The Who. Designed by Brian Pike, 1964
This logo was originally designed by Brian Pike for the promotion of the band’s debut at London’s the Marquee Club
on the 24th, November, 1964. The show was publicized by the new band’s
manager Lambert & Stamp, who made these special black and white
posters and concession cards get printed under the tagline of "Maximum
R&B". This poster has remained as one of the most classic images in
the history of rock music. Curiously, this logo was never used on any of the band’s albums but has remained their most famous identity.
The Who poster, 1964
This logo shows a clever way of how to turn a normal bold lettering
into an original identity with just a couple of adjustments. First, by
merging the letter "H" from both names, creating a feeling of unity and a
nice balance on the whole wording. Also, by merging the letters "T" and
"H” to enforce this same feeling of unity. The addition of the arrow to
the letter "O" provides the logo with an uplifting, powerful and
dynamic strength, and closes the whole wording at the same time. This
arrow also ads the mod image that the band’s managers decided to project at the time, being the arrows an important icon in mod and pop art. This logo also symbolizes the freshness and wildness of The Who’s music in the early 60’s perfectly.
Grateful Dead. Designed by Bob Thomas, 1969
This Grateful Dead logo is just one of the different versions that
the artist Bob Thomas did for the band throughout their career. The
logotype was originally commissioned to Bob Thomas by the band in 1969.
It was a version of a former logo that had been designed with the
purpose of marking the flight-cases of the band in order to identify
them easily during their tours. The original logo only featured the
blue, red and white circle with the ray, and was usually sprayed on the
flight-cases. This way, Thomas added the skull image to it. The logo was
not used on an album cover until the release of "Steal Your Face" in
1976. It was also used later in a couple of compilations, it still
remains as the main identity for the band. In 1992, a year before his
death, Bob Thomas revisited the logo to produce 50 signed, numbered and
hand colored prints as a hardwood block engraving.
"Steal Your Face", 1976
Grateful Dead’s logo is a nice example of how a simple drawing can
project an strong image for a band. In the skull is recognizable Bob
Thomas’ drawing style, influenced by art-nouveau and so popular during
the 60’s poster art in California. It also shows a beautiful way of
balancing the colors in a "Yin-Yang" style.
The Rolling Stones. Designed by John Pasche,1971
This logo was originally designed for The Rolling Stones own record
label identity in 1971 and was first reproduced on the inner sleeve of
the "Sticky Fingers" album. The original cover art was made by Andy
Warhol, which caused the wrong impression that he also designed the
logo. This logo remained as the main identity of the band throughout the
years, even when it was not reproduced on album covers very often.
Goddess Kali,19th century
John Pasche was a 25 year old student at London’s Royal College of
Art when he asked by the Stones’ management to design a poster for the
band’s European tour. Apparently, Mick Jagger turned up at John Pasche‘s
final degree show where the poster was on display. Soon after, Mick
Jagger asked him to design a logo for The Rolling Stones record label
and showed him an image of the Hindu Goddess Kali, which was his
starting point. The work was done in about two weeks and he was just
paid £50 for the task. Two years later, he was paid another £200 as a
recognition from the band to its success. The copyright of the logo was
lately bought by the band, but Pasche still owned the original artwork,
which is currently on sale for £300,000 at the artist’s web site.
"Sticky Finger", 1972
John Pasche designed four
tour posters for the Rolling Stones between 1970 and 1974 and also
worked for other reputed artists, such as Paul McCartney, The Who, The
Stranglers and Dr Feelgood. He works as a freelance designer in Surrey,
UK, and he still remains a fan of the band, as he says "I have fond
memories of a good working relationship with them. The logo is one of
the strongest and most recognizable worldwide. And of course I’m proud
of that."
The Rolling Stones logo is an unique icon in pop art, based in curvy
shapes and plastic volumes. It has everything a logo must have to be
perfect. It is simple, it works good just in three colors and all sizes,
it could fit anywhere, it sticks in your mind and is easy to recognize.
And the most important, it expresses in one sight exactly what the
music from the band represents: a mixture of wildness, sensuality,
freshness and provocation. On top of that, it happens to resemble Mick
Jagger’s famous lips.The way that Pasche worked with the curvy forms is
just perfect. The white reflections on the lips provide the logo with a
plastic and fresh look that fits perfectly with the image of pop
music. Another achievement from the artist was to include the teeth,
which gives the logo an aggressive and and defiant look. I have seen
dozens of logos featuring lips and tongue, but none can be compared to
this one by far.
