Jan Müller explains in his column which bands hit the mark in their choice of logo.
I’m really pleased that parts of this issue are supplemented with a 7” record by my band Tocotronic. I’m particularly happy because I had completely forgotten that we had developed our own title logo for our single “Hi Freaks”. Logos for single titles are completely over-ambitious.
Band logos are more important. We are happy to have had our Tocotronic logo since our first appearance in 1993. It’s simple, factual and against the zeitgeist of the 90s. Fortunately, we didn’t let anyone talk us out of this logo. It’s become so commonplace for us that we’ve stopped using it on our album covers for some time now. Instead, we take inspiration from other band logos for our title artwork. Our album NIEDER KRIEG was inspired by the graphics of the band Grobschnitt. Our GOLDEN YEARS title is also a quote again. However, I will not reveal in this text who we are referring to this time.
The wonderful logo of the band ChaosZ shows that Edding and ruler were used
As a child, I spent days tracing the logos of my favorite bands AC/DC, Kiss and Iron Maiden. That was quite impressive and wasn’t as difficult as I initially thought. After I switched to punk, even less skill was required when tracing. The wonderful logo of the band ChaosZ shows that Edding and ruler were used. The slime logo could also be recreated without much effort. There are even bands that I like just because their logos and overall design are so amazing. For example Discharge. Their consistent black and white aesthetic was due to the economic circumstances and is perhaps precisely why they are so fascinating. This look was then taken to the extreme in black metal by bands like Darkthrone and Immortal.
Band logos only came into being with the invention of the long-playing record; and there are certainly groups that never had a fixed logo during their active careers. For example the Beatles. Their famous logo with the oversized B and the lowered T can be found in various variations on Ringo Star’s bass drum, but not on any of their regular albums. The Rolling Stones were ahead of the Beatles in this regard. They introduced their “tongue and lips” logo designed by John Pasche in 1970. It’s probably the most brilliant band logo ever. At most, the anarcho-punk band Crass scratches the legendary tongue with its logo.
Designer logos from bands like Yes, Chicago, ELP or ELO are attractive, but not unique
Designer logos from bands like Yes, Chicago, ELP or ELO are attractive, but not unique. I prefer logos that have a DIY character. Funkadelic and Love provide great examples of this. Guns N’ Roses, on the other hand, opted for an elaborate show-off logo. I think it’s a bit shabby, but at least it’s better than the Nirvana logo with its horrible typography. Does it look so bad on purpose? But it gets even worse. The Norwegian band a-ha provides the heaviest logo. Only four characters and yet mismatched typography is thrown together so unpleasantly that the viewer’s eyes capitulate. It is abundantly clear that the person who came up with this had a solid hatred of the world within him.
And what’s more, this logo is the maximum contrast to a-ha’s sublime music. With the introduction of computer graphics programs, much harm was brought into the world of band logos. The AI is now making it even worse. The time of would-be professional logos has arrived. I’ll spare us examples. If I were the boss of a record company, I would only sign bands with a truly self-designed logo. It wouldn’t matter to me whether a felt-tip pen, fountain pen or hand ax was used to create it; but it shouldn’t be unimaginative. Actually, logos should always look like this so that when you look at them you think: “Yes, the bassist or drummer probably drew or printed that.” After all, bands are not sneaker companies or soda companies, but rather close-knit communities.
By the way, the controversial Kiss logo was thought up by guitarist Ace Frehley. And our Toco logo? Our drummer Arne Zank designed this. In the dusty basement lead set workshop of the Hamburg University of Design, Wartenau branch. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to determine the name of the font used. But it doesn’t matter: add two arrows and the readymade is ready
This column first appeared in Musikexpress issue 2/2025.