So, with everything that’s happening with Warner Bros. Discovery, from Netflix initially winning the bid to acquire, to Paramount coming in for what analysts are calling a “hostile takeover”, I thought it seemed like a nice time to put up a pet project I played around with.
Specifically for DC Comics, not even getting into film yet… but yea, DC Comics has definitely had a variety of branding over the years. From its original “bullet cap”, to that iteration that looked like some kind of educational toy company, to the one that reportedly was taking angles from Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman’s emblems… there’s definitely been a little bit of an identity crisis.
But then there was film. After the success of the MCU, Warner Bros. was definitely playing catch up. Though, rather than build a brand, a plan and a universe, they just seemed to rush titles out. And like I said, rather than build a brand, they just gave it the moniker, “DCEU”, or DC Expanded Universe.
As we all know, the DCEU arguably failed.
Then, if you’re a follow nerd, hope arrived for everything DC. James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as co-CEOs for the newly formed, DC Studios.
While I wasn’t, arguably still not, familiar with Safran, HUGE fan of Gunn, and I couldn’t have been more excited about this announcement. Sure naysayers probably would’ve made the argument, “What does a writer/director know about running a studio?”. And I’m sure that’s a fair point. But being a huge fan of James Gunn and his work, I definitely jumped in with a loving leap of faith and haven’t been disappointed since.
More than anything, LOVED the return to the bullet cap. But when it came to disappointment, I have to say a little bit of that came in with the branding for DC Studios. In all fairness, completely nitpicky things like:
- Quite a few thin off-set paths/strokes that creates a bit of a muddy look, especially depending on the usage
- White fill on dark backgrounds added to the number of thin strokes, and built on the muddiness
- “Studios” has a blue gradient through it, and has even been used that way over a blue gradient background
- In a horizontal format, having strokes on top and bottom of “studios” felt too much like Marvel Studios
…I could definitely go on. But like I said, my notes is definitely my inner Art Director coming through. But all that said, just to keep my skills sharp, I wondered how I would tweak the logo to tighten it up.
All that said, I hope you enjoy the work and comparisons below.
Tweaked Logo:
Now for some comparisons…