Yes. Designed by Roger Dean, 1972
Roger Dean is one of the most reputed illustrators and designers related to rock
music who earned a reputation during the 70’s, especially for his
numerous works for the band Yes. This was in fact the third logo
designed for the band. The first one was originally designed by the
band’s guitarist Peter Banks in 1969 and was featured in the cover of
their debut album. The second logo was designed by Dean for the
"Fragile" album in 1972. But, not satisfied with his work, Roger Dean
decided to create a new version for the band’s following album "Close
To The Edge", which became the famous trade-mark for the band and was
used in most of their discography.
Yes "Fragile" logo
The Yes logo is one of the most popular band logos from the 70’s and
one of the most beautiful ever designed. Is one of the most
representative works from Roger Dean‘s
style, influenced by Western art, art-nouveau and the psychedelic
poster art. In this logo, Dean achieved simplicity, originality and
balance in a brilliant way. This logo couldn’t get any better than it
was when it was designed more than 30 years ago and it has been
described by experts as a "calligraphed colophon".
"Close to the Edge", 1972
In the sketch featured here, taken from Roger Dean’s book "Views",
you can see the process he went through to give life to the logo from
his original idea. An architect and furniture designer, Roger Dean
worked with the curves in an elegant and natural way, providing to the
image of the band with dynamism and a feeling of powerful flow. This
logo represents perfectly the fantastic and surrealistic world of Yes
music that Dean also pictured in his cover art for the band. It is also
an example of how Roger Dean was one of the artists who made good use of the stroke in logo design, which became a personal signature on his works.
Roger Dean’s original sketches
The craftsmanship that Dean demonstrated drawing curves and strokes,
considering that no computers were used at the time, is pretty amazing.
Another clever thing about this logo is the way that Dean introduced the
feeling of 3D and volume in the lettering, turning the logo into
something half-way between a living creature and a landscape, especially
by turning the letters "Y" and "S" into a one form that crawls into the
hole of the letter "E". Finally, the whole logo is reinforced by this
form by underlining the word and distributing the vertical space.
After this logo, Roger Dean
later used this personal style of lettering for all Yes albums and other
artists, including Yes guitarist Steve Howe, Osibisa, Greenslade, and
Asia. This logo was used in most of the extensive discography from the
band. It was put to rest for a couple of albums in the mid 80’s (one of
them featuring a new logo by design guru Peter Max), and later recovered
by the band in 1991 until today. The original logo work is today
showcased with several album covers in the permanent collection of
Victoria And Albert Museum in London. Roger Dean has developed numerous versions of the logo throughout the years, as you may see in the sample.
Other versions of R. Dean’s Yes logo
Emerson Lake And Palmer. Designed by H. R. Giger, 1973
Emerson Lake and Palmer’s logo is actually the most reputed anagram in rock music. It was originally designed in 1973 by Swiss artist H.R. Giger as part of the cover art for the band’s fifth studio album "Brain Salad Surgery".
In 1972, Emerson Lake and Palmer’s Swiss agent contacted Giger
to commission him for the artwork of their forthcoming album, which at
the time was going to be entitled "Whip Some Skull On Ya". This logo was
used by the band ever since and was extremely popular during the 70’s.
"Brain Salad Surgery", 1973
H. R. Giger gained
international popularity in 1979 after wining an Oscar for his work for
the all time classic sci-fi movie "Alien". He has also worked on cover
art for artists such as Debbie Harrie, Magma, the krautrock band Floh De Cologne, and he even designed a mic-stand for the band Korn.
This work is an excellent example of how to make a long name fit into a simple and effective logo. Giger
found a clever way to make the anagram work by balancing the circles in
the letters "E" and "P" to encircle the whole thing. He also balanced
the rest with a long vertical center spinal formed by "L" and "P". This
is a wonderful lesson of balance and economy in logo design.
Kiss. Designed by Ace Frehley, 1973
Surprisingly, the famous Kiss logo was designed by no other than the
band’s guitarist Ace Frehley in 1973 for the band’s second album "Hotter
Than Hell" and used by the band ever since. The design of the logo was
part of a decision from the band to project the band visually by using
the comic style and sci-fi costumes and make-up that made them worldly
famous.
"Hotter Than Hell", 1973
The Kiss logo is one of the most simple lettering ever and it works perfectly for the band. Like other heavy rock
bands, it expresses wonderfully the feeling of power and strength. In
this case, the combination of vertical and diagonal lines is perfect,
and the way that Frehley used the convenience of having two twins
letters together couldn’t get any better. Despite it has been pointed
that this lettering was inspired in the SSS nazi lettering, Frehley has
often refuted this.
AC/DC. Designed by Gerard Huerta, 1976
AC/DC’s original logo was designed by Gerard Huerta
for the original cover of the European/USA release of the band’s
fourth album "Let There Be Rock" and it has remained as the main
identity of the band for the rest of it’s career. Curiously, it was not
used in the following album from the band but it was recovered in 1978
for the cover of "If You Want Blood You’ve Got It" and was later used in
most of the band’s albums.
