Anatomy of a Logo: Epic Illustrated, Part 1

Epic Illustrated was a magazine published by Marvel in 1980. I don't have any calendar records on this assignment so I will try to reconstruct how my logo came to be in 1979.

It was in late August 1979 when Jim Salicrup called me (this was when I had a room at Continuity Associates). He asked me to develop some logo designs for Epic Illustrated. I don't recall if he described what the magazine was about. Prior to this, I did the Caleb Hammer logo which was published in Marvel Premiere, number 54; Salicrup was the editor. That particular job was a referral from Tom Orzechowski, but that's a story for a later time.

On August 25 I began making thumbnail sketches on the back of old Continuity Associates flyers (8.5 by 11 inches / 21.6 by 28 centimeters), and sheets of tracing paper.

Two sketches on the far right would be developed.

No sketches were developed.

Three sketches at the top would be developed.

These sketches would be developed.

The bottom two sketches would be developed.

The bottom left sketch would be developed.

No sketches were developed.

From these sketches I refined four designs which will be examined, one at a time, over the next four days.

(Tomorrow: Part 2 of 5)

Street Scene: Super Heros Librairie

• PARIS •

175 Rue St. Martin, near the Centre Georges Pompidou

(Next post on Monday: "Anatomy of a Logo: Epic Illustrated")

Anatomy of a Logo: Neal Adams Monsters

Neal Adams Monsters was published by Vanguard Productions in 2003. The book featured his interpretations of the monsters Frankenstein, Werewolf and Count Dracula. The logos for the monsters were created in 1980. Around that time Neal was looking to expand into publishing. A black-and-white photocopy of the color cover mock-up (see below) had close-ups of the three monsters under their logos.

In mid-January 1980 I designed the Werewolf logo first. When the project became a rush job, I used typefaces for the Frankenstein and Count Dracula logos.

The first story in the book was Frankenstein. Back in 1980, I showed a typeface to Neal. He sketched some ideas on layout paper. He added beveled edges to the letters, and explored another design in perspective. We decided to use the typeface I had chosen plus modify the “F”.

I do not have the original art. The photocopy of it shows the size, which was drawn on bristol board. With a T-square, adjustable triangle and an assortment of ellipse guides, I drew the letters in outline. Neal drew the beveled edges and stippling effect. Someone added the frame. A photostat was made of the framed logo and pasted onto the spread.

Werewolf was the second story. I made a couple of sketches then enlarged them.

I tried alternate designs of the “E”, “F” and “R”.

Once I settled on the letter designs, I made a tight ink rendering. Another design of the “R” was not used.

Next, I made a tight pencil drawing of the logo.

With the pencil drawing over the inked one, you can see how I adjusted the spacing of the middle letters, and made minor changes to some of the letters. The vertical strokes of the “R” and “L” are aligned.

Then I made another tight pencil drawing of the logo.

And that was followed by a tight ink drawing.

I secured the ink drawing to the back of a sheet of one-ply, vellum bristol board. The logo was drawn in pencil. I used white gouache to make corrections.

That version was never used. Some time after I finished the logo, Neal decided to use a spread to introduce each character in the book. I put Were Wolf on one line and drew it in outline, then Neal added the special effects.

The Count Dracula logo followed the same steps as the Frankenstein logo. Neal added the ankh which helped to balance the logo on the spread.

Two typefaces were considered for the logo. The first one was Cortez; the second one, Hoffman, was from Art Nouveau Display Alphabets by Dan X. Solo.

In the back of the book Neal talks about some other projects. One of them was a Tobe Hooper project called Funhouse. That's my logo sketch. The book is available at Vanguard Productions. Have a happy Halloween!

(Photo post next Monday)

Street Scene: Titan Missile Museum

• A R I Z O N A •

Entry door to the underground facility.

Below: The warhead and part of the missile;

no stencil lettering on the missile which was

in the movie Star Trek: First Contact.

Amusing video.

(Next Monday: Anatomy of a Logo: Neal Adams Monsters,

a Frankenstein, Werewolf and Count Dracula graphic novel.)

