The Factory Records logo by Peter Saville. Continue Reading…
Tag Archive - Great Counterculture Logos
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 12
The Dead Kennedys Logo by Winston Smith. Continue Reading…
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 11
While there are many references on the web stating that the Death’s Head insignia was designed by long time “Frisco” Hells Angels President Frank Sadliek, Sadliek himself claims this is untrue. The image which appears on the membership card, as well as other Hells Angels ephemera, was drawn in 1953 by a man whose real name is lost or unknown, but was known to those at the time as “Sundown”. Frank had the original printer’s negative from which the “Frisco” Hells Angels membership cards were offset printed. This may be the reason for the attribution. The logo seems to have been inspired by the insignias of the 552nd Medium Bomber Squadron and the 85th Fighter Squadron from WWII (pictured above).
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 10
The Black Panther Logo by Ruth Howard and Dorothy Zellner.
“Alabama was notorious for using the so-called “literacy test” to deny Blacks the right to vote. In truth, the state’s “education system” was so abysmal that many Blacks and poor whites were illiterate or semi-literate. But the white power structure made sure that illiterate whites were allowed to register and vote regardless.
Because so many illiterate whites were unable to read the names of the political parties or candidates on the ballot, Alabama law allowed each party to have a picture symbol, and all candidates were listed on the ballot in a column underneath their party’s symbol. You could vote the straight party ticket by simply marking your “X” underneath the symbol without bothering to puzzle out the names or offices of the actual candidates. The symbol of the whites-only Democratic party was a rooster, so illiterate white voters were instructed to “Vote for the rooster.”
Thus, when the Lowndes County Freedom Organization got their independent political party on the ballot, they had to chose a symbol. They chose a black panther.”
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 9
The Steal Your Face logo by Bob Thomas and the infamous LSD chemist Augustus Owsley Stanley.
From Rolling Stone’s 40th Anniversary Summer of Love Special Edition (July 12 – 26 2007), Robert Greenfield* writes:
“While driving to work one day in his MG, Owsley saw an orange and blue logo with a white bar across it on a building. He thought it would look cool if the logo was red and blue with a white lightning bolt through it, so he had someone spray-paint a basic version of it on the Dead’s equipment. He then talked to Bob Thomas about putting the lightning bolt through the words “Grateful Dead” in lettering, which from a distance would look like a skull. Together, they devised the “Steal Your Face” logo (a.k.a. “the stealie”). Thomas, who died in 1993, sold it to the band as a letterhead for $250, meaning that neither he nor Owsley ever saw a dime from all those Deadhead stickers on the rear bumpers of Volkswagen buses.”
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 8
My friend West keenly observes that it is a rare case to see a street kid downtown that doesn’t bare some form of the Misfits skull, which is how the logo came to be the 8th addition in our ongoing series Great Counterculture Logos. As for its own origins, the image was adapted by Glenn Danzig from The Crimson Ghost, a 1946 movie serial about a cloaked villain’s attempts to obtain a counter atomic device known as Cyclotrode X.
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 7
The Revelation Records logo by…well, a few different people actually. Jordan Cooper explains:
We used stars on the first few releases as a background which was Ray‘s idea. He liked how Dangerhouse had black and yellow bars as their background on the labels so he wanted us to have something to identify Rev with like that. We got a Letraset sheet of stars and used it on the first three records we put out. The fourth record was going to be the Gorilla Biscuits 7″ and their friend (who would later join the band as a second guitar player), Alex Brown offered to do the layout for them. Alex took the star concept and put the letter “r” in a star and had the label name under it inside a box. Ray, Alex and Porcell all lived together in Brooklyn at the time so Ray saw the artwork before I did. He really liked the idea and called me to tell me about it. From his description over the phone I re-created it. That was the logo we ended up using because we had already used it on a few things (probably flyers, catalogs and ads). We used it on the GB 7″ and the Side By Side and No For An Answer records and repressings of the Sick Of It All 7″ too. Then we were working with Dave Bett at our main distributor Important on the layout for the New York City Hardcore – The Way It Is compilation and he offered to clean it up for us. He did and that’s basically the logo we’ve been using ever since.
Hunter’s World
Those of you who visit this site on a semi-regular basis will be aware of a series that I have been posting to since this past November titled Great Counterculture Logos (the irony of this moniker has never been lost on me btw) and, more recently, of the email that I received from artist/designer Paul Pascarella in which he descibes a little of the process that went into the creation of the Gonzo Dagger (Part 5 in said series). There was also mention in that correspondence of a portrait that he did right after HST’s death, a tribute of sorts to the Good Doctor which I subsequently expressed interest in, whereby Paul forwarded along to me this sneak preview of what he calls, Hunter’s World.
So there you go. As far as the purchasing details for this work: there are prints of the painting still availlable in two sizes and editions. The memorial edition of 40 prints, 32x 26 for $950, and Hunter’s World Edition of 75 prints, 24×18 for $350. Purchase of the original canvas itself is currently only available to the Hunter “inner circle”. Selah.
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 6
The Public Image Ltd logo by Dennis Morris and John Lydon.
Great Counterculture Logos – Part 5
The Gonzo Fist by Paul Pascarella .
Paul Pascarella writes:
I would just like to be clear on the logo that you are refering to, the Gonzo fist, or the actual Gonzo logo with fist, name and dagger blade. The two thumbed fist with peyote button was originally designed by Hunter and a local Aspen artist named Tom Benton. It was first used I believe as a Freak Power symbol when Hunter was running for Sheriff in Aspen in 69′ when Benton designed the poster.
The actual Gonzo logo that you see around in Rolling Stone, Hunter’s books etc. is what I designed for Hunter in the early 70′s. Designing logos is what I did such as the Lorimar logo, United Artists and many more. Hunter wanted a logo for the Gonzo way, Gonzo Journalism and so on. So I took the two thumbed fist and redesigned it along with the logotype and knife blade. I remember the knife blade was roughly fashioned after one of Hunter’s throwing knives and if you notice carefully the negative spaces in the type and knife blade all match up and relate well to each other, atleast if you are looking at the real one.
That was only one of many graphic and art projects I worked on with Hunter and working with Hunter is always much more complex than it need be, but also can be more fun than usual. The most recent was a kind of Hunter’s World portrait I did right after his death. It is mixed media almost all in black and white 5′x4′. I also made a six minute film on the making of the painting and soon will be putting the painting up for sale.
Years later I didn’t think the Gonzo logo was my best design, but it may turn out to be the biggest.
