What are the best logos in gaming?

PaulloDEC · Mar 11, 2021

eraFROMAN said:
This logo rules;
Its a 4-way split to denote the 4 player battle royale gameplay
as well as being an "X-over-O," to denote the theme of Smash being the Ultimate cross(X)-over(O).
It works even better now than it did in 1999, honestly.

Were either of these actually designer's intent? They both sound like a stretch to me.

Even if they're both legit, the logo itself communicates absolutely nothing to a viewer who isn't familiar with the game. Hell, as people in this thread have shown, it's inscrutable even to people who are familiar with the game. It could be the logo for just about anything; a laundry detergent, a government department, a car brand, an employment agency. It's an absolute nothing of a logo; a void of personality.

parski · Mar 11, 2021

Just about anything from Nintendo is pure 😙👌.

eso76 · Mar 11, 2021

Guppeth said:
This one is really clever, but so subtle I didn't notice until someone pointed it out. Every Trials game since HD has it.

The R is a bike helmet, facing left.

mind blown

Mukrab · Mar 11, 2021

Kylac said:
beautiful

This wins

Virtua Sanus · Mar 11, 2021

The Mortal Kombat and Sonic & Knuckles logos are my picks, but Ys is up there too. I especially love that they change the material and colors with each game.

johan · Mar 11, 2021

Fighting game logos are often pretty great. One of my favourites is Street Fighter Alpha 3

D.Lo · Mar 11, 2021

johan said:
Fighting game logos are often pretty great. One of my favourites is Street Fighter Alpha 3

But that's a nasty botch job localisation of the actual logo for the game. Two fonts in a single word, gross. And the drop shadow on the A doesn't match the rest of the logo.

The entire 'Alpha' rebranding was a complete mess. Zero 2 in particular is dominated by a Z motif in-game that's wrecked by renaming the game.

Grue · Mar 11, 2021

Glad I'm not the only one who actively dislikes the original PS logo.

These are also great choices:

spad3 said:
But I'm partial to Assassin's Creed, specifically the Syndicate logo:

The logo is so simple and so customizable for each era it's amazing

Zyrox said:
I honestly really love the Switch logo. It's simple, clean, I like the Yin/Yang thing it has going on and the little animation that plays in trailers is pretty satisfying in both visuals and audio.

CountAntonius said:
Sea of Thieves is absolutely brilliant. Even as a clean simple logo it works then you see the entire thing filled in and in color and it's just so damn clever.

Bit obscure but I always though there was something iconic about the dataDyne logo from Perfect Dark. In fact I recognised it instantly when it cropped up in the recent teaser for the new game.

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I suppose starting the game right in front of it, I suspect inspired by the Atari logo in Blade Runner, helps cement it in the mind:

inner-G · Mar 11, 2021

Zealuu · Mar 11, 2021

Curt Baboon said:

Came here to post this.

Contender: The classic Traveller's Tales logo.

Xadra · Mar 11, 2021

Shiba said:

The Kojima Productions logo is one that instantly came to my mind.

Visceral Games

Cloud Chamber. I find this one quite funny.

Btw, I choose the logos based on personal preference, but I don't consider them "the best logos".

issa · Mar 11, 2021

I expected more Cory Schmitz, I'm pleasantly surprised.

This is not a diss, his top works are unparalleled (Oculus, 17-Bit), it's just that sometimes it feels like he's the only identity designer in the industry.

iamandy · Mar 11, 2021

ApeEscaper · Mar 11, 2021

SilentEagle · Mar 11, 2021

Santa Monica's old logo

Rover · Mar 11, 2021

KORNdog said:
Everything from the Wipeout series

The Designers Republic is just too good

Maple said:

The problem with this logo is that it comes up while the console is booting and making all these ugly churning and beeping sounds. Hard to disassociate those two. But great system otherwise!

Mobius 1 said:
I wish I had created it. Simple, elegant, instantly recognizable at any size.

Agreed. A lot of the logos in this thread really don't look designed for the long haul.

JusDoIt · Mar 11, 2021

It's simple, but the graffiti and grindhouse stylings are an everlasting vibe.

I always look forward to how the next game puts a spin on it.

gabegabe · Mar 11, 2021

I really like the Everwild logo.

ResidentDante · Mar 11, 2021

D.Lo said:
But that's a nasty botch job localisation of the actual logo for the game. Two fonts in a single word, gross. And the drop shadow on the A doesn't match the rest of the logo.

The entire 'Alpha' rebranding was a complete mess. Zero 2 in particular is dominated by a Z motif in-game that's wrecked by renaming the game.

This so much. Never understood the rebranding from Zero to Alpha.

Kyonashi · Mar 11, 2021

never played a single game in the series but always thought this was really dope

DNgamers · Mar 11, 2021

zYuuKwn · Mar 11, 2021

every fictional company logo on games made by Remedy.

Rover · Mar 11, 2021

Love the original Game Boy logo and packaging scheme.

Part of this is just about how much of a mark of quality this logo used to be. But it also has so much more style than the rigid, corporate SquareEnix logo. The S feels very fluid and almost like calligraphy.

One of the most timeless logos in games. Sure, it's just the CNN font. But CNN didn't make the Genesis or the Dreamcast. Frankly, CNN is using the Sega font.

