The Destiny Gauntlets!

(click for a larger view)

the amazing (and patient) indie publisher Tiki Machine, LLC had gotten in touch with me (courtesy of one ambitious and generous Joseph Game) to see if i would be interested in doing a logo for his epic fantasy comic book series "The Destiny Gauntlets". At the time i was finishing up a logo for an electronic dance group and a boutique that makes hair accessories for little girls, and this was just too wild to pass up. i mean, a trio of simultaneous logos don't get more different than that (i just had to be careful not to confuse these worlds by giving a butterfly a battle-ax or a viking a keyboard).

Mike gave me some special sneak previews of art, story, and characters, and we went back and forth looking at countless typefaces, book covers, comics, and logos to come up with just the right look for the book and exactly what he wanted. below are some roughs to see if shape was worth exploring, followed by some rough, classic-but-modern, illustrative letters

we knew we wanted "destiny" to look magical, and "gauntlets" to be battle damaged, and soon we were getting closer. i actually kind of like the smashed "gauntlets" on the top version (below). below that you can see one of many attempts incorporating pictorial elements in the logo, and though it bums me out when i can't succeed in the challenge of making something work, i'm still glad we tried it.

and below is the final sketch! i'm fond of this one; it was a real joy for me to draw letter forms so thoroughly. you can't imagine how much penciling, erasing (SO much erasing), measuring, flipping, following through, and exploring that goes into this, and thank heavens i am all too excited to go on that journey.

(feel free to click on for larger view)

and a spruced up black, white, & gray version. i always go out of my way to ensure that all logos have shapes and forms that would work as solid black on white, even though we knew that by the end, Mike's logo would have plenty of eye catching effects and renderings (see final up top).

Mike has been generous enough to give me a nice credit on the inside cover of every issue (i feel like Kevin Nowlan on Hellboy!) and there's even a chance at a pinup in the book itself! rest assured i'll let everyone know how to get copies when it's published

thanks for reading!