DC Does It Again!

This week DC Comics unveiled yet another new company logo, to be used on all their titles, as well as their various digital and social media platforms.

They just came up with a new logo four years ago, but that's an eternity in the world of graphic design these days, so I guess they thought they were past due for a company-wide rebranding.

According to DC Entertainment Senior Vice President of Marketing and Global Franchise Management Amit Desai (Jesus, how does he fit all that on the door of his office?), "DC is home to the greatest Super Heroes and Super-Villains, and the new logo has the character and strength to stand proudly alongside DC's iconic symbols. The launch of the new logo is the perfect tribute to DC's legacy, exciting future and most importantly, our fans."

Well, that was some impressive Marketspeak™ there, Amit. Meaningful without saying anything.

Anyway, here's the new DC logo.

Meh. I'm underwhelmed. It looks like they're attempting to capture the look of their logo from the 1970s, but didn't quite get there. It's much too plain, and looks like it was slapped together by the designer at a stop light on his way to the meeting at DC.

The insides of the letters are a bit odd as well. According to DC co-publisher Jim Lee, those odd little cuts are supposed to invoke Superman's S-shield, Batman's bat symbol, and Wonder Woman's emblem. If that's true, then it's a huge fail, as I don't see a single one of those things in this logo. 

My biggest complaint about it is the frail, weak circle that surrounds the letters. It looks completely out of place, considering how bold the type is.

There, DC. I fixed your new logo for you. The beefed-up circle echoes the weight of the type, and looks much more powerful and balanced. I still don't particularly like it, but this is better than it was.

As mediocre as the new logo is, it's nowhere near as bad as the previous one, that looks like an old sticker that's peeling off the letter C. 

I've heard this logo described as an "partially unwrapped toilet seat," and once you see that, there's no way to unsee it. Maybe that's why DC wanted to change it after only four years.

Here's the logo they started using in 2005, which always sort of reminded me of Dairy Queen.

As you can see, DC's logo featured the same general "Type In A Circle" design up until 2005, when they went completely off the rails.

By the way, the "DC" stands for "Detective Comics." So DC Comics actually means "Detective Comics Comics." It's one of those redundant terms like "ATM Machine."

This is the DC logo I grew up with. It was created by graphic design legend Milton Glaser (look him up, kids!) and was bold, distinctive and instantly recognizable. It's the one I much prefer, and I wish they'd go back to it. 

You know what they say— "If it ain't broke, leave your goddamned logo alone!"