Birdseeding · Mar 11, 2021

The 1996 iteration of the Infogrames armadillo is a standout for me:

Torpedo Vegas · Mar 11, 2021

Navidson REC · Mar 11, 2021

dalq said:
From a design point of view or from a videogame user point of view? Because from a design point of view, all the ones posted so far are straight up garbo tier.

What? The PlayStation logo and Insomniac's (with the moon) have fantastic designs! Simple yet striking. Great colors on the PS logo, too.

sweetmini · Mar 11, 2021

It's crazy, but i was in love with Climax entertainment logo back in the landstalker days.
I remember redrawing it pixel by pixel, by making the game hang up at the logo with custom AR code (takes far more time than it looks)

The best logos, to me, are Traveller's tales

and psygnosis full owl

Gay Bowser · Mar 11, 2021

PaulloDEC said:
Even if they're both legit, the logo itself communicates absolutely nothing to a viewer who isn't familiar with the game. Hell, as people in this thread have shown, it's inscrutable even to people who are familiar with the game. It could be the logo for just about anything; a laundry detergent, a government department, a car brand, an employment agency.

That's the case for most logo symbols, though. It's not like the Mercedes-Benz logo is a picture of a car. It's not like the Nike swoosh is a picture of a shoe. It's not like most of the console logos people are posting in this thread are pictures of consoles or anything videogame-specific. It's not like the Chase or Mastercard symbols have anything literal to do with finance. Most logo symbols are abstract symbols that we associate with the brand through repeated use. They're designed to be empty vessels that are given meaning by the brand.

N64Controller · Mar 11, 2021

First, I'd like to congratulate OP for making a thread with a question being asked in the thread name, and then making a statement answering that question in their post. This makes the thread about the question, and not about OP's opinion. We see so many threads these days that would be phrased like "IS THE PLAYSTATION LOGO THE BEST LOGO IN GAMING?".

As for me, my current favorite logo is People Can Fly. I don't know why because it's pretty simple, but I love the studio name, love their logo.

PaulloDEC · Mar 11, 2021

Gay Bowser said:
That's the case for most logo symbols, though. It's not like the Mercedes-Benz logo is a picture of a car. It's not like the Nike swoosh is a picture of a shoe. It's not like most of the console logos people are posting in this thread are pictures of consoles or anything videogame-specific. It's not like the Chase or Mastercard symbols have anything literal to do with finance. Most logo symbols are abstract symbols that we associate with the brand through repeated use. They're designed to be empty vessels that are given meaning by the brand.

Sure, but would you pick any of those as your favourite logos, or argue in favour of them as the best? I certainly wouldn't. Those kinds of logo are effective only because the brands they're attached to are successful - that indicates an effective brand, not an effective logo.

Gay Bowser · Mar 11, 2021

PaulloDEC said:
Sure, but would you pick any of those as your favourite logos, or argue in favour of them as the best? I certainly wouldn't.

Why not, if they're well-designed?

A lot of people 100% would argue in favor of, say, the Nike swoosh being one of the best logos out there.

ArchAngel · Mar 11, 2021

Sonic & Knuckles logo
Classic SEGA logo

Both are perfection to me :)

PaulloDEC · Mar 11, 2021

Gay Bowser said:
Why not, if they're well-designed?

A lot of people 100% would argue in favor of, say, the Nike swoosh being one of the best logos out there.

To each their own. It's a nicely designed shape, but it isn't worthy of any more praise than that, to me.

The best logos in my view are the ones that tell me something or make me feel something. Having a nicely executed design is only one part of the equation.

xir · Mar 12, 2021

Klobrille · Mar 13, 2021

nihilence · Mar 13, 2021

Also, The Initiative

Starwing · Mar 13, 2021

KORNdog said:
Everything from the Wipeout series

Beat me to it. Though my favorite one of the bunch is FEISAR.

Lord Azrael · Mar 13, 2021

Guppeth said:
This one is really clever, but so subtle I didn't notice until someone pointed it out. Every Trials game since HD has it.

The R is a bike helmet, facing left.

Holy crap

RROCKMAN · Mar 13, 2021

The original radiant historia logo

Which had the i slightly bigger and a silhouette of Stocke, the main character in the i.

When you take into account the negative space of the I, you see its actually the door of time Stocke, steps though every time he uses historia.

It's slightly easier to see with the colors inverted

Of course, the remake throws all of the subtlety out of the window.

Zeal543 · Mar 13, 2021

KimonoNoNo · Mar 13, 2021

I'm quite partial to Nier Automata's YoRHa symbol.

Gho5tstar · Mar 13, 2021

-Tetsuo- said:
MK

This right here

Philippo · Mar 13, 2021

I really like the standard Final Fantasy font and underline, and once you had the occasional Amano illustration with it it becomes an instant recognizable classic.

Steve McQueen · Mar 13, 2021

Flousn said:
Always liked the Metroid Logo

Hell yeah

Bentendo24 · Mar 13, 2021

Going into this thread: "hmmmm, I gotta think about it"

Sees playstation logo: "oh yeah it's that one"

Coen · Mar 13, 2021

Some great ones already posted, but I'd add:

Lylo · Mar 13, 2021

Birdseeding said:
The 1996 iteration of the Infogrames armadillo is a standout for me:

Yep, beautiful.

Temascos · Mar 13, 2021

The Psygnosis Logos are beast

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And another one from my childhood

Sir_Caffeine · Mar 13, 2021

Coen said:
Some great ones already posted, but I'd add:

This looks soo good.

What are the best logos in gaming?

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