The logo was originally designed as a lettering for the band’s name when, in July 1976, Gerard Huerta was commissioned by Bob Defrin of Atlantic Records. A year later, Huerta was hired to design the orange beveled AC/DC logo.
"Let There Be Rock", 1976
As the artist has explained, this logo was originally inspired by a former work that he did for a pioneering gothic rock band:
"I designed a piece of lettering for a live Blue Öyster Cult album for
John Berg called “On Your Feet or On Your Knees†The album showed a
church on the front with the Cults’ limo on the cover. The back was a
photo by Don Hunstein of me holding a bible with the credits on it. My
thought on the cover was to take the metallic car marque idea and
combine it with lettering reminiscent of the Bible. I remembered this
lettering when designing one of the AC/DC sketches and used this as my
source. So you see that this logo is more Gutenberg than goth."
Gerard Huerta works today as reputed designer of lettering and logotypes. He has said about his work: "This
was just a job like any other record job: you did some sketches and you
did a finish. I have never really used that art for promoting myself as
it was probably one of only two jobs in my career that shared an
unusual quality in my work: it was all made out of straight lines. This
was not particularly virtuosic for one who prided himself on custom hand
lettering. I have recently resurrected my credit for it as it seems to
touch a lot of generations. This and some guitar playing has indeed made
me cool with all my children’s friends. How’s that?!"
This logo was a major influence in heavy rock and heavy metal design and, accidentally, created a link between these music genres and the gothic lettering. Gerard Huerta‘s
work is simple and effective, the angular lines and strong body of the
lettering represent perfectly the power of AC/DC’s sound.
Sex Pistols. Designed by Jamie Reid, 1977
Jamie Reid’s design for Sex Pistols represents one of the wonders
about how a proper image can launch a product successfully to the
audience and reinforce their original spirit. Many music critics wonder
today if the Sex Pistols would had been as famous if it was not for the
visual support of Jamie Reid, manager John Malcolm McLaren, and fashion
designer Vivian Westwood.
"God Save The Queen", 1977
This logo was designed by Jamie Reid for the Sex Pistols single "God
Save The Queen", released in July 1977. Reid also worked for other
artists such as the Dead Kennedys and was one of the most representative
artists from the British underground scene and DIY art, who helped
create a subversive image for the Sex Pistols. He has later worked to
artists such as Afro Celt Sound System.
This logo is a nice sample of the collage techniques that Jamie Reid
was using during the 70’s, making the band’s name appear as ransom note.
The cutting and pasting technique provided the logo with a dynamic and
anarchic feeling that fits the music perfectly. With this look, Reid
brought a breath of fresh air to image in rock music in the 70’s and was very influential during the 80’s.
Björk. Designed by Paul White,1993
Björk’s logo was originally designed by Paul White
for the release of the Icelandic singer’s "Debut" album in 1993 , and
first released in the edition of 12" "Venus As A Boy". This logo was
only used during the first three albums from the artist and was later
dropped when the singer started working with other designers.
"Venus As A Boy", 1993
Paul White set up Me
Company in 1985, focusing largely on the music business and including a
narrow collaboration with One Little Indian record label. About his
relationship with the Björk, White has said: "Probably the most interesting projects I’ve been involved with came from the long-running relationship with her"
Paul White has also
designed numerous works for Björk’s former band, Sugar Cubes, as well
as the artwork for the singer’s first three albums and included 3D
modeling. He has also worked under different aliases for numerous music
artists, such as the Swans, Foetus, Test Dept, and Nick Cave.
Other versions of Björk’s logo
This logo is effective, has a strong presence, and it represents the
world of futuristic technology that characterizes Björk’s early works
perfectly. It represents a new generation in computer design with a
strong focus on organic geometry. The original lettering created by
White was used fin the first three Björk’s albums as well as in
numerous 12" releases and merchandising. This logo was very influential
futuristic lettering style in techno and electronic music genres during the 90’s. Out of this logo, other simple versions were also designed featuring only the letter "B".
Jamiroquai. Designed by Jason Kay, 1993
This logo was designed for Jamiroquai’s debut album "Emergency On Planet
Earth" and was used in the band’s following three albums. It was
allegedly created by the band’s vocalist Jason Kay.
"Emergency On Planet Earth"1993
Jamiroquai’s logo is a nice example of how an image can identify a
product. In this case, the band is represented by the figure of lead
vocalist Jason Kay. This logo was accompanied by a smart marketing
campaign in which the artist appeared on the videos wearing the same
indian buffalo hat that shows in the drawing. Jamiroquai’s silhouette is
nice, recognizable and easy to catch in a glance. It also features one
of the characteristic dancing poses from the singer. This logo is a
classic image in pop music from the 90’s.
Other top rock band logo designs
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