Reasons of why studio logos are important
1. A logo symbolizes your company's core values and gives a strong first impression to consumers about who you are.
2. A unique logo helps your company visually stand out, catching the eye and grabbing attention.
3. A logo fosters brand loyalty, awareness, and consistency.
Detailed logo investigation:
Dreamworks‘ logo evolution
1998 – 2004: Black serif text separated with a solid black line
2004-2006: “SKG” is added, meaning the initials of founders– Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen.
Spielberg wanted this logo to symbolize the golden age of Hollywood. He initially intended to utilize computer graphics but was persuaded against the idea by Robert Hunt, who eventually hand-drew the logo.
Robert Hunt replaced the adult with a boy. The image of the child was copied from Robert's son, William Hunt. Steven Spielberg borrowed the idea of the crescent from Amblin Entertainment; the centerpiece of its emblem is a full moon, past which a bicycle flies by.
2007 – 2018: the fishing rod was simplified and sub text was placed between the two lines, colour was changed from black to sky blue
Present version:
The elements are now enclosed in a blue circle and surrounded by a white background. The second line has been removed from the title, while "DreamWorks" has been enlarged for emphasis. This updated logo appears more contemporary and cohesive.
Another light-colored logo version was created during its evolution.
On it, the boy is being carried up into the sky by colorful air balloons. Then, the balloons burst into the word "DreamWorks". This colorful font creates an upbeat feel that is usually enjoyed by children. The clouds contribute to creating a dreamlike atmosphere.
How DreamWorks customizes its logo?
DreamWorks logo variations: https://youtu.be/9ssOiY7Y71Y
The DreamWorks logo engages with the audience by adjusting its tone to match the style of the cartoons, thereby establishing a connection between the title sequence and the plots in the film.
In Kung Fu Panda
In Madagaskar 2
The effect of this logo:
The boy fishing scene evokes the audience's childhood memories, while the classic serif font creates a sense of nostalgia. The supernatural setting of sitting on a moon brings about a fairytale feeling, speaking to the inner child within each and every one of us. This logo indicates DreamWorks' animation style and gives the audience a clear impression that the story will be lively and positive, incorporating elements of comedy and fantasy.
My own logo:
initial planning
I initially considered using dice and slot machines as the main elements because they symbolize uncertainty in gambling and are relatively easy to use. Then, I shifted my focus to animals, such as the fat bird with glasses and thick eyebrows pig, which are icons of Louis and Danny. I used a modern sans-serif font in French, which Chinese people usually associate with big luxury brands but here it is purely sarcasm. Lastly, I explored using people by creating clown characters with pale faces adorned with bright face paint. The outlines were further simplified to highlight their key features.
Deep research-The Brand Culture
As the key element of a logo, an icon captures the audience's attention and leaves a lasting impression in the hearts of consumers. When a film company gains fame, this effect extends to its studio logo. However, when it comes to my personal logo, I prefer to convey connotations through intersectionality—a more direct approach that effectively communicates the tone and setting of the film.
By commenting on brand image and commerciality-Andy Warhol
below are parts of mine analysis on Warhol's artistic practice
Warhol’s art is taken from obvious subjects of everyday life and he denies the traditional aesthetic illusion. However, he is different from other artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, who also incorporate everyday objects into their paintings. He disregarded the Modernist idea of Abstract Expressionism, as ‘mercilessly debunking Modernist protocols’. Warhol’s style is not expressive or individual, there is a lack of personal engagement and emotional links as an artist. Hence, Warhol used the subject of mass consumption that intended to evoke and focus on the personal experience of every audience equally. Take an example of his painting of Marilyn Monroe, the art accomplished ‘infinite possibility of reproduction, and the disconnection between the image and lived experience’. The real impression the audience have on her, the depiction of being glamorous and sexy, and the notorious life she experienced is not displayed explicitly. This visualisation of Marilyn Monroe can only be linked to the real world through additional interpretations.
This unique artistic approach of disentangling the artist's emotions is similar to Duchamp's practice. "In Warhol's best paintings - the sloppy, silk-screen memento mori of screen stars, singers, and other American celebrities and grotesques - powerfully illustrate the distinction between secular images that underlie the artwork and express the terrible absence of the depicted, and true icons, which are painted figurations that express their immanent and intoxicating presence," connecting them to real-world experiences through additional interpretations.
In this case, the aesthetic is generated through the context of celebrity culture rather than solely relying on the presentation of the celebrity itself. The identity of Marilyn Monroe, who is both a media commodity and a product of entertainment, is utilized. All aesthetic experiences are guided by the audience's perspective rather than that of the artist himself.
In his artwork "Two Hundred Campbell's Soup Cans," which features ten rows and twenty columns of various soup flavors, and "Two Hundred and Ten Coke Bottles," which showcases different levels of liquid coke remaining in them, Warhol effectively conveys the concepts of conformity and uniqueness within mass production and individual choice. Through his art, he successfully elevates mass-produced goods into forms of artistic expression while encouraging viewers to form their own opinions.
Warhol’s capture in the brand culture is crucial for both his artistic and commercial success. The classical marketing message of coke, its commercial symbols and cultural codes are both used by Warhol to create intertextuality. Coke did not categories their product through quality and price, ‘Coke represents America - a land of opportunity, a melting pot of classes and races; a place where class distinctions fade’. In Warhol’s series of Coca-Cola paintings, he made coke as a symbolic representation of ‘access, choice and opportunity’. ‘Coke is always the same, always Coke, never different’. This unity and equality act as a bridge that connects customers and brands through mutual ideology and belief. In this sense, coke is a ‘psychological entity as much as a physical product‘, its value grows from a physical drink to a visualization of spiritual wealth. In this case, the nature of Warhol’s art is commerciality, and the aesthetic experience is generated through commercial activity.
