superman logo redux

superman logo redux by Philip O'Brien (c) 2021

 

I've had some ideas about re-designing Superman's uniform for a while, and I even did some sketching a few years ago. More recently, while on on vacation between the holidays, I downloaded a new application: Sketchbook by Autodesk, and decided to give it a go. Sketchbook was pretty easy to learn, reasonably powerful, and best of all, its now free! so I'd go get it if I was you

I used Sketchbook to try out a few of my re-designed uniform ideas, and one of them included a more streamlined version of Superman's logo. its, um... actually his family crest, durp * so I took a look around the internet to see if any of these ideas had come to life elsewhere, because who wants to be the guy that spends an afternoon fooling around with Superman's insignia only to find that he's independently created what someone has already done. Its also possible that someone HAS done this already, or something very similar, and I just failed to find it.

One of the logo re-designs I found was this one by Daniel Beadle, who not only did a great job, but went into the reasons why a re-design was needed. I have a lot of the same reason's Daniel Beadle does, so I won't repeat them all, you can read his post here. In summary, I'll say that the S shape in the traditional Superman insignia looks like a capital typeface letter S, with serifs on it (a slash at the top, and a round at the bottom.) These serifs make the insignia read like the letter S, rather than an alien crest for the House of El. Superman, as storyline, is essentially science fiction, so my idea is to create a family crest (and a new uniform design) that is more alien, modern, and wouldn't be confused with a capital S. It was also important to retain the elements that make Superman's insignia so recognizable, so that when you see the redux I've done, you can tell what it is without being told.

I feel like I've achieved the goals I set for myself. In fact, when I finished, I felt that that someone must have already came up with something very similar. If at some point I find that to be true, I'll post that information here in an edit. If you know of another design similar to this, please let me know!

I'm also planning on posting my drawings for Superman's re-deigned uniform, soon. And I also have some ideas for Wonder Woman's uniform as well!

* The S originally stood for Superman in the comics. The change to family crest came about during the 1978 movie 'Superman.'