Top ten rock band symbols. Five stories: The most famous rock band logos Russian rock band logos in vector
Today we offer to recall the most famous logos of bands from all over the world that have long lived outside of music and, it seems, are no longer associated with specific musicians.
1. "Snaggletooth" (War-Pig) - Motorhead
The legendary "Snaggletooth", aka "War-Pig", appeared on Motorhead's first studio album in 1975. The main author of the drawing was the artist Joe Petagno, who combined the skulls of a gorilla, a dog and a wild boar to create a "fighting pig". Lemmy later stylized the character, adding to his brutality through chains and spikes. "War-Pig" appeared in various variations on 20 covers of the band's 22 studio albums. Motorhead branded merchandise has been around for decades.
2.Misfits
The ghost of the Misfits first appeared on the cover of the third single "Horror Business". The musicians, inspired by the series "The Crimson Ghost", filmed in the mid-40s, took the appearance of the main character - the Crimson Ghost as a basis. The image is used everywhere, anywhere, and seems to exist already separately from its cinematic and musical progenitors.
3. Slayer
Thrash metallers Slayer, as well as musicians from Motorhead, have been repeatedly accused of sympathizing with Nazism. The main reason for this was the logo, supposedly similar to the coat of arms of the Third Reich. For the first time, crossed swords with the name of the group in the center appeared on the first album "Show No Mercy" in 1984. The author of the drawing was the father of one of the members of the "road team". At the beginning of their journey, the guys from Slayer used a satanic image, so three sixes, various variations of crosses and images of demons were regularly added to the allegory of the pentagram. Today, the legendary print appears on all kinds of clothing for people far from not only heavy music, but also from understanding the meaning of this image.
4.AC/DC
It's hard not to notice that the name of the group was not difficult to depict in a graphic style. Sharp and angular letters, which in the original version were more rounded, came out from under the hand of American designer Gerard Hurt in 1977, becoming one of the components of hard rock. The lightning symbol located in the middle gave the logo a special recognizability. One of those logos that will be understandable even to those who have never heard their music.
5. "Dead Smile" - Nirvana
For his main project - Nirvana, Kurt Cobain drew the logo himself. Despite the obvious simplicity, the image quite clearly conveys the nature of the music and the style of the grunge band. Known to millions of music lovers, the dead-eyed emoticon did not appear on any of the band's studio or live albums. Reflecting ambiguous emotions, the drawing became popular in itself and is associated with the prototype of Kurt Cobain himself with all his internal struggles and contradictions.
6. Ramones
The Ramones logo is the full seal of the fathers of punk rock, similar in style to the official seal of the President of the United States. The author of the logo was a longtime friend of the musicians Arturo Vega, according to whom the band was the best in America and had every right to borrow the president's seal. As planned, the eagle holds a baseball bat for the opponents of the group and an apple tree branch for the followers. Biographers noted that the musicians earned a tidy sum selling T-shirts with this image, and some punk bands still invent their own variations of the logo.
7. "Hot Lips" - Rolling Stones
Surely everyone knows these "lips" from the cradle - and it doesn't matter if you heard about rock and roll at that moment. The author of the work, John Pace, was 24 years old when Mick Jagger offered him to develop a logo design for the Rolling Stones. Using the prototype of the Hindu goddess Kali, as well as the wishes of Jagger himself, the designer prepared an ambiguous image of lips with a tongue, which looked somewhat provocative and vulgar, especially for the early 70s. However - doesn't all this best describe rock and roll? Almost 50 years after its appearance, the logo does not lose popularity and according to many music magazines is the most successful and recognizable in the world.
Despite the abundance of pop singers and singers on the modern stage, rock, as well as other directions in music, continues to live. We all know bands like AC/DC, KISS, The Rolling Stones and others. They are recognizable not only due to their creativity, but also due to the symbolism that could previously be seen on almost every fence, both here and abroad. Let's see how some of the logos that have become very famous came about.
Let's start with perhaps Grateful Dead
This logo, which has become the band's official logo, is one of many created by Bob Thomas. The logo has been constantly improved as the band has risen to prominence. The first version of the logo appeared in 1969, and the purpose of creating a recognizable sign is to distinguish the group from constant flights / moving during tours. At first it was just a red and blue circle, to which Bob Thomas added a skull. The logo didn't see much use until 1976, when the band decided to add their logo to the cover of the "Steal Your Face" album.
After that, the logo became as recognizable as the musicians themselves, and until now, the simple stylized drawing that you see in the photo is the most recognizable symbol of the group. By the way, the style in which this drawing is made is very interesting - according to Thomas' plan, it should have been something like "Yin-Yang". Indeed, there is something in common.
The Rolling Stones
The symbolism of this famous rock band was created by an ordinary student from London's Royal College of Art. A student was asked to create a poster to "promote" The Rolling Stones' tour of Europe. The poster was so successful that Mick Jagger asked the author to come up with a logo, showing the artist a drawing of the Indian goddess Kali, which he wanted to use as a base.
