Logo Practice

Comic book logo design is tricky AF. You've got to convey a message using just a simple word or phrase that lets the reader know what to expect from your comic. It can help to sell the comic to potential buyers so getting it right is an important part of the comic creation process.

I'm always looking to practice and improve on my graphic design skills so when a hole appeared in my schedule I decided to offer my experience to a few lucky comic creators on Reddit and design them a FREE logo. I find it more challenging to work to a brief rather than just making up names and maybe these logos will go on to better things if the stories get picked up.

Below are 4 examples I've just completed along with the brief supplied by the comic's creator.

Brief: A modern-day occult/detective noir story in the vein of True Detective.

Brief: A story about twin bandits that involves magic, travelling to different worlds and defending themselves from an evil force. It's a bit futuristic in a way and it's called...

Brief: The book has tons of swearing it in, so its not appropriate for children. I'd like a logo that very adult-looking. Also it should be extremely legible even when it a tiny thumbnail, because a lot of people buy comics online on sites like Comixology and they are picking books based off very tiny thumbnails. The only other suggestion I have is to make the "post-apocalyptic" part prominent (or at least don't minimized it too much) because there will be a huge dinosaur on every cover so people will already know its about dinosaurs no matter what. The "Post Apocalyptic" part is the unique thing.

Brief: The character's name is Pulsar, and he's a kinda down on his luck guy with an absent father, who literally explodes one day. Everything around him is wiped out, and he's covered in a strange blue plasma from head to toe. He has several orange orbs that orbit his chest, and can fly, is strong, fires the plasma in bolts and beams and stuff... you name it. And, you know, uses his powers for good.

Quite a different range of genres but hopefully you can see a little of those genres injected in to the logos.

Latest Update #5

These updates are a useful way of keeping this blog fresh and also reminding myself that making comics is a never ending battle against the most evil of super-villians - The Time Stealin' Goblin! "West" I say to myself, "Make some more comics." You gotta keep sticking it to that bastard of a goblin.

• Hallowscream 2017 - We've got a cover artist sorted and loads of great stories for this year's issue of everyone's favourite indie horror comic. Next month's launch will come quickly so you can be sure all the contributors are busy working on their comic strips.
  
  I've got 3 stories appearing in this issue! My very own attempt at art Peril in the Park, a 2 page story titled Caught in a Moment, drawn by Croatian artist Boris Peci, and a single page story called A Wine for Every Occasion drawn by Australian artist Ken Best. It's a real international affair! Preview pics below...
  
  






• My 2 page strip Made for Each Other has been accepted by the team at Strange Romance. This is a professional comic and I've had to sign a contract to give them the story rights for a year but there will be some level of payment for my work! Getting paid to make comics, how bizarre!
• I'm still fine tuning my anthology Killer Bytes which is now looking like a 2018 launch date. I've pretty much missed convention season so it makes sense to hold it back until the new year.
• Half way through the first draft of issue 1 of Get Woke, the dead-celebrity conspiracy comic.
• There's currently 4 scripts approved by various indie anthologies that are waiting for an artist to be assigned Mommy's Little Angel, The Wizards of Westside, Misery Business & Mika and the Godheart.
• Recently finished writing a 7 page sci-fi story titled Familiars. I'm making an effort to write some scripts in advance so when a new submissions call goes out I'll have some stories on file I can send immediately rather than writing them in a rush to meet deadlines.

As you can see, there's plenty going on and plenty more to do. As a writer, I keep a list of story ideas that grows each month. There's also a second list I maintain, to manage the stories in progress that have qualified from the first list, as ideas that are worth further attention. This list is getting BIG. So fuck you, goblin. I'm going to make some comics.

Mbrustah's Millions

Apologies for the lack of recent posts but overall it hasn't been too painful leaving the previous Get Woke post at the top of this blog for the last couple of weeks. It's an awesome image and the script for issue 1 is coming along nicely.

In the meantime, I've just finished this little strip that made me giggle. I believe I'm actually getting faster at the art! For the people of Reddit, the art isn't that important, it's the story that counts. Hopefully this will be to their liking. It made me giggle.

EDIT: 34 up votes on Reddit. Not great but not a total disaster.