ampersand D&D logo..

Well at least if they did that the unified XP chart would start to make a little more sense...