The work was done, done perfectly, and now the symbol of the group is known to almost every music lover on our planet. By the way, the rights to the drawing, to its original, still belong to the creator, and now he decided to sell his creation for 300 thousand euros. True, the buyer has not yet been found.
It rarely happens that the musicians themselves create a symbol of their own group, without the help of artists and designers. However, the Kiss band did just that - the band's guitarist, Ace Frehley, created the logo back in 1973, for the second album "Hotter Than Hell". Since then, this character has been almost the second "I" of the group.
The logo design was part of the overall idea, with the creation of their own style - painted faces, original stage costumes and everything else. Probably, the popularity of the logo is due to the fact that despite its simplicity, the logo very well symbolizes the strength and energy that is inherent in this team.
This group is very different from the previous one, and yet, in the style of the logo of both groups, there is something in common. The history of the origin of the logo is also somewhat similar: the AC/DC logo was created by Gerard Guerta for the original cover of the "Let There Be Rock" album. Immediately after the release of the album, the sign became a symbol of the group, which is known to all rockers, it is simply impossible to confuse it.
An interesting fact is that the group did not use the symbol until 1978, when the new album "If You Want Blood You've Got It" was released. Fans of the group believe that this particular logo became the link between this musical genre and Gothic symbols.
The first version of the logo of this singer was created by Paul White for the album "Debut", released in 1993. the logo was used for the first three albums and then dropped as the singer began working with other designers.
Paul White also designed the logo for Björk's former band, Sugar Cubes. Some of the work included 3D modeling and other advances in modern computer technology. Interestingly, it was this logo that served as the basis for the formation of the style of groups of a similar genre in the 90s of the last century. Currently, only the first letter of the logo, "b", is most often used in various variations.
This release is a trial one, if you like it, there will be the next ones, because there are many well-known bands, and all of them are interesting in their own way.
A logo is a very important part of a musical group. These images are featured on all releases and posters, as well as on the T-shirts worn by fans around the world. And not only on clothes you can see the logo of any group, often images that are associated with your favorite bands become sketches for tattoos. Here is a selection of the best music logos.
Metallica
The Metallica logo was designed by James Hetfield and first appeared on the cover of Kill Em All (1983). With the release of the Load album in 1986, the original design of the logo was changed, but later the classic version of the image reappeared on the cover of the Death Magnetic album.
Misfits
The idea for the Misfits logo came from well-known horror movie brands. So the skull moved from the poster to the movie The Crimson Ghost, and the font of the logo is reminiscent of the font of the movie magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland.
slipknot
The devilish Slipknot logo was created during the band's founding. The logo consists of nine elements and symbolizes the connection between the team members.
Black Flag
This logo was designed by the brother of the band's founder, Raymond Pettibon. He also came up with a name for the group, which symbolizes anarchy, as Raymond said in an interview. At the age of 12, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl got a tattoo on his left forearm in honor of Black Flag, but due to pain, he could only withstand the application of three stripes of the flag.
AC/DC
The famous AC/DC logo was created by Bob Defrin and Gerard Huerta, and the font for this emblem was taken from the Gutenberg Bible.
Aerosmith
Aerosmith's winged logo was designed by guitarist Ray Tabano. And despite the fact that Ray Tabano played in the group for a short time, he created the emblem that the group uses to this day. And for the first time this logo was depicted on the cover of the album "Get Your Wings" (1994).
Queen
The author of the Queen logo is the legendary Freddie Mercury. He created a whole coat of arms called the Queen Crest. On the logo, you can see four signs of the zodiac around the letter Q, which include the band's musicians.
The Who
The Who is an image that can no doubt be classified as pop art. However, the artist Brian Pike made it only for the group's poster, which announced The Who's performance at London's Marquee Club (1964). And over time, the logo turned into an element of the iconographic style of that time.
motorhead
The Motorhead logo can be safely called the most famous logo in heavy rock. The group's leader, Lemmy Kilmister, asked artist Joe Petango to portray "something between a rusty, rotten, falling apart robot and a knight of a mystical kingdom." And based on these wishes, Joe Petango came up with the sinister image of Snaggletooth or War-Pig, which was first depicted on the cover of Motorhead's self-titled album in 1977.
The Ramones
Artist and longtime friend of the Ramones, Arturo Vega, came up with the emblem in the late 1970s while on a trip to Washington. The Ramones logo is a redesigned US coat of arms with the names of the band members around the edge.
Any work, regardless of its original meaning - whether it is a commercial project, or just a spiritual need, sooner or later faces the issue of promotion - as one of my acquaintances sang, “The thing is that we are not looking for fame, but if we find it, we will not give it to anyone!”
