Logo's - Research

Tuesday, 2nd, May

Pixar: 

• Originally known as the Graphics Group, Steve Jobs bought the company and renamed it Pixar in 1986, he also redesigned its logo, modeling it after and Apple BSD computer. 
• The logo was then changed again in 1994, and only consisted of the company’s name in a bold styled serif font. 
• About a year later in 1995 the company adopted the wordmark of the Pixar mascot Luxo Jr. who replaced the ‘I’ in the company’s name. Which made tribute to Pixar’s first short film ‘Luxo Jr.’ which was released alongside Toy Story in 1986.   

DreamWorks: 

• After Dreamworks’ founding in 1994, Steven Spielberg went to work on commissioning ideas for the company’s logo, which he specifically wanted to be inspired by Hollywood’s golden age.   
• The logo originally consisted of the words ‘DreamWorks Animation’ in simple, bold lettering and lasted from 1998 - 2004. In 2004 effects supervisor, Dennis Muren suggested that the logo be hand painted, to which he commissioned artist Robert Hunt to design and paint the company’s logo. The logo consisted of a young boy sitting on a crescent moon with a fishing rod, the young boy being modeled after Robert Hunt’s own son.   
• Since then, the company’s logo has been more simplified and computer generated, consisting of dark blue and white colour tones. Yet, still carrying on the legacy of Robert Hunt’s original design. 

20th Century Fox: 

• After its creation in 1935, 20th Century Fox had Emil Kosa Jr. design the company’s logo. The logo itself was a three-story structure with ‘20th’, taking up its third level, ‘Century’ occupying the middle floor, and ‘Fox’ taking the first level, all in bold 3D styled lettering, which gave it a 1930’s Hollywood look and feel. Black & White tones were used all throughout the company’s existence. 
• During 1945-1972 the company changed its logo to a flat 1930’s style which consisted of an enlarged ‘20th' above a smaller ‘Century Fox’, all in the same font. The company switched back to its old three-tiered style after 27 years. 
• Emil Kosa’s original design has been revamped four times, with its original composition still being recognised in these contemporary and modern designs. 

Happy Madison Productions: 

• Despite the company’s true founding by actor Adam Sandler in 1999, the first version of the Happy Madison logo first appeared in 1996, which consisted of the company’s name, in a classic gray, bold font, digitally pasted on top of a goat video, which was taken on one of Adam Sandler’s previous movie sets. 
• A fresher version of the logo was created in 1999, which consisted of the company’s name, in a cursive font, on a slowly rotating golf ball, this golf ball is then hit towards the audience, creating a supposedly ‘cracked screen’ and revealing a golf course and an older man in the background saying ‘Terrific!’             

• The company has kept this logo since its creation and remains as a tribute to Adam Sandler’s late father, Stanley, who Sandler hoped would enjoy all the movies that the company created. 

Universal: 

• After being founded in 1912 Universal designed and adopted its first logo, which consisted of a globe with a thick orbit; inscribed with the words ‘Universal Films’, around it. About a year later a logo consisting of a ringed globe with ‘Universal Films’ printed on it debuted, it was then changed again later in 1914 to one of Universal’s logo’s that doesn’t consist of a globe. Instead, it was a name plate that surrounded the company’s name and included the outline of a circle in the middle, making tribute the globe.   
• The logo design seemed to find its main composition after 1919, which always consisted of the Universal company name; which changed from ‘Universal Films’ to ‘Universal Pictures’ in 1963, printed onto or outside of a globe. 
• After the company’s name change in 1963, Universal took a more simplistic and contemporary approach towards their logo design. The new logo consisted of an outlined white sphere/globe inside of a black box, with the company’s name being placed underneath it.  
• 30 years later in 1990, Universal went back to the original composition of having the company’s name on the globe, however this design was more modernized and gave the globe a more modern outline look. The logo has remained the same for the past 33 years, with more simplifying and practical changes being made along the way. 

With this research we can easily see that many film company logos tend to make sometimes even dramatic changes over periods of time, and can be a good influence when trying to draw up our own logos. We can also take note of the many simplistic elements that have been used in the more recent years, and how many company's just end up with only their brand names featuring as the main logo without any form of mascot or recognisable symbol, which of course can be less distinguishable and impacting for audiences.