Dharma Initiative Rebranding
Friday, July 25, 2008 at 1:07pm 14 comments (last by greg)
Along with it's new recruiting campaign, a 1970's research project known as the DHARMA Initiative unveiled an updated logo.
As you can see from the photo taken by The Transmission, the cartoonish lettering has been replaced by Futura Century Gothic (thanks Keith!), giving it a clean modern look. The octagon of traditional bagua trigrams has been simplified and rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
According to Wikipedia, the trigrams have a range of meanings from traditional aspects of nature such as earth, wind and fire to their accompanying sciences and pseudo-sciences like astronomy, anatomy, geography.
While that fits with the diverse range of the DHARMA Initiative's studies, that link is pretty tangential and very far from obvious. The simplified symbols maintain a continuity and the recognizable silhouette of the original logo, while making it recognizably distinct from the actual traditional symbols you'll find on nearly everything even vaguely eastern.
This entry was written in a review style in tribute to one of my favorite blogs, Brand New.
14 Comments
Jenni McKay Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 6:40am
Combining two of my favorite subjects: logos and LOST, I love it!
Eli Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 7:20am
...since when are astronomy, anatomy, and geography pseudo-sciences?
Jamison Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 7:28am
I left out the pseudosciences, but that list on wikipedia also includes astrology and geomancy.
The Hague Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:03am
If love Dharma, you'll love Massive Dynamic!
jerry Kuyper Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 7:33am
It reminds me of a stop sign.
(Spoof of classic Brand New comment)
Keith Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 10:19am
Actually, the font is Century Gothic, not Futura. Its the same font used on the DVD menus and show.
Atwater Village Newbie Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 2:37pm
Its! It's its!!!!!
Jamison Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 3:30pm
Thanks Keith, I've corrected it.
Trigrams Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 5:45pm
This set of six pint glasses features a different Dharma symbol on the front of each glass. Trigrams
Josh Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 12:48pm
This is not a logo. As you mention it is just Century Gothic, with nothing done to it whatsoever. Shameful what has happened to our design community that this passes for a logo now.
Kevin Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 5:05pm
You didnt create anything. The writers of Lost did. Have you put any thought into WHY theyre called the DHARMA initiative in the first place? Why the numbers 23 and 108 are closely involved? Magnetism? Dont use good writing for your own personal gain.
Jamison Monday, August 25, 2008 at 7:34am
Josh,
I wouldn't hold them to such high design standards. This is a fictitious organization created for a TV show and design decisions are probably made more on what looks best (and looks recognizable) scaled down to a badge on a jumpsuit when viewed on video than actually trying to brand and promote DHARMA.
Kevin,
I didn't design the logo, I don't know what you think I'm trying to "gain" from writing a review in Brand New's style, and I was playing along (and trying not to playing into, I didn't link to the official site) with the Comic Con marketing blitz for the show. Have a little more fun with it.
greg Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:01pm
that is pretty good, dude. I dig it, since I like Brand New's site. The booth at comic con was interesting , but hardly anyone got to go in and take the test. Check out youTube for the video from the LOST panel, it is pretty intense.
Anyone who is raining on your blog needs to lighten up a little, I'd say.
Jay Williams Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 2:24am
Thanks for the heads up! I've always liked the traditional DHARMA logo, but I'm sure the new logo will grow on me with time. And for a little fun, I attempted to build the new logo as it appears on paper in Illustrator. If you want, you can download the vector file here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/differentview/2713531706/