TONIGHT we talk about logos, ladies and gentlemen, do-gooders and ne'er-do-wells. What types of logo should you choose, should you even choose a logo at all? Where should it go? how big should it be? blah blah blah all that wonderful nonsense...
Now I'm sure your asking yourself, "Who the Hell is this guy to think he can dictate logos to me?" That's a fair enough question. Well here are my credentials: I'm an artist and concept designer. I'm also a special makeup effects artist and costume designer. I've even been paid for my services, so technically that makes me a professional - at least according to my high school photography teacher, who used to start every class with "What's the difference between an amateur and a professional? The professional gets paid." Fair enough... Anyways, I've designed a couple dozen logos for other RLSH over the years, so I've got some experience... again, not showing off, just lending some credence to why you would even bother perusing this post in the first place.
Anyway, moving on...
LOGOS!
To begin, Logos are basically a simple, easily recognizable design intended to serve as an identifier for a person or object. In essence, in the presence of a good logo, the lay person should need no other indicator to identify who you are as an RLSH.
Now, the question you should be asking yourself before beginning the quest for the ideal logo should be Do I even need a logo? do I want people to instantly recognize me? Well, much like with the design of your costume, The purpose you serve as an RLSH should heavily inform your need for a logo. Are you in public service? Outreach? Do you perform charitable services where your image is important? Are you marketable in any way? These are instances where a logo would come in handy.
Personally I don't see an immediate need for a logo in crime prevention, unless you've made such a name for yourself the mere presence of your logo is enough to dissuade people from being naughty, a-la Batman... But of course that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a logo, it just means you don't require one in most instances... anyway... moving on...
SELECTING A LOGO:
If you take a look through the world of superheros you'll see a variety of different types of logos, from letters(Superman), to icons(Flash), to faces(Deadpool), to abstract designs(The Greatest American Hero). What style would work best for you? Do you have a particular gimmick that could identify you, as in Green Arrow, Green Lantern or Captain America? Is your gimmick animal based, like Spiderman, Batman or Hawkman? Whatever your logo is, it should be something that on sight triggers a mental association with your name. The lightning bolt immediately brings the Flash to mind. The Question mark makes one think of the Question (or the Riddler if their thoughts lean toward villains) Your logo should do the same. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
Back in the day a caper by the name of Zenith approached me for a logo. He wanted something that embodied his name. After talking to him for a bit and getting his color scheme down, I literally translated the definition of his name: Zenith - highest point. So I created a background image that represented a kind of high tech interpretation of a mountain, overlaid with a Z that I manipulated to fit within the image:
It was an extremely simple design, but also extremely successful, and today is one of my favorite personal logo designs. I dunno if Zenith is still active, but hopefully he used that logo for all it was worth... Anyway, from this you can get the idea of what an effective logo is: Simplistic design that conveys the image, values, or mission statement of your RLSH persona at a glance.
ANATOMY OF A LOGO:
Ok, so you have an idea of what a logo should be, but what should it look like? what all goes in to a logo, anyway?
A logo can be as simple as a silhouette of a bat on your chest or it can be as complicated as Wonder Woman's double W's...
Seriously... there's a lot going on there... A logo can be just the object or it can be the object within a frame or background, Like Superman's "S" within the diamond or Batman's original logo:
We'll talk more about the significance of this logo later on, but right now I'll use it to demonstrate the importance of USE OF SPACE. Notice that the bat symbol nearly completely fills the yellow oval. This is proper use of space. Now let's look at an improper use of space:
That's right. Superman, right off the cover of his first ever appearance in Action Comics... Just look at him. Supes in all his early glory... But take a look at that logo. What the heck is goin on there? Let's take a closer look:
Ok, you've got an over-complicated crest with that tiny little s in the middle. In all honestly it's just... lackluster. It took many many years and issues of superman to get to the look we have today
Now let's compare. The new design features a simple Diamond shaped shield with a thick red border. The "S" has been altered to fill as much space as possible. It even blends into the border so much that the S itself appears incomplete The yellow of the background just shines through the few spaces that the S isn't covering. This is proper use of space. Don't be afraid to use your allotted space to it's fullest.
