It's got lots of triangle shadows and a radial.

April 12, 2012 12:28 PM

What style of [logo] art is this?

Here's another example, and another.

It's usually only 2 or three colors, minimal detail, high contrast/shadows, almost always has some sort of radial in it.

This, this, and this are similar, but not spot-on.

Is there a name? A pioneering artist related to this style? A time period? Thanks!

posted by FirstMateKate to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Looks in some part like its trying to mimic scratchboard or etching, Rockwell Kent kinda stuff.
posted by The Whelk at 12:35 PM on April 12, 2012

Best answer: I would call these woodcut logos for lack of a better term.
posted by bcwinters at 12:43 PM on April 12, 2012

One part about the history of the evolution of logos is that fax machines caused a lot of logos to be simplified, more graphic and one color, to prevent it becoming a smudge in the transfer. Now that we can reproduce at much higher resolution, logos are going back to being detailed as both a retro-look and because the woodcutty/stamp look is very easy to deal with in Illustrator.
posted by The Whelk at 12:47 PM on April 12, 2012

there isn't really a name for logo styles. like with anything else, trends come in and out and back in terms of logos. i think of these as being vintage industrial because a lot of them mimic the logos of early 20th century manufacturers and mid-western farming equipment and tools.
posted by violetk at 1:19 PM on April 12, 2012

Retro Logos.
posted by alms at 1:26 PM on April 12, 2012

Best answer: It's called a badge logo.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:23 PM on April 12, 2012

In addition to what others have said, I feel like these types of logos are often edging towards or lightly suggesting Art Deco.
posted by threeants at 3:56 PM on April 12, 2012

Best answer: I would call these woodcut logos for lack of a better term.

Yep. Vector-drawn simulated woodcut/linocut.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:56 PM on April 12, 2012

Best answer: They look like woodcuts to me, too.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:21 PM on April 12, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks guys! Woodcut returned some pretty good results, but lino-cut was more consistently in tune with what I was looking for. Badge logos, like Blazecock suggested, didn't necessarily have the shading/color style I was looking for, but the cross-over seemed to be pretty common.

Yay metafilter!
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:05 AM on April 13, 2012