Weezer logo
- For the =W= logo, see Flying =W=.
Weezer's official logo is a highly-recognizable and consistent aspect of Weezer's ethos, having appeared on albums, merchandise, and marketing since 1994.
Contents
History
- Original logo examples
Poster for July 27, 1992 show
Poster for December 2, 1992 show
Posters for March 3, 1993 show
Poster for cancelled May 29, 1993 show
Original logo design
The first iteration of a Weezer logo came not long after the band's February 1992 formation. Designed by Karl Koch, the original logo is reminiscent of its modern appearance—rendered in all lowercase and without much visual flair—although it has a number of hallmarks which make it distinct. In contrast to the sans-serif and fairly simple modern logo, the original Weezer logo utilizes a condensed, serif font with particularly accentuated e's. Occasionally, a cross goes through the middle of the z. This logo is usually accompanied by one or two small stars to its side; the canonical placement is directly next to the r, although it was often moved or excluded to fit the needs of the format it was being placed on (this is very common in early appearances). There appears not to have been a stencil or other method of consistently recreating this logo, as all instances of it are hand-drawn by Koch.
While the band's name is rendered many different ways on early posters and other media, this original logo was, as Koch puts it: "the logo in 92-93".[citation needed] It appears consistently on concert posters designed by Koch, as well as on Weezer's pre-1994 merchandise items. It now serves as an immediately-recognizable trademark of the short period prior to the band's fame.
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Modern logo
The modern Weezer logo was designed for usage on the band's 1994 debut album Weezer (The Blue Album), again by Koch. He has gone on record that the logo's font is a modified Futura Medium, although the logo is considerably closer in appearance to Futura PT Light. The most noticeable modification made by Koch is the clipped tails of the e's, which can easily be used to differentiate between proper and improper instances of the logo. On the rationale behind his modifications to the font, Koch has said: "i didnt want the logo to just be Futura Medium with nothing unique about it, and i thought it looked better the way i modified it".[citation needed]
The logo is distinctly simple. This is in-line with the intentions of Koch and Rivers Cuomo behind the whole of Weezer (The Blue Album)'s artwork, meant to be as simplistic and "innocent" as possible.[1] With the album's success, the logo stuck, and the band began using the logo on marketing and other media. The retail singles for "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly" both use the font, as well as the "Bokkus" line of T-shirts sold at Weezer's first tour shows (though, the incorrect font is used on these shirts).
The same logo, sometimes with minor variations, has been used consistently through to the modern day. It appears on nearly every released Weezer album (with some exclusions, including Hurley and OK Human, along with others mentioned later in this page) and is a mainstay on marketing material and merchandise. The modern logo is a consistent and recognizable symbol of the band, alongside the similarly notable Flying =W=, and sees usage in almost every reference to Weezer today.
Pinkerton-era logo variation
Van Weezer logo variation
Weezer (The Green Album)-era logo variation
Instances of different or incorrect logo usage
Non-standard logos
Not every Weezer release sticks to using the regular logo. The 1996 album Pinkerton does use it, however the retail CD release of its single "The Good Life" has a unique, hand-drawn logo. This logo appears in other pieces of promotion from this era, and is generally recognized as an alternate logo specifically representing the album.
The 2021 album Van Weezer utilizes an entirely unique Weezer logo, rendered in the free font Heavy Metal Rocking. This logo, along with the album, is a pastiche of the band Van Halen.
Incorrect logos
The most notable instance of an incorrect rendering of the Weezer logo is found on the cover art for Weezer (The Green Album). Due to an error at Geffen, the font used on the album's cover art is unmodified Sans Serif Book FLF—not the real logo. This incorrect logo is replicated on singles and other marketing from around the album's release. On the 2013 MFSL pressing of the album, the correct font is used. Said Karl Koch on the logo mishap: "I was not directly consulted with the art beyond the early stages for that one, and sure enough they popped that in and it got approved before i even knew it was a thing. from there it spread like wildfire".[2]
It is very common for international releases or promotional releases of Weezer material to use fonts different from that used on the official logo. Often, these fonts are still part of the Futura font family.
See also
References
- ↑ Rivers Cuomo. (September 27, 2020). "Blue Album Artwork". Riverpedia. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia at Riverpedia archive - 09/27/2020.
- ↑ Karl Koch. (May 6, 2022). Weezerpedia Discord server. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia at Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - May 2022.