Lettering: Leary of the 90's, Part 2

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 1990

Back at the studio I began work on the finished art. The last refinement was enlarged slightly on a photocopier, and then secured to the light box. I placed a sheet of two-ply bristol board over the photocopy and penciled the letters, swirls and ornaments. Using a variety of french curves and ellipse guides, I inked it with a Rapidograph technical pen. Corrections were done with white gouache.

The art was scanned in two parts and stitched together; the

alignment is slightly off in the middle near the top and bottom.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1990

I delivered the artwork in the afternoon.

FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1990

David called and said he wanted a few additional ornaments: three boxes, two running heads and three folios. The quotes from Leary would be inside the boxes. The swirling running head and folios would replace the standard ones used in the magazine. I delivered the art later that day.

MAY 1990

Later that month, I picked up copies of the Laughtrack from David. (I saw Leary at the 1976 San Diego Comic-Con. My recollection is foggy, but fortunately, memories of his attendance were recalled quite clearly here and here.)

Related posts: Leary of the 90’s, Part 1; Psychedelitypes; Psychedelic Poster Postcards

(Next post on Monday: Titan Missile Museum)

Lettering: Leary of the 90's, Part 1

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 1990

David Vogler, of David Kaestle Inc., offered an assignment that I've always wanted to do: lettering in the style of the 1960s psychedelic poster era. The Kaestle studio handled the art direction and design of Laughtrack, a program distributed at comedy clubs. The topic of the May issue was the 1960s, and in particular, Timothy Leary. The title of the article was “Leary of the 90’s”; David wanted title to reflect the psychedelic poster era. He provided a photocopy of the Leary photograph.

Later that evening at home, I looked through my small collection of Bill Graham psychedelic concert postcards (reduced versions of the posters) and selected a Wes Wilson design.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 1990

The next morning at my studio I began sketching out the design. David supplied a rough layout, which I do not have in my file. The title and text was on the left page of the spread, and, on the right, was the photo of Leary and a caption. In addition to the title, I had to include the writer and photographer’s names.

I chose one of the thumbnail sketches and developed it further.

I enlarged the sketch and began refining it. There were two graphic elements that David wanted in the layout: the peace sign and a flower.

Peace sign in the corner.

Flower above Leary’s head.

On the third refinement, I positioned the peace sign over Leary’s head, like a halo; the flower was moved to the left page. Tracing paper was placed on top of the sketch, then the lettering and swirls were refined.

Separately, I worked on the writer and photographer credits.

In the afternoon, I showed the layout to David, who got a laugh out of the halo, and he approved it.

(Today, October 22, is Leary's birthday; Tomorrow: Part 2; related posts: Psychedelitypes, Psychedelic Poster Postcards)

Anatomy of a Logo: Cougar Growl

My 40-year high school reunion happened this past weekend, but, I wasn't able to attend. The year 1971 was my senior year. From the time I was a freshman, I contributed illustrations and cartoons to the Cougar Growl, the school paper. Being an avid comic book fan and collector, I subscribed to a number of fanzines and prozines, and shared them with my friends, who included Mike Adams, a senior, and Tony Salmons, a freshman. When Jim Steranko launched his company Supergraphics, I ordered copies of the History of Comics and the Mike Hinge Experience, and subscribed to Comixscene. I really liked his Supergraphics logo.

During the summer I used the logo as a model to redo the Cougar Growl logo. I sketched out the logo and discovered a problem with one of the letters. The shadow, cast on the left, did not work with the letter "L"; the strokes were not visible. So, I changed the shadow to fall on the right. My uncle, Allen Chin, an advertising art director in New York, had given some of his old tools to me: compass and ruling pen set, french curves, 24-inch T-square, triangles, pica ruler and ellipse guides. Working on the kitchen table, I finished the lettering in a couple of days.

When school started I convinced the editor, Ken Williams, to use the new logo; below, detail of the logo, and its debut in the paper.

(Next post on Saturday: Timothy Leary)