If we talk about music, then of all its directions, rock has, perhaps, the most optimal ratio of the width of the audience to the level of its involvement. And, therefore, the richest treasury of promotion methods.
So, you set out to become famous. The team was found, the style was more or less chosen, the name was invented. It's time to think about the logo. What should he be? To begin with, I propose to familiarize yourself with the results.
Firstly, the color and shape of the logo should reflect the components of your creativity - text, sound, show. In this regard, the first rule:
1. Expression of music in the logo. Take a look at the pictures. On the first of them - the contrast of the brutally bloody "Cannibal Corpse" and "Scorpions", the hallmark of which has always been a clear sound. And in the second picture, the Aria logo repeats the style of the Iron Maiden logo, just like the band itself copies the sound and even fragments of the musical compositions of the kings of heavy metal.
Now, men, remember your childhood! Probably only the laziest of us has never drawn the outlines of the Metallica and AC / DC logos on the wall / desk / notebook cover? This was done even by those who had never heard them. I suspect that you also drew the names of the groups - the leaders of the above-mentioned my survey. Pay attention: the logos of "Alisa" and "DDT" seem to be telling us "Draw me!". I present to you the second rule of the logo for a rock band. Let's call it like this:
2. Ease of reproduction on surrounding objects. This property of the logo is very important, since one of the channels for promoting a rock band is a viral advertisement on architecture, interior, etc., distributed by young fans. And this is no coincidence: rock music carries a doubt in social foundations and a protest against their inviolability, just like the inscription, as it were, points out to the wall its imperfection.
We go further. The logo of a rock band should be easy to apply and look bright on the elements of paraphernalia: T-shirts, hats, bags, pendants, etc. And the more the logo allows to “roam around”, the more people will “dress” it and see it. So the third rule is:
3. Adaptation to the manufacture of paraphernalia. For this, a bright color is preferred, letters of medium thickness, preferably without contours. As for the background, the most convenient color was discovered a long time ago - black. However, he is also the most "beaten". You can, of course, experiment with a different color, but no one dares. Because the more rocker differs in color, the less it is associated with rock.
What else will help give your logo a sustainable characteristic? Of course, the signs that will be the first to tell about the content of your work. Rule four:
4. Additional semiotic elements. They will help identify the philosophy of the group, and therefore contribute to remembering the name. However, they also have a minus - a cliché that will be very difficult to “wash away” in the event of a change in rock direction. Therefore, proceed at your own discretion. So, if you preach the idea of universal love, you can add “pacific” to the logo. If you do not recognize the authority, you can say this with the help of the sign of anarchy. Is your lyrical hero experiencing strong mental anguish? The cross will signify this. Add a pentagram to the logo if your songs are permeated with something terrible and sinister. You can put something mysterious. For example, runes (as it is done on the logo of the Picnic group). The only question is whether everyone will notice and understand them.
And now I ask you to pay attention again to the results of my survey. As you can see, all voting leaders have brief logos. Conciseness! Here's something else to help you remember. Fifth rule:
5. Easy to read and short logo. And even if you are already too excited to come up with a long name, you can always turn it into an abbreviation or abbreviation. Remember such second group names as “NAU” (“Nautilus Pompilius”), “AU” (“Automatic Satisfiers”), “GO” (Civil Defense), and even Boris Grebenshchikov is better known as “BG” than as the leader of “Aquarium”.
There is such a feature of most of our compatriots - a craving for foreign things. And many musicians write the name of their bands in Latin, which “blowns fog” into perception, forgetting about the sixth rule:
6. Authentic language."Write" in the language you sing. And you will be one with your logo.
And the last basic rule. Do not forget about the correct matrix of emotions, which is typical for all logos (direction of the main part of the logo from the lower left corner to the upper right). And also remember about the alternative to the matrix of emotions in the logos of rock bands - symmetry.
7. The correct matrix of emotions and symmetry. The first gives the logo dynamism and focus on development, and the second - perfection, to which any music lover subconsciously gravitates.
Let's analyze the logo of one of the leaders of the survey - the Alisa group. First of all, the logo tells about the history of the group. A group born in the USSR with a great future. The combination of the correct matrix of emotions with symmetry "prophesies" the perspective of the group. Pay attention to the time period of the Alice logo: it is written as if on the topic of the day. But the bottom line is that such topical issues are always in demand by our society. In addition, the logo has a "fast handwriting", which conveys the revolutionary mood of the group's creativity. Cool? And all this fit into a laconic inscription.
As an alternative example, I present to you the logo with the coat of arms of the Queen group. Created by a professional designer, leader of the group Freddie Mercury, it tells not only about the philosophy of the group, but also about its members. And, although due to the complexity of this work of art, only collectors of the group's work are familiar with it, the existence of the coat of arms of the musical group is historical in itself. And the group compensated for the little-known logo by outrageousness in other directions.