Warhol’s artistic value is also presented in his silkscreen printed ‘Brillo boxes’, which have an emphasis on the process of mass production. ‘Brillo’ is a trade name for a scouring pad that became popular and domestic in the 1920s. Yet, another symbol of mass production and household items, originally mediocre but got promoted to art forms by Warhol. Warhol’s reproductions were virtually indistinguishable from the real versions in the supermarket. As Warhol said, he ‘wanted something ordinary’, the brands that we encounter in our everyday life. The ‘first Boxes ranged from $200 to $400 in 1964’, and as Warhol’s fame grew over time, the value increased extraordinarily to $710’000 at Christies’ New York in 2006. In this case, the price skyrocketed while the artistic value remained the same. As price is determined by ‘an artist’s exhibition history, sales history and career level'. Thus, concluding the influence of the market had on Warhol’s work, as the brand of Warhol represents status symbols and collectible signs of wealth, regardless of the actual content of the work.
Another example is the painting ‘The Last Supper’ (1986) that reanimates Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th century sacred mural. Warhol combined sacred Jesus and mundane companies’ brand, creating a juxtaposition of consumption and Christianity by ‘commenting on creation (GE brings good things to life), cleansing (Dove soap and its peace-loving logo), and power (General Electric's famous light bulbs)’. At the end, reaching a radical aesthetic expression that satires both the brand culture and the religious belief. However, the satire is not plain and balanced at all, ‘despite our rampant consumerism, it is our underlying beliefs that strengthen and sustain us after all’. This amplifies the profound impact of sacramental imagery has on human history, as Warhol himself was born in the Byzantine Catholic Church and was a devout Catholic. The ‘dove’ from the Dove logo is relocated above Jesus’s head. This cultural code allows John the Baptist to recognize Jesus for “when heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended [ed] upon [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove’. In addition, with the parallel of the General Electric motto ‘we bring good things to light’ also alludes to the God of all creations in the Bible. Thus, it can be argued that the aesthetic experience generated by this unique connection between commercial activity and religious belief- overlaps of different messages within different cultural background. Warhol exposed this emotional connection and image management of brand culture, and relocated them into artwork. As a result, the artistic expression of brands helped to foster the commerciality of the work, and increase its commercial value within the market.
My Logo
Lao Gan Ma (Chinese: 老干妈; also called Laoganma) or Old Godmother is a brand of chili sauces made in China.
I chose Lao Gan Ma as the primary source of inspiration because it is a local brand and domestic product. It serves as a great way to connect with the audience. This cultural code of contemporary Chinese food, similar to Coke, also breaks class boundaries by being a democratic commercial product.
Real life and hyperreal
The portrait of Lao Gan Ma is an essential component of the brand logo. I experimented with some portraits of my classmates, using bright tones and high contrast to create a comedic effect and evoke an upbeat feeling. Additionally, I incorporated symbolic codes (Barthes) of femininity, such as red lips and pink cheeks. Furthermore, I included text to explicitly convey meaning. This inspiration draws from artist René Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" (1929).
Words such as Gangster and
General are nicknames (derived from jokes about pronunciation and personality) given to my classmates, but in this context, they create false meanings that result in a unique presentation reshaping the original subject into hyperreality (according to Baudrillard). For the audience familiar with these individuals in real life, this adds an additional
layer of comedic effect.
I also attempted to incorporate multiple figures in the image to depict relationships and collaborations in the process of film making. For instance, by utilizing the technique of glaze direction (inspired by Barthes' compositional effect), I aimed to create a binary opposition while emphasizing the main subject of the image through a light hoop.
In addition, the digital world has an effect of offering an alternative to the pop art style, which gives it an even more contemporary feeling. I took inspiration from the film 'Matrix' to create the concept of 'flowing codes' and enigmas portrayed in a futuristic story.
FINAL PRODUCT-1
Lao Gan Die
I have combined the format of Lao Gan Ma and added Louis' face, forming a three-step sequence that provides depth in layers. I have chosen bright yellow and black as the theme colors, alluding to traditional Chinese advertisements with bold text and simple slogans.
As a comedy, I included inappropriate and sexual innuendos in the opening to immediately capture the audience's attention, such as using words like "sexy" and "hot." Additionally, I added a trademark symbol to enhance the sense of authenticity. However, for the background music, I used an authorized logo from the Film and Television of the People's Republic of China. This title sequence carries significant political weight in every Chinese film release; nevertheless, it is juxtaposed with hilarious facial expressions and the use of Comic Sans font to undermine its authority.
The original 'dragon' logo
FINAL PRODUCT-2
撸rex
The name of the studio is derived from the condom brand Durex, with 'Du' changed to 'Lu' as a proairetic code for masturbation in Chinese pronunciation. I also assisted in producing Louis's studio logo. The second studio logo (Louis) took a different approach, using Okamoto size-001 condoms as the primary source. Unlike Lao Gan Die, there is no juxtaposition of seriousness here; instead, sexual desire and "low-class" entertainment are deliberately maximized.
For the purpose of maintaining a unified tone, we have also incorporated a portrait into the logo, featuring my own face. I utilized Photoshop to alter the background color to pink and added layers of flowers as symbols of femininity. By employing Butler's theory of gender performance, this studio logo serves as a foreshadowing element for an upcoming story in which a male actor (Danny) portrays a female character, while simultaneously providing comedic effects.
For the music, we went for Tokyo Hot, the background music of pornography. This provides a nice parallel with the condom (the symbolic code of sex). The fast and intense beats also have similarities with the genre of comedy.
The Final Sequence
Comentários