Movie studio logos are easy to take for granted. After all, they're the very first thing we see in a movie. By design, they're supposed to be something you hurry past on your way to the main attraction: your feature presentation. Yet, they've become incredibly famous and (hopefully) not just out of bootlicking fidelity to massive corporations. The most iconic logos garner a reputation because of their designs, their music, and the movies audiences associate them with. Personally, one logo I fondly remember a lot as a kid was the DreamWorks SKG logo. There was something quite soothing just about the noise that little bob made at it hit the water. That little "plink-plink" sound instantly put you in a good headspace for the rest of the logo. Then, of course, there was the theme music composed by John Williams. The mastermind behind the most famous movie scores in history crafted a harmonious melody that was at once soothing yet soaring. It suggested that you were about to watch a MOVIE, something so transportive from reality it would be worthy of that stirring logo music.
I've got more than a dab of nostalgia informing my fondness for that DreamWorks SKG logo, sure. But the level of craft put into it by artists also speaks to how remarkable movie studio logos can be. This is especially true when looking at vintage movie studio logos from the pre-CG days. This is not meant as a swipe at hard-working digital artists, who still do great work on modern movie studio logos. There's just something extra impressive about the craftsmanship that went into making logos entirely by hand.Just look at the marvelous painted work on the Columbia Pictures logo circa. 1967. Everything about this logo registers as nothing short of divine. Just look at the clouds in the background and their suggested enormity! What a glorious backdrop alone! There's such grandeur in this sweeping artwork that comes from it being painted by hand.
Also delightful in this logo? The chunky font used for the word "Columbia"! It really gives weight and power to this movie studios moniker. Even the slightly tilted angle of the entire image is a great way to suggest the scope of this logo. With this angle, one is a little more conscious of the side steps on the pedestal that the Torch Lady is standing on. To my eyes, those steps look like they belong in some ladder from a Looney Tunes cartoon that stretches all the way up to Heaven. It's a subtle detail, but it reminds you this woman is really standing high up in the sky. The epic scale of this logo is quietly reinforced through this tiny facet of the artwork. All of these qualities are given extra tangibility and beauty by being brought to life through paints and other practical means.
Clearly, bombast is important when making a movie studio logo. After all, motion pictures are gigantic creative undertakings to make while going out to see them in a movie theater is often part of a grand night out on the town. Why shouldn't logos that precede films lean into the spectacle of cinema? Of course, great movie studio logos can also be impressively subtle creations. Take the Janus Films logo, an incredibly simple creation (visual design on the left, studio name on the right) with no accompanying theme music. However, this approach is perfect for the kinds of features Janus Films distributes. Many of the titles Janus Films releases are darker, more challenging foreign-language releases. A specific theme music or flashy intro would undercut the intended tone of the subsequent movie. By opting for a minimalist execution, the Janus Films logo gives the floor to the ensuing movie to instill a certain mood in a viewer.
Not to be too much of a grouchy Gretchen over here, but too many modern-day film studio logos fail to find that balance between either towering spectacle or commendable minimalism. Just look at the Apple Original Films logo, which is basically the bane of my existence. This entire logo is a boondoggle from top-to-bottom, including in its repellent design oriented around a silhouette of that Apple logo. The mouthy studio name ("APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS") lacks the succinctness of that chunky "COLUMBIA" moniker from earlier. The new Amazon MGM Studios logo, meanwhile, totally fails to realize what a joke it is to have a logo that features on-screen text that says "Art for art's sake" and "An Amazon Company". Vintage logos were meant to reinforce brand identities and corporate politics, let's not forget that. However, the worst modern movie studio logos tend to put the brand identity of terrifying conglomerates before all else. There's no room for artistry when these logos exist solely to remind you that monopolies like Amazon and Apple exist.
You know what other movie studio logo makes one appreciate the good logos from throughout history? The new updated Warner Bros. Pictures logos. Starting with Tenet, the Warner Bros. logo that existed since 1993 was ditched in favor of a new twist on the familiar logo. New logos aren't a bad thing! Some of my favorite variations on the Columbia Pictures or Paramount Pictures logos were tweaks on original designs! This 2020 WB logo wasn't bad because it was new, it just didn't look good. The tall WB letters with a skinnier case didn't register well with the eye. Meanwhile, the lack of the wraparound with the words "Warner Bros. Pictures" on it made the logo look too bare. The rampant blue all over the logo also was a strange choice that failed to be pleasant to look at. Amusingly, this logo has gone through two more transformations since 2020 thanks to the WarnerDiscovery merger. The first switched things back to the old Warner Bros. logo colors and slightly shrunk down the logo. By the end of the year on Wonka, that wraparound with the words "Warner Bros. Pictures" in front of the shield had been reinstated. Unfortunately, the font used for that text was so repellant to the eyeballs that it was hard to cheer on this return of the king.
If you're still here after all that info dumping on the Warner Bros. logo, let's return to happier waters when it comes to movie studio logos, shall we? The weaker modern movie studio logos demonstrate the dangers of letting companies that aren't well-versed in creativity (like Apple and AT&T) mold even seemingly throwaway pieces of art like movie studio logos. Thankfully, those boondoggles also make one appreciate the best movie studio logos all the more. I'm especially fond of the "A production of the Archers" logo that preceded the works of Powell & Pressburger. The vivid and surprisingly varied colors in this logo set the stage for the kind of colors viewers could expect from the director's movies, like The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life & Death.
I also love the practical effects work on that classic "An RKO Radio Picture" logo, which deftly combines what appears to be a stop-motion Earth and radio tower with simulations of clouds. Nearly a century after that logo premiered, one can't help but stare at freeze-frame grabs of the RKO logo and wonder "how did they do that?!?" Movie studio logos can simply function as way of reinforcing the brands of companies that are already world-famous. They can also function as ways to appreciate the incredible craftsmanship of visual effects artists, painters, composers, and so many other kinds of artists. Just because they arrive at the start of a motion picture doesn't mean there isn't any artistry to appreciate in a good movie studio logo.
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