The D&D Logo
- Thread starter I'm A Banana
- Start date
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
I like the "Ampersand is a Dragon" theme they have going here.
Why not just keep that and change the font depending on the book?
Why not just keep that and change the font depending on the book?
howandwhy99
Adventurer
No. 17 reminds me of LG Electronics.
No. 6 is barely there.
No. 4 is definitely better suited to a child audience.
The rest tend to be very red and even throwback or retro with many having a 70s-80s rock and roll cover vibe. It would be interesting to hear what the art direction was.
I gotta say, whoever is making these up is a talented artist. They are all creative, as critical as I may seem. Nothing is blatantly out of place or poorly crafted. It sucks we have to critique them to find one great choice overall.
Myself, I'm torn. I wouldn't mind seeing some other colors. Some interesting, even whimsical designs like in #15's curl could go a long way. Tech cool does not strike me as D&D as well as it may be executed cleanly. D&D is bold and confidant like #7, which may be my pick overall, but many more variations and different styles would be needed to draw it out. Too much is missing. A faint nod towards fantasy that would fit on the image of the original MM wouldn't be bad either (though I can understand portraying more mastery in such a cover nowadays).
The rock & roll gig is cool. It's like Harley-F**-Davidson. It shouts out arena rock, but, as much as I like the retro leanings, it isn't what I see as a long lasting logo for a D&D to never have any more editions, but be everlasting with only future reiterations.
The old logos all have problems IMO. The early stuff was a capitalized wild west or bland font. Advanced was iconic for a long time, but it is smushed together and doesn't need to be brought back. 3E actually gets lost in its shield as up to date as it brought us. And 4e looked too bland and boring and didn't change enough. It lost the sword and shield and other fantastic elements, but kept everything red. If anything the "4e" & "3e" razor logos were probably the best work of the recent era. I'm reminded that stuff becomes tradition very quickly 'round here, so another red lettered logo and it may become too iconic to drop as well in the future.
Coloring leads to another concern, horizontal or stacked wording. I think Klaus's comments on wotc's site are the most illuminating. The logo needs to be easy to read, the ubiquitous ampersand needs to be well placed, but lettering size matters too. Horizontal would be a real change and something that a long name, unique in brand identity currently, could emphasize. Of course all that goes against contemporary branding theory, where logos are more often without lettering at all now. Simplicity and clarity are considered very important for the fraction of a second imprinting on memory by the big brand names. I know Klaus pointed out how the D&D portion of the overall logo could be dropped in one of the earlier edition versions (4e I think). Maybe something could be done to create a bold, undeniable, unforgettable, and incapable of being confused symbol for "D&D"? Maybe the ampersand becomes the symbol all one needs on paper to identify it? Maybe the D too?
The thing is, a horizontal logo that really lays about the place, so to speak, could be used on printed products and glamor banners, while symbol elements of it could be used for a ubiquitous icon campaign. (Remember when 1989 Batman completely changed changed how brand icons worked?) This stuff part of and even wholly a company's product now. It can be sold itself in a hundred different ways. I can see T-shirts with Erol Otus characters on 20-somethings out partying. I can see Trampier's intellect devourer on car decals. An iconic symbol beyond just the logo would need to flow smoothly between all such works and be representative of the game, hobby, and company.
As much as there is a lot of cool stuff in the suggestions presented, I just wasn't feeling any one of them so much. All I can say is, keep digging. Treasure can be found.
No. 6 is barely there.
No. 4 is definitely better suited to a child audience.
The rest tend to be very red and even throwback or retro with many having a 70s-80s rock and roll cover vibe. It would be interesting to hear what the art direction was.
I gotta say, whoever is making these up is a talented artist. They are all creative, as critical as I may seem. Nothing is blatantly out of place or poorly crafted. It sucks we have to critique them to find one great choice overall.
Myself, I'm torn. I wouldn't mind seeing some other colors. Some interesting, even whimsical designs like in #15's curl could go a long way. Tech cool does not strike me as D&D as well as it may be executed cleanly. D&D is bold and confidant like #7, which may be my pick overall, but many more variations and different styles would be needed to draw it out. Too much is missing. A faint nod towards fantasy that would fit on the image of the original MM wouldn't be bad either (though I can understand portraying more mastery in such a cover nowadays).
The rock & roll gig is cool. It's like Harley-F**-Davidson. It shouts out arena rock, but, as much as I like the retro leanings, it isn't what I see as a long lasting logo for a D&D to never have any more editions, but be everlasting with only future reiterations.
The old logos all have problems IMO. The early stuff was a capitalized wild west or bland font. Advanced was iconic for a long time, but it is smushed together and doesn't need to be brought back. 3E actually gets lost in its shield as up to date as it brought us. And 4e looked too bland and boring and didn't change enough. It lost the sword and shield and other fantastic elements, but kept everything red. If anything the "4e" & "3e" razor logos were probably the best work of the recent era. I'm reminded that stuff becomes tradition very quickly 'round here, so another red lettered logo and it may become too iconic to drop as well in the future.
Coloring leads to another concern, horizontal or stacked wording. I think Klaus's comments on wotc's site are the most illuminating. The logo needs to be easy to read, the ubiquitous ampersand needs to be well placed, but lettering size matters too. Horizontal would be a real change and something that a long name, unique in brand identity currently, could emphasize. Of course all that goes against contemporary branding theory, where logos are more often without lettering at all now. Simplicity and clarity are considered very important for the fraction of a second imprinting on memory by the big brand names. I know Klaus pointed out how the D&D portion of the overall logo could be dropped in one of the earlier edition versions (4e I think). Maybe something could be done to create a bold, undeniable, unforgettable, and incapable of being confused symbol for "D&D"? Maybe the ampersand becomes the symbol all one needs on paper to identify it? Maybe the D too?
The thing is, a horizontal logo that really lays about the place, so to speak, could be used on printed products and glamor banners, while symbol elements of it could be used for a ubiquitous icon campaign. (Remember when 1989 Batman completely changed changed how brand icons worked?) This stuff part of and even wholly a company's product now. It can be sold itself in a hundred different ways. I can see T-shirts with Erol Otus characters on 20-somethings out partying. I can see Trampier's intellect devourer on car decals. An iconic symbol beyond just the logo would need to flow smoothly between all such works and be representative of the game, hobby, and company.
As much as there is a lot of cool stuff in the suggestions presented, I just wasn't feeling any one of them so much. All I can say is, keep digging. Treasure can be found.
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