Record Label Logos
Friday 11th September
"A record label is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos."
Record labels are important to the music industry, as they are responsible for producing songs and helping to get them known. Without a record label, an artist might struggle to get their music heard.
SYCO
High key lighting presents the company in a positive way, and also represents the "bright" furure of the signed artists. The further use of gold lettering suggests they are the best company and have the best acts - gold represents first place. The capitalisation of the lettering for "SYCO" makes it the center of attention, as well as the fact that it is bigger and above the second word in the title. This use of blocking draws the eye of the viewer.
SYCO is Simon Cowell's company. The abbreviation of the start of his first and last name make up the title of his business. As the brand is half owned
by Cowell and Sony, the "Y" might replace the "i" from his name to present Sony in the title as well. Instead of being an abbreviation of "Simon Cowell", it could perhaps be an abbreviation of "Sony" and "Cowell", which is a clever play on both words.
The use of san serif font makes the logo seem more modern and youthful, which represents the type of artists they sign - young new and fresh. It also compliments the name "SYCO" which is pronounced like "psycho". The connotations of this are crazy and abnormal, showing that the company branches from the norm and produces things people haven't done before - making them original. The further use of 3D text and the displaced, non-uniformed lettering creates a more fun, edgy look, which attracts attention from younger people who are the main focus of the company - they want artists that will appeal to the majority.
The use of the second word 'entertainment' shows it is a company people will enjoy and the acts they sign are going to be entertaining. The use of a darker colour contrasts the gold to make it stand out. The simplicity of the writing along with the colour suggests they don't need to over-do the logo to try and attract an audience. It is simply entertaining, no strings attached.
The first element of the logo for RocNation is a diamond. This shows that the owners and artists within the company earn a lot of money, and are able to own material goods. This suggests the label is successful and well-known. The use of red and black are contrasting colours that stand out and attract attention. Usually these colours have negative connotations, however, the music being produced by this label is quite powerful and influencial. Therefore the bold colours like black and red perfectly portray the artists and their genre.
The title contains the words "roc", short for "rock", which gives edgy, fun connotations. This word suggests the music being produced is bold and memorable. The fact that there is a diamond at the front of the word suggests that "roc" could also represent the diamond, suggesting the artists are wealthy. The second word "nation" suggests there is a nation of artists signed to appeal to everyone. It could also represent the nations that support the signed artists, showing how popular they are.
The use of san serif font makes the logo seem more current than one which would use serif. By using san serif, the company appeals to the younger generation, who are more likely to enjoy the kind of music being produced. Each letter in the logo is split into sections, perhaps showing how well everything in the company fits together, like a jigsaw. This suggests they run the company well, and the artists that are signed are going to do well and fit perfectly into the industry.
ROCNATION
ISLAND RECORDS
Island Records, founded in Jamaica, is now a major British record label. The name "Island" is taken from the song "Island in the Sun" by Harry Belafonte. Island Records has many popular artists, such as Justin Bieber, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry and Mumford and Sons. This shows how diverse the genres are within the company, which appeals to more people.
The basic colours of black and white shows professionalism, making them seem more successful, which highlights the success of the artists. Island Records is a subsidary company of Universal Music.
The use of san serif on most of the letters fits conventions of record label logos, as it makes them look modern and youthful, making it seem fun and informal. By using serif on the "S" presents the importance of the company and shows the seriousness of the business. It adds to their professionalism.
The use of a palm tree logo represents the name and also gives a 'cool' youthful image to the company.
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP INTERNATIONAL
Universal is a subsidary music group of the conglomerate Vivendi. The name "Universal" suggests it is a world-wide company that represents artists from around the world. It also produces music and music videos that are vastly successful across the world - it claims to be the largest music corporation in the world. This is further presented to their audiences by the word "international". This shows diversity and appeals to many different people.
The use of black and white through the logo shows their professional approach to the music industry. Furthermore, these colours run in line with their subsidary company "Island Records". This shows a link between them that people will associate them with. This also shows their success as there are multiple companies.
The image of the globe behind "UNIVERSAL" further represents the diversity within the company and how successful they are around the world. The fact that "UNIVERSAL" is written through the image of the globe shows the impact the company has on the world.
The use of serif typography makes the company look professional, and also older, implying it has been successful for a long time.
WARNER MUSIC GROUP
Warner Music Group, is the largest American-owned music conglomerate worldwide. Warner Music Group also has many successful subsidary companies such as Atlantic Records.
Unlike most other record label logos, Warner uses some colour in their logo instead of just black and white. This makes it seem more youthful as younger generations are more associated with colour, whereas older generations are associated with black and white. The addition of colour also makes it stand out from other logos as others are mostly black and white. By also sticking to black and white within the logo, Warner Music Group present themselves as professional and successful.
By using san serif typography, the company looks more youthful and appeals to the younger generation, which is the aim of most record labels as younger people are more likely to purchase current music.
After analysing other big record labels, it seems that many logos change from being colourful to black and white. This could be to make themselves look more professional, and less informal.
The lack of colour also makes the logo look slightly more basic (especially the Universal logo), which may make it easier to recognise and make it stand out - the logo shows they are simply about the music, and not about a fancy logo. This could be appealling as it shows their commitment to the music, however it may also look too basic and as though they haven't made much effort. This could be challenged by the gradual change of the logos and not an immediate alteration.
RECORD LABEL CONVENTIONS
Record Label Designs
11th September 2015
To the left is the original drawing design that we came up with. We thought of "Square Records", because square usually implies straight cut and boring. By combining this thought with a round record, we juxtaposed the ideas, creating the effect of innovative ideas and work.
We used san serif font, to show the youthfulness of our company, which fits with the name.
We felt the centre of the circle (which represents a record) was too plain in this design, so felt the development of the next designs needed to fill this space, in order to make the logo more eye-catching and definitive. Our design idea works well, as the outer square represents the title "Square Records", and also looks ilke a CD case. By having a round circle in the middle of the square, it represents the title further, but also looks like the CD in the case.
Original Design
Design Development
The first development of our logo included some lightning shaped "s" letters, which represents the title "square". By placing the s shapes in the way we have, a lightning bolt shape has been made through the centre of the record. This is effective for the audience, as the bolt of lightning reflects our innovative ideas and 'streak' of difference etc.
By using black and white, the professionalism of our company and product shows through.
We decided to experiment with our design, by adding colour. We thought this made the design stand out due to the bold, bright red colour. Often red has negative connotations, however, the use of red, white and black is quite classical and powerful.
After researching other logos for real music labels, I discovered that they often change their logos from colour to black and white. This shows the professionalism of the company.
After conducting audience research, we decided to change the design in the circle, as people thought it looked too much like a lightning bolt, which was thought to not be related to our name or product. We agreed with the general feeling of our survey, and so decided to go with a more simplistic design, that became more effective due to the "S" in the middle representing the title. By using straight lines to make the "S" instead of having it curved, reflected the name "square". We also felt this design would stand out on an album cover or advert, due to being black and white - adverts for pop are conventionally coloured, so this would be
Final Draft
more prominent. We also stuck to san serif font, as this shows professionalism of our company. This is conventional for music logos, as it creates a more youth-appealing appearance - which is good, as younger people tend to be the target audience for the pop genre.
Audience Research
We conducted a quick audience research in the form of a questionnaire, to gain information on the audience's views of our logo. From here, we decided some alterations should be made, such as the shape inside the circle (which represents a record), as many comments in our feedback suggested our target audience didn't feel the lightning shape fit with our design and product. We agreed that the design should be more clear and so needed to develop the look of the product.