Logo Investigation

LOGO INVESTIGATION 

DISNEY:

 The first logo in 1937 was a profile of Mickey 

                                                                                         and would change colours.

In 1995 the logo had a major transformation that shaped the logo seen today. That is the words Walt Disney Pictures and the castle in the background. This logo was in use until 2006 when it was updated again. This particular version was for Pixar movies and had a CGI rendered castle in it.

This was the version that the other disney movies had.

In 2006 a new logo was introduced that was fully CGI. It had the camera panning down over the castle as fireworks go off above it. The words Walt Disney Pictures then appear. Interestingly the visual effects studio that produced it was Weta Digital, based in Wellington, New Zealand.

2011 saw a new variation that updated the visuals and changed the words to just have Disney there.

This is what the current Disney logo that appears in their films.

WARNER BROS:

The basic premise for the Warner Bros. logo is a floating shield with the initials WB on it. There have been lots of variations to the logo but the base has remained the same over the years.

This first logo was introduced in the 1920s. It had the initials taking up the bottom half of the shield and the name of the company above. As time went on, throughout the 20s and 30s the initials began to grow bigger and take up more space on the shield. 

In 1970 the logo was changed when Kinney Services bought the company. The logo then began to resemble a bit more what it is like today. 

In 1972 the company was rebranded by Saul Bass and the logo was changed quite drastically. This version however did not last long and films soon returned to the shield design.

In 1984 the shield was adopted again and has been since then. This version had the shield floating in front of a backdrop clouds.

In 2019 a modernised logo was introduced for their anniversary. It went for a sleek silvery-blue approach and looks very modern.

Warner Bros. has been known also to create logo designs based off the film that they're producing. For example, in the Harry Potter franchise, as each new movie was released, Warner Bros. had a darker logo each time.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES:

The defining characteristic of the Universal logo is the globe that has been used for the entirety of its existence. The globe was to signify the global significance of the company.

In 1914 the first logo had a planet with rings around, somewhat resembling the planet Saturn.

1920 saw an update that had the ring on a slant instead. There was also a bit more detail as this logo was less simplistic to its predecessor.

In 1923 the logo was changed so that the planet resembled earth and the words now were only Universal Pictures. The rings were also removed.

In 1927 a slightly more modern logo was introduced which had similar characteristics to 1923 but the words were changed to A Universal Picture.

In 1936 the logo was changed to have a more complex and 'out there' approach. This time the words travelled around the globe and there were stars flying off the globe.

1946 had International Pictures company merging with Universal. This meant the words on the logo were now Universal International. The stars were stationary as well as the words. 

The modern image of Universal began to take a bit more shape in 1963 with the incorporation of the blue for the earth. The word Universal then fades as the planet continues to rotate behind.

In 1990 a much more complex design was created. More camera movements were used than other designs. CGI was not used however and models were used.

In 1997, CGI was finally introduced and this became one of the more recognisable and iconic logos. The word Universal rotates around the globe.

In 2012 the current logo was made. This was a huge step and showed the developments in technology over the years. The main difference between this and the last logo, is the sheer detail included compared to the other.

PARAMOUNT:

There are two main aspects to the logo. The mountain and the stars above it. It is theorised that the 24 stars are a reference to the 24 actors that signed with the company back in 1914. 

This is the first logo

Between 1917 and 1935 there were many variations of this logo without really changing the design drastically at all.

In 1953 the logo was updated by Jan Domela who added trees to the foreground to create a zoomed out effect and make the scale larger.

In 1968 the words were changed to include "A Gulf + Western Company" as well as Paramount.

In 1975 a more minimalistic approach was introduced.

In 1986 the mountain was redesigned and repainted. The text for the 75th Anniversary was also added.

In 2002, for the 90th anniversary, as with the other logos, CGI was used. The stars would fly to settle above the mountain. The look turns out quite a bit different to the other designs.

The by-line was changed a few times from 2019-2022 because of a merger between Viacom and CBS and a subsequent rebranding to Paramount Global.

This is the current logo.

SNN FILMS:

This is the logo I created in After Effects for our film company.

It features the company name in metallic-style text with a silvery explosion behind it. The look I was going for was a modern, sleek almost dark style. It suits the genre of films we have been producing. For the Foundation Portfolio Niav and I are thinking of adapting the logo for the film, following in suit to Warner Bros. Since the Kidnapper in We'll Meet Again wears a gold mask we might change the colours to have more gold in them to match the theme as it were.