Do bands have logos? Of course they do! My favorite band logos include the mirror symmetry of the Nine Inch Nails NIN, the simple and sensual lips and tongue for The Rolling Stones, and the ACDC lightning bolt logo reminiscent of the Third Reich.
Chronicle Books has a way cool book out that is ideal for every music geek on your Christmas list this year – Band ID: The Ultimate Book of Band Logos by Bodhi Oser. (Foreword by Art Chantry) This beautiful 419-page book begins with a spot varnished, red guitar pick on the black cover. Band ID is then divided into genres of music that include rock, hair bands, heavy metal, extra heavy metal, punk, alternative, hip-hop, R & B, pop, country, electronic and reggae.
What are logos? They are visual identifiers and graphic symbols meant to be quick to read and easily identifiable as part of an entity’s identity. We may be more familiar with logos such as the Nike swoosh or the horizontal yin and yang of the Pepsi logo. Bands, musical groups and artists may all have logos as well.
Not only does Band ID have beautiful reproductions of the band logos, they have interviews and backstory on the creation stories of some of the more famous visual identifiers. So for example, the Grateful Dead Steal Your Face logo of a skull with a lightning bolt was a collaborative invention of Owsley Stanley (aka Bear) and Bob Thomas. Owsley was tired of getting the Grateful Dead’s band equipment confused with other band’s equipment when they performed at festivals and group concerts. He thought that a quick graphic symbol that could be placed on the Dead’s sound equipment could create less confusion.
You may not have heard of Gerard Huerta, but he is the graphic designer who created the famous ACDC with lightning bolt logo. Huerta also created some of the most recognizable logos in the world including the Swiss Army logo, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Nabisco and Calvin Klein’s Eternity. Huerta has also created mastheads for the magazine industry including for Time, Money, People, the Atlantic Monthly, PC Magazine, Ad Week and Architectural Digest. In an interview in Band ID with Huerta he comes off as industrious and modest.
Band ID is leveling and democratic in the way it allows us to flip through it and admire the lines and fonts of bands like INXS, Cradle of Filth, Sex Pistols, Weezer, Celine Dion Prince, Chingy, Alabama and Kraftwerk. Fun, intelligent and visual, Band ID is an important reference book for music fans and graphic designers.
