This is the logo rundown, your snapshot into what’s going on in the world of logo designs.
We took a little break over the past few months from looking at the good, bad and ugly, but we’re back with some new contenders.
- Facebook/Meta
Everyone’s probably aware now that Facebook has rebranded to “Meta”…I’m sure there had to have already been some such tech entity out there already called “Meta”, but I’d imagine if Facebook wants to throw you a couple million or steamroll you – what can you do.
Sticking with the blue and ultra simplistic, the logo could be seen as many things…an infinity symbol, a circle curved – kind of like a Pringle, a superhero like Robin’s mask, an “m”… The logo first made me think back to the first episode we had of the logo rundown here of the Myntra logo. Whatever you think of it, I’m sure it’s going to be everywhere very soon.
This is not terrible given the amount of concepts you can make out of it – but its the typical minimalist tech logo you’d expect. When you know your primary existence will be a pushpin icon, there’s not a lot of room for detail.
2. Kawasaki
Kawasaki motorcycles have adopted a new logo – somewhat. The logo (right) has been used for over a century in the Kawasaki Heavy Industries branch but will now be adopted by the motorsports division as well as it looks to – you guessed it if you’ve been keeping up with previous auto logos here – go electric. The symbol is apparently a Japanese character for ‘river.’
I can’t help but notice a stylized resemblance to Rush Limbaugh’s EIB logo or the Babylon Bee. Its a clean, symmetrical logo, circle bound and ready for lighting – I’m not sure if this by itself readily screams “Kawasaki”…but there you have it.
3. Cadillac
The Cadillac logo is one of those logos I actually appreciate in that its not afraid to deviate from the norms and add several colors – the Chicago Blackhawks being a good example, I like the logo but I don’t follow the team, I’m a Hurricanes fan, so when someone wants to walk over and talk Blackhawks with me because of my hat – I just need a new hat I guess, but I digress. Now, when you take a logo that’s based on color and remove the color…this is what you get. Cadillac needs a new new logo now.
They removed the color from their shield style logo – undoubtedly because like every other car company that we’ve looked at, they’re looking to go electric and coming up with a new logo to backlight that badboy up. And with Cadillac, a bunch of lights or a multicolor semi transparent emblem might be a no-go. So, they just removed the color and it looks like a half-assed Transformers logo.
This logo is desperately trying to move forward AND hold on to the legacy…like a person who can’t really swim getting into the pool but clinging to the wall. It’s time to sink or swim, Cadillac.
4. Savannah Ghost Pirates
I came across this logo for a regional farm ice hockey team that was just created for the ECHL, the Ghost Pirates. This logo looks fun and very well done. The team name is fun and the designer made a great use of the green color accenting it.
Typically I just buy sports team caps because I know the quality of the hat will be good – however with some of the farm teams, the quality is lacking. I understand, they don’t have the revenue that the big leagues (NHL) have, but they really should invest in quality gear. Like Georgia doesn’t have a hockey team anymore, down in South Carolina they’d go for this – but the quality has to be there. I bought a Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (hockey team from Roanoke, VA) hat and while I was eager to support the team and think the logo is interesting – the quality of the cap was so lacking that I just tossed it in my closet. Down tier leagues can have these sort of more wacky names and their gear game for which they move their logos should be upped. I think the MiLB has the best support in this area. Anyway, good logo.
5. Ant-Man and Wasp 3 – Quantumania
This is one of those I come across and part of the headline is “twitter is losing its mind”…again, everything with those people is either 0 or 10…the emotional capacity of a 2 year old. Anyway, the hulabuloo is over the “Quantumania” part of this leaked logo for the upcoming film.
Sure, it’s unreadable. Maybe it’s supposed to be sort of alien – can’t say for sure because I haven’t seen the film and I’ve never read or had the desire to read an Ant-Man comic book – ever. I actually like it the more I’m looking at it. Kind of looks like it could be a death metal band’s typeface on an album cover. Actually, this is real-time thinking outloud – but I enjoy this because it doesn’t look obvious, it looks like something the viewer has to work for, it doesn’t hold your hand through it. And bravo for whoever actually green-lit this. Balls.
6. Bandai Namco
Bandai Namco went from the overlaid shapes with white lettering to safely housing the name in a rectangle. When you’re an accounting firm, sure just put your company name in a rectangle and call it a day. When you’re a game company – what are you doing. It’s not ‘funned’ up by the fascia either.
Yes, the old logo – particularly the color scheme – is a bit dated looking, but there’s an iteration of the old logo that could have for sure updated more creatively and inspiring than that. Nothing unique, nothing stand-out about that logo…I mean, this is the company that brought you Pac-Man!
As of now, the website, store and everything I see still has the overlay logo, so perhaps they scrapped the rectangle. That Elden Ring is a very beautiful looking game.
7. My Wizard of Oz logo
I am an artist and I’ve been making some Wonderful Wizard of Oz stuff over the past while. I had wine glasses and have painted abstract oil inspired by the book and am working on a series of concept art for the characters. With this series,, I created a basic logo and had stickers made that I give away with purchases.
I usually paint and draw in a pointillist/stippling style, so I wanted to include my use of dots in the logo – so the Roy Lichtenstein style ben day dots seemed like a good route. Much like the Ant-Man – Quantumania logo we looked at before, I want the viewer to work for this. I don’t want to hold their hand too much on it…I’ll hold your hand here – BUT ONLY HERE THIS ONCE – on what’s going on. So the scene is simplified into 4 color zones – primaries and green with black lining. It’s the yellow brick road cutting through a poppy field leading to the Emerald City. Imposed are a brain, a heart and a bottle. There’s a little play going on here – if you don’t know better, you think ‘my brain loves alcohol’ or something fun to that effect – but it’s simply what the 3 Ozmites, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and the Lion all wanted a brain, a heart and courage – respectively. The ‘wizard’ ultimately gave the Scarecrow a brain of straw and pins, the Tinman a sawdust filled heart and the Lion a drink of courage…
I get my stickers made through Sticker Mule – very good quality. I’ve had a few stickers on cups and cars for over a year and there’s no fading, no nothing, excellent quality.
So that’s that. I hope you enjoyed this post – if you’d like to check out my artwork and maybe even buy something, check out my Etsy shop here https://www.etsy.com/shop/BumpkinPatchGallery?ref=seller-platform-mcnav – there are sales regularly and I ship quick and if your country is not accommodated through Etsy and you’d like a painting of mine, just give me an email jnhilldesign@gmail.com or message me through Etsy and we will get it figured out. You can also find me on instagram @bumpkinpatchgallery. Have a great week and I’ll be back with a new post.
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