Logo Blog is more then just logos and logo design. Lets take a look at some more obscure designs and design ideas in a new feature called Design That’s New To You.

Saturday night is considered date night, movie night, clubbing night, or whatever you enjoy doing on your weekend to let loose and just relax. Well I have discovered the many pluses of a DVR and on a cold Saturday night indoors, I decided to stay home and happened to find a great classic ready for me to watch: “The Princess Bride.” This is one of those great guilty pleasure movies that not everyone really wants to admit that they love (especially guys) but everyone does. It’s one of those movies that’s right up there with “Labyrinth,” “The Neverending Story” and “The Dark Crystal.” Admit it, you love those movies too, but while I was watching, I decided to do a Google search for a little background information and how to finally obtain a DVD copy when I noticed something worth writing a post about.

Below is the cover for the 20th anniversary edition of “The Princess Bride,” and in the center of the DVD design is a fantastic ambigram for the movie title. I think that this intricate and well thought out way of titling is just a fascinating form of art that is not used very often. The reason for its scarcity is probably because these designs are so hard to create. Just in case you haven’t heard of these interesting artistic creations, ambigram also means inversion and is a graphic figure that spells out one or more words as it is presented, but also spells the same word or words if flipped or inverted in some way.

Ambigrams are used often in tattoo design since they can be read upside down. People choose them for foot tattoos since the foot is looked at from multiple angles. The great curves in the ambigram lettering are what allow it to be inverted. They look decorative; however they serve a necessary purpose by creating the other side of the letters.

I knew about these designs before but hadn’t thought about it in a while. If it weren’t for “The Princess Bride,” they would have remained in the back of my memory. Thankfully, this enjoyable movie has brought forth a fantastic design inspiration that seemed to get buried among all the high tech graphics that we use and love today. What a great Saturday night discovery! “Inconceivable!”

After spending a lot of time keeping myself updated on the latest “weekly inspirations” or design tutorials or even the newest films to hit theaters, I noticed how dark and gothic artistic designs have become over the years. Why is there such a need to display one’s dark side? In our day and age, we see a ton of depression, mood disorders and suicidal behavior all around us. It’s everywhere! Movies, photos, our choice in clothing and even logos all have a demonic notion that is, for the most part, almost sickening. As adaptive creatures by nature; we take on the qualities we are surrounded with. Are all of these dark, graphic images taking over our subconscious and bringing on more dark feelings? This could possibly be the reason for a lot of the depression that exists in people today.

Take notice of popular trends in our society. No one is truly original, but just copies off what they see around them. Our entire world is based on this. Each a piece of graphic design history. Once something is popular, it doesn’t take long for companies to market on it and sell products. Art is no different and once dark images became interesting, since it was something new and different; the trend spiraled and is now uncontrollable. Is the behavior of our society based on these dark concepts and images that we see all the time? What is it that draws us to these? I think there is an interest in our minds because dark or demonic concepts are something we can’t see or prove and something we fear. Our society is best for playing on our fears. The media knows this and uses it as much as pharmaceutical companies and just about everything does to sell a product. Fear is all around us and as curious beings; we have an interest in the unknown.

Tim Burton is one example that quickly comes to mind. He is widely popular for his dark imagery and it seems to be all that he knows how to do. Even his logo has a foreboding feel with the leafless tree branches and the dark silhouette of a person looming under the thin letters. Every artistic creation he has produced has some sort of dark concept behind it. Most of his work is all based on death, yet he has millions of fans who go above and beyond to prove how much they adore him.

Logo designs follow these dark trends as well. Since logos progress the way art does, there is no doubt that logos would take on a dark, ominous style. Why so dark and frightening? What ever happened to happy images full of life and color. Have we grown to a point where we need darkness and unsettling feelings in our guts to be interested in anything? Personally, it saddens me. Although I support change and progression in art and design inspiration , I wanna know why we turn to the dark side for inspiration. When did good stop overcoming evil?

Why so dark and frightening? What ever happened to happy images full of life and color. Have we grown to a point where we need darkness and unsettling feelings in our guts to be interested in anything? Personally, it saddens me. Although I support change and progression in art and design, I wanna know why we turn to the dark side for inspiration. When did good stop overcoming evil?

Since my last post about the show “Lost,” got a lot of hype, I decided to write a little more about it. I don’t really watch much prime time TV, I usually have too many other things to do, but I always make an exception when it comes to the logos of Lost on Wednesday nights. The group of characters we follow, are currently in the future facing the ultimate question of if they should or should not return to the island that has forever changed their lives. All this time travel has made me remember past episodes to see how it all fits together. As I looked back, I noticed all of the other logos that I did not mention in my last post and thought it would be interesting to bring them to light. The Dharma logos within the show really have some interesting meanings behind them. They are all octagonal shapes which are based on the bagua, a Chinese group of diagrams consisting of three broken or unbroken lines. All of the dharma logos have different symbols in the center and appear in different places on the island. These symbols are a mystery to our characters as they try to figure out the secrets of the island they inhabit. Here are a few examples. What do you think their meanings are?

For all of those major fans, I’m sure one can find sites that explain what they mean, but I want to hear real opinions. Why are specific logos located at specific stations on the island? What do they mean and where did they come from? Are they traditional images that date back? Since the octagon contains Chinese trigrams, are the images based on Chinese culture? What do you think?

For all of those major fans, I’m sure one can find sites that explain what they mean, but I want to hear real opinions. Why are specific logos located at specific stations on the island? What do they mean and where did they come from? Are they traditional images that date back? Since the octagon contains Chinese trigrams, are the images based on Chinese culture? What do you think?

Hello everyone, I just wanted to take the time to introduce the newest member of the Logo Blog team. I’ll still stick around as Editor in Chief, but our contributing staff writer Nora Reed will be writing posts in the future. She’s got some great ideas and I’m sure you will all love her and her work. She loves comments and opinions, so please feel free to speak up. She is a fellow logo enthusiast, with a great interest in brands, film design , and design inspiration Nora is also a big fan of Paul Rand. Thanks to all of you, for being so loyal and I hope you continue as we explore the wonderful world of logos and graphic design. Peace out!

-Kevin

It’s hard enough to create a logo for a popular sports team or venue, let alone when it is located in New York City. This is a lesson that the designers behind the new Citi Field inaugural season logo are learning now. There have been countless insults dished out online by everyone from on air personalities to average fans alike. It would seem, that the branding solution that the Mets have chosen for this important season hadn’t predicted the high standards of design that the public holds.

Below is the 2009 Inaugural Patch for their new stadium.

Sure it’s clean and not overly flashy, but we have grown accustomed to certain basic elements in a design for this purpose. For instance, if you showed this logo to an unknowing bystander, what would their response be? First, it is very difficult to determine what the logo is for. It really could represent any sport, for any gender, in any city. The only thing we truly know is that in 2009, there is a first season being played for some team, somewhere.

Other teams have taken alternative routes. The Yankees for example:

Now here is the curve ball. The Mets weren’t so different not too long ago. Take a look back just to last year.

The Shea Stadium commemorative logo is similar to the Yankees. You know exactly what is going on. I am a fan of the observer having to do a little thinking, but the new logo seems more like a puzzle than a logo.

Either way, we’re in for a great season of baseball. While the uniforms, patches, and color schemes make little difference in the score, I hope these players perform better for the Mets than their logo did. Thanks to a federal bailout, it looks like we all have a stake in Citi Field.