HOW BIG IS IT?
How big should your logo be? Honestly it can be as big or small as you want. It just needs to be visible and onlookers should be able to identify it without having to examine it.
Robin's logo is over his heart, much like a badge would be, while Nightwing's logo takes up his entire chest and his back. But it's still instantly recognizable. Go with what works in your overall design. If you have a gear heavy outfit with straps and pouches and other things covering most of your torso, perhaps go with an arm patch or perhaps a belt buckle, kind of like this fool:
Basically a logo can be anything and it can go anywhere, as long as it is what? Easily identifiable, clearly visible, , conveys your message, and makes proper use of space.
Once you've accomplished that, it's on to
LOGO PRODUCTION
Oh wow, two tutorials in one? It's amazing! In the first part I suggested some things to consider while designing your logo. Now let's make 'em!
Depending on what you want, you can make your logos out of any number of materials. You can have it made into a patch, or 3D printed into a badge that you can pin anywhere, but I'm going to show you how to actually make your logo yourself using your choice of 3 possible materials. The first being craft foam!
Now for this tutorial I decided I would be making my logo, since this is ultimately for my Proto-suit, so I took a look at the history of my logos:
My original crest. Wow, that was too busy. I don't think that's gonna work for my Proto-Suit
Ah, my RLSH logo... too preppy... like seriously too preppy. It just screams do-gooder... I hate labels.
Ah, now this is better. Darker, more... foreboding. I like this... But it's still not quite perfect. So I'll modify the design a smidge and break out the craft foam and start cutting...
There we go. Good use of space and it pops! Of course the color is wrong but that's ok. I'm not keeping this. Now for those who want a Craft Foam logo they are easy to make. This craft foam was available at Wal-Mart and was sticky backed, so all I had to do was cut out the background triangle (3 actually so I could build up thickness) and the "P" (2 in this case) and stuck them together. Once this is finished you can take simple white hobby glue, water it down 1:1 and brush your solution over the whole thing to seal it. after a few coats you can paint it however you want (I recommend acrylic paint), add Velcro or just sew it on to your outfit and VOILA!
In my case though, this is just a template. I'm gonna cast that sucker... So time to build a mold:
Just hot glued it to a box and hot glued cardboard walls around it, then I coated the whole thing with Mod Podge that you can get at any craft store
Then after a few coats I was ready for plaster! A quick blast of cooking spray evenly spread over the inside and then I poured in the plaster. After a half an hour to 45 minutes, I got this:
Purdy. Now what I want to do is a master pull because I want to be ready in case something goes wrong with the mold during actual casting. So for the Master I'm going to use the second recommended material, which is silicon. Now silicon is much much stronger than craft foam and will last infinitely longer as a logo, also it's highly flexible and will work well on any type of outfit.
So all you need is a tube of clear silicon type 1, which is available at any home improvement store... Heck, you can even find it at Wal-Mart in the house paint section
Now the silicone by itself will stick to everything and take forever to dry as it is. If you've ever had to seal a shower with this stuff you know what I'm talking about. The secret is that moisture causes the silicone to cure, so if you mix in just a TINY bit of water in with the silicone it will cure completely WITHIN 20 MINUTES! Also, silicone sticks to very few surfaces: fabric, hair, and itself. mainly itself... So you don't even need a mold release for the plaster mold. just work the silicone in and you're done. Now in this case the moisture to be mixed in came in the form of some copper colored acrylic craft paint I had laying around, so I mixed it up quick.
From here I've got about 5 to 10 minutes working time, So I move quickly and scoop the goop into the plaster:
Now you want to make sure it gets into every nook and cranny and is even with the top of the mold. If you intend to use the silicone itself as your logo, I recommend at this point to lay a strip of fabric, like a strip from an old t-shirt over the mold and gently press it into the silicon. once it's cured it will be locked on to the fabric, which provides strength and reinforcement to the logo. If you're extra careful and can line it up, you can actually press your costume itself into the silicone, and it will become a permanent part of your costume... again you must make sure it is lined up straight.
