When making your comic it is important to think of the ‘branding’ of the book. If you are making the book simply for your own amusement and want to call it ‘BS I Like’, well, good for you.
But most people making comics realize at some point that if they want others to pick up the book and read it, well it needs to appeal to them at least a little bit.
And this is where the logo and the titles come into play. Sure, you have a great cover, and a great name for the book too. But what if that name just doesn’t look appealing on the cover? What sort of book does your logo say the book will be? Is it a dark logo, for a Batman type adventure? Or perhaps it’s a period comic about some fantasy world, so you’ve used a Gothic font?
I’ve been learning a bit about this as I work towards releasing my small line of books, and what I have learned has surprised even myself. First, I have to say a lot of those on Facebook don’t really know how to do the things they are saying they know how to do. It’s been a pretty disappointing, and expensive lesson to learn.
For Dr. Fizz, we ultimately went away from any sort of ‘name on a bottle or can’ to just a stylized font and simple bubbles. Less is more in these cases. For Lazurus’s Eye, a title which still might get changed, writer Rob Stanley suggested we look at some old Dr. Who titles for the logo. Here are those two, both not final:
But for Sissonne, a sort of companion series to Dr. Fizz, we needed something visual with the logo and titles to convey that the book was fun, but also about something…not usually seen in a superhero comic.
You see, Sissonne uses ballet as a fighting style. Yes, ballet, and it’s hilarious. Writer Lee Newman took a nugget of an idea and added a truly unique character. The initial 4 page opening had everyone who read it laughing out loud. But how do you put that into a logo?
Well, here is what we got from our paid logo maker guy, and I gotta tell you I am still upset that I had to pay this guy. We told him the concept and that it would be difficult, yet he took the gig and delivered…what? What about these says ‘I’m a superhero that uses ballet’?
Tell me that one there isn’t missing a nipple. Go ahead and try.
So long story short, I’m done paying people to do the logo’s, I am going to start doing them myself. It’s important, but serious logo work can cost hundreds and my little indie just cannot afford it. I believe I can do a good enough job, and we shall see.
Luckily, I have collaborators like Lee who make the whole thing easier by allowing me to bounce ideas around with them from time to time. We’ll get our ballet logo, and it’s going to look great, because it’s important.
You can see some of the mock-ups for the Sissonne logo on Moby’s Tumbler, or by joining our newsletter.
And if you need logo work, give me a shout. I could use the practice.
