STANDARD ATTRITION

brianwood · Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:00 pm Post subject: By Request: DMZ #41 Logo Process

Will Dennis asked me to post this. JP Leon is doing the DMZ covers now, but I still place the logos and text. #41, seen here, was so sparse in design that the text elements couldn't overpower it.

The obvious, standard way was to just do this:

But Mark Doyle suggested a negative space treatment, similar to how the buildings are drawn in:

The lower bits of the M, floating in space, were really distracting to me but didn't read as an M without them. I also just didn't think reversing the logo was a good idea in general. For better or for worse, at least in terms of design, I tend to be very conservative with logos on monthly books, based on how dozens of retailers I asked felt about the Demo logo on those monthlies: huge in size, bold in design, readable from 50 feet and utterly consistent from issue to issue. If you look at Local, DMZ, and Northlanders you can see that I took that advice to heart and I think it's served me well.

Mark (or Will?) then suggested a dropshadow:

Which I felt was too "3D" for such flat cover art. They found it spooky. So in the end I suggested a simple line outline, something I felt worked well for the star image on DMZ #34, would sit behind the artwork but still read clearly. It's not readable from 50 feet, but it fills all the other requirements.

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jock · Moderator Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 223

good to see brian, thanks.
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joe.distort · Moderator Joined: 07 May 2008 Posts: 3031 Location: phx!

this cover is fucking beautiful, and i am a huge fan of leon's.
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Reuben · Joined: 16 Aug 2008 Posts: 2171 Location: Ipswich, UK

I perfered the first one, but what do I know...

jeremymace · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 1

Thanks for sharing your process. I totally agree about the drop shadow - it does not work with the flat art. Awesome cover and graphics. Mace

Declan Shalvey · Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Dublin, Ireland

I think the first actually worked, since the image and text was so graphic-looking. Maybe if the white was replaced by an off-white, to make it less overpowering...?
I'm gonna assume you wanted to go with white or the brown colour for the text. In that case, you definitely made the right call. The drop shadows clashed with the rest of the image, and the 'M' was problematic. Great solution.

Thanks for posting these.

Dec.
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