Music 2.0 logos, an infinite source of inspiration

Heervee

10 years ago

Whether they are for big bands, rock bands, editors, institutions, manufacturers, music salers, radios… Music is an infinite source of inspiration for the logo designers. Here is a selection of music logos. Several were classified as the top ten logo in terms of identification to the band (The Who, The Beatles, ABBA…). Several of them are part of our life and it seemed we know them since history. How did they influenced us? and created an immediate recognition of the band or radio is a good question. Some others are logo projects created by design studio.

Since the event of the 2.0 web, you do not need to get in touch with prestigious and inaccessible designer, or let’s say that the contact is greatly facilitated with top quality designers through their web sites or web agency. Almost everyone now can have access to creativity.

So, since music logos seems to be of a strong interest to you, you’ll find here under several links of Logo designers studios, and a smart collection of music logo gathered from these sites and elsewhere which help us to realize the importance of the design which is a key factor of identification and recognition … see you.

from intuitive design…

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…. more at… intuitive design