Pop art

If you picture The Beatles playing live, there’s something you can’t miss: the band’s logo – complete with dropped ‘T’ on Ringo Starr’s bass drum. In pop music, your logo is a vital part of your brand: as important as the lead singer’s haircut or the guitarist’s favourite Fender Stratocaster.

As groups (or ‘bands’) have changed over the decades, so have their logos. In the early days of rock ’n’ roll, the group’s name, normally painted on the bass drum, was designed in the formal style of the time. Fast-forward 15 years, and late-’60s logos looked as far-out and groovy as the coolest style boutiques.

Now a book, Logo Rhythm takes an in-depth look at the evolution of the band logo, from The Kinks to Funkadelic – and all points in between. Written and edited by Jim K Davies, and designed by Jamie Ellul of Supple Studio, the book includes contributions from leading lights in design and music, including singer and DJ Tom Robinson, and Malcolm Garrett, the designer behind iconic logos for Simple Minds, Duran Duran and Buzzcocks.

This is a book that goes deep. So you’ll find out where Bowie’s lightning logo came from, how the Rolling Stones’ ‘Lick’ emblem was inspired by a Hindu deity and why The Ramones’ logo is so popular on T-shirts (often by people who’ve never actually heard the band’s records).

You’ll find out why The Ramones’ logo is so popular on T-shirts

You’ll find out why The Ramones’ logo is so popular on T-shirts

And it’s full of fascinating facts. Did you know there’s some truth that The Monkees’ logo was designed to appear on a school lunch box? Or that John Berg at Columbia Records designed over 5,000 record sleeves (as well as the logo for Chicago – itself based on the Coca-Cola emblem).

Rock and pop have never just been about music. Identity, politics and fashion all pay their part, too, and you can see all of them instantly in the best band logos. This book is a fitting tribute to their power.

Logo Rhythm is out now, published by Circa