D&D logo through the years

[Bullgrit]

In the computer game Portal 2, the load screens for the different levels show the Aperture Laboratories logos as they have changed through the decades. Doing some work with old D&D logos recently, myself, I got to thinking about this:

How has the D&D logo through the decades represented its cultural time? Players who have been around D&D since the late 70s can immediately identify the various incarnations of the D&D logos through the years. But has anyone given any thought to how the logos "worked" for their audience at the time? How much of the design was because of the printing technology available vs. because of the cultural styles of the time?

Also, which version of the logo is your personal favorite? And why? Is your choice for favorite based on the game rules it's attached to, or based on the logo design itself?

Bullgrit

 

[JeffB]

I'm partial to the Lizard & Wizard..I guess cos' they were more interesting than anything that came after (or the Gygax/Kaye logo for that matter). Those labels represent to me "hobby games made by hobby gamers for hobby gamers" (say that 5 times fast!) . Products that were a labour of love.

Now "corporate branding" is such a big deal, and it's all about the business of D&D (and of course this became an issue even as early as mid /late 1980s). We have teams of designers and marketers and developers, and god knows what else who sit around in round table discussion making decisions about what is fun primarily based on profit margins (of course not suggesting profit is evil, just a totally different mindset than the early days of the hobby).

EDIT- I see now you mean specifically the D&D logo, and not company logo- nevermind

 

[Kaodi]

Hard to say. Different elements of the various logos, when taken alone, can be superior to that element in other logos even if, on the whole, the logo is inferior. For istance, I think the 2nd Ed. AD&D dragon ampersand is better than the 4th Ed. D&D dragon ampersand, but I think the 4th Edition logo is better overall... Cleaner, less cluttered. I liked 3rd Ed. D&D logo at the time, but now it seems kind of drab... It is the source of the newer ampersand though.

I do not have the skills, but it would be interesting to see a logo that used the old ampersand and the 2nd Ed. colouring theme but the 4th Ed. layout and general aesthetic.

 

[Hussar]

Just to help this thread along a bit, I found This - Logos through the years through a big of Googling.

I gotta admit, I'm still partial to the 2e logo.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Looking at those logos, it's funny (but not at all surprising) that the ones which seem to strike me on an emotional level are precisely the ones which were current when I started gaming, the Rules Cyclopedia and revised (red-on-black) 2nd edition. I don't think it's anything about the logos themselves (except that the "dragon ampersand on wax seal" thing in the RC logo is damn cool), so much as plain old nostalgia.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The first AD&D logo is the one I started with, and I think it's great, although the stylized amperstand in the second AD&D logo is pretty keen as well. That said, the 3E nameplate logo has its charms as well.

I miss the little TSR wizard most of all, though.

 

[Keldryn]

Strangely enough, I'm partial to the logos that were current when I was first introduced to the game:

And this one (the whole image actually) is Dungeons & Dragons as far as I'm concerned:

So you can guess what I started with.

I was never that fond of the 2e logo... the attention drawn to "2nd Edition" in the logo was always somewhat off-putting for me.

The 3e logo is just too busy and crams too many visual details into a relatively small logo. This is representative of 3e's visual design as a whole, in my opinion. The 3e logo scales very poorly and looks awful on the spine, which led to WotC eventually replacing it with a very plain and dull "Dungeons & Dragons" label on the spines of late-era 3e books.

I like the 4e logo, as it's not cluttered like the 3e logo and looks much more slick and polished than the TSR-era logos. It also scales very nicely. I think that it feels a bit over-designed, but that is a trait shared with most "product identities" in this day and age.

 

[Bullgrit]

My favorite D&D logo is the late AD&D one, like on Unearthed Arcana; like in Keldryn's post above. But it's neither the logo from the time of my introduction to the game, nor is it the logo of my preferred version of the game.

I just think that logo is cleaner and clearer than the later versions, and more stylish (less plain) than the earlier versions.

Bullgrit

 

[brewdus]

I'm gonna go with the 3e logo. Maybe because it kind of reminds me of the logo from the first Conan movie, which still totally rules!