The silicone is nearly impossible to paint, since the only thing that sticks to silicone is silicone. So unless you have silicone paint, which can be expensive. So what you can do is mix the silicone in different colored batches and apply them one at a time, adding the next once the first is cured... kinda like playing with those creepy crawlers back in the day... 'member those?
Anyway, once the silicone is cured you get this:
and once trimmed and cleaned up:
So now I have a master pull, which you will see why I would need it in a bit, because I don't want a silicone logo. I want something solid... I want plastic... I want High Density Polyethylene
Also known as HDPE, recyclable number 2... in this case, red punch bottles. So I just cut up the bottles into little pieces and pour them into the mold.
Now the whole thing I throw into the toaster over at 350 degrees and monitor closely until it's all nice and melty (about the consistency of silly putty). One thing to remember with HDPE is that once it's heated enough to manipulate, it constricts... it doesn't shrink, it tries to pull up into a ball, so pressure needs to be applied in order to get it to retain the shape of the mold once it's cooled.
This is where I went wrong... I cut the initial pieces of plastic too small and didn't pour enough in at the beginning (the usual method is as the plastic melts and lays flat you add more and more layers of plastic, building it up) so by the time I was ready to pull the whole thing out it wasn't....... complete...
Ummmm... wow... There's no saving that... unfortunately the mold also broke in half. So I had to break out the crazy glue. Hopefully it would hold together long enough for another casting... This time I also added clippings from a milk bottle as well, since uncolored HDPE seems to melt and spread easier for some reason.... So I used larger cuts of plastic this time, backed it all with a few layers of milk bottle plastic, then quickly pulled it out of the toaster oven and covered it with parchment paper(which doesn't stick to it) and then clamped the whole thing between two pieces of HDPE plate(if you remember my stab resistance tests on the Book of Faces)
And waited until it cooled...
Now the moment of truth. I go to remove it from the mold and I get:
ummmm... So much for that mold (this is why I made the silicon master pull, so I could remold if I needed to) Luckily it looked as though I got what I needed, though... so time for some trimming, sanding and cleaning...
HDPE cuts and sands just like wood, so I pulled out a little hacksaw, trimmed down the sides, lightly sanded the whole thing, then took a toothbrush and scrubbed the whole thing down under some soapy water to get rid of the remaining plaster.... It's still rough, so I took some bits of red plastic left over and a heat gun and began patching. then once cooled I sanded it down
Looks much better doesn't it? All it needs now is some fine tuning, then prepping for paint(much like silicon, paint doesn't stick well to hdpe. recommended is lightly going over it with a torch, then wiping it down with 90% or higher alcohol while it's still hot. that removes enough mold release from the plastic that it will hold paint... there are examples of this on YouTube, so check it out) but for right now, I intend to test for the main reason why I want my logo in HDPE.
Remember when I mentioned that we would be talking about the old yellow and black bat symbol again?
Yeah, that one. The question was once asked why, in the two-toned, sometimes monotone Batsuit, why there would be this single splash of yellow right in the middle of his chest. It made no sense. Now, artistically we know that the yellow pops and draws the eye to that spot, making us, the readers aware that Batman is on the scene. In the Batman universe, however, it was explained as this: The yellow field behind the bat logo is a single splash of yellow that draws the eyes to it and criminals would instinctively focus their aim at that yellow spot, rather than Batman's head. That yellow spot which was, at the time, of course, the only place on Batman's outfit that just happened to be completely armor plated. The yellow Bat-logo was bullet proof...
So knowing I can't make myself bullet proof, I do know that HDPE is extremely stab resistant. So, let the testing begin!
Stabbing the logo at full force, the point only penetrated approx 1/16"
It didn't even penetrate halfway through the plastic, making this a very effective test indeed! Coming soon I'll be showing how you can make full armor plates out of HDPE, but for now I hope this helps with your quest for designing and creating the ultimate logo. As always, I'm open to any and all questions, so ask away.
Ciao!
