Peeling back the mask

From Batman to The Beano, Bunty to Biggles, we have all at some point or another in our lives experienced comic books; even if it was just a cursory glance in a dentists surgery or peering over your kid brothers shoulder. There is also no denying that comic books have played a key part in my formative years, sparking my imagination and ultimately leading me to becoming a graphic designer. So when one of the world's largest and best loved comic book publishing brands reveals a new identity, I want to know about it. And they don’t come much bigger than DC Comics, home of well loved characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

Founded in 1934 the initials ‘DC’ came from the company’s popular series of Detective Comics, which famously featured Batman’s debut and subsequently became part of the company’s name. It was in the mid 1970s that Milton Glaser (best known for his ‘I ❤ New York’ logo) was approached to create a new identity for DC Comics. His design, a shield of four stars inlaid with the company’s initials (known as the DC Bullet) became embedded in the popular culture of my generation as we joined Batman et al on their adventures.


The DC Bullet was used until 2005 when it was reworked by Brainchild Studios. Which brings us up to the present. In an attempt to attract new readers, introduce new characters and freshen up some old favourites along the way, DC have unveiled a radical new identity created by Landor Associates - therefore working with arguably the world’s leading brand consulting and design firm, to develop an identity that reflects the company’s rich portfolio of brands, stories and characters across it’s many publishing, media and merchandise channels.

“It was our goal to capture DC Entertainment in a dynamic and provocative identity. Our solution is a living expression which changes and adapts to the characters, story lines and the ways fans are consuming content,” explains Nicolas Aparicio, Creative Director at Landor’s. “The new identity is built for the digital age, and can easily be animated and customized to take full advantage of the interactivity offered across all media platforms.”

Landor’s new flexible ‘system’ is of course a long way from the original look of those early Detective Comics series. Now part of the DC Entertainment Group (owned by Warner Bros) it is this move from ‘comics’ publisher to ‘entertainment’ company that separates Landor’s new identity to the one we fondly remember. Indeed, Landor’s design looks less like it belongs on a printed front cover than it does on screen, or in motion. Its clever nod to the superhero’s twin identity ‘reveal’ certainly suggests the latter. And this is no doubt the point. Comics have always enjoyed a life outside of print, particularly in film, online and, much more recently, in app form.

“We believe our new brand identity will strongly resonate with our loyal fans who will want to proudly express their affinity for DC Entertainment and their passion for their favourite stories and characters, this new look allows them to easily do this. In addition we were excited to update our identity, it’s not often a company gets to revisit something as important as its brand and we took the opportunity to make sure it represented the multimedia business we set out to build with the formation of DC Entertainment,” said Amit Desai, SVP of Franchise Management for DC Entertainment.

The ‘culture’ of comics will always be bound with strong feelings of nostalgia. With a fervent core readership, any changes however subtle, from plot development to artwork, are bound to generate a reaction. Likewise for a logo that marks a particular comic series as coming from the famous DC stable.

The logo now exists in a completely different world to the one in which I bought comics.

So the question is, will Landor’s design be as fondly remembered in another thirty years as the brand has for the last 80?

http://www.dccomics.com/dccomics/

Posted by Idealogy