Analysis of Title logos

Words - Mamma Mia

Lines -  2

Font -  Bodoni Std Poster

Mama Mia is one of the most famous and recognisable Rom-Coms. The choice of colour in the title is unusual as Rom-Coms are mainly aimed at the female audience, who are stereotypically associated with pink or red. The blue used is electric navy, which creates a burst of energy in the eye. The letters all have a yellow shadow. This could suggest the sun and sand aspects of the film. Another interpretation of the colour scheme is the perfect girl. Blond hair (yellow shadowing) and blue eyes (blue main fill); connoting that the perfect girl is in this film. The use of an exclamation mark at the end suggests a sense of enjoyment and also the energy behind the film. It is written in capitals, which could suggest that it's being shouted- and therefore very important, but also it could suggest that there are many famous and loved actors/actresses in it; as the capital letter of each represents a different character, instead of the rest of the letters being in lower case.

Words - The Devil Wears Prada

Lines -  4

Font - A Variation of Times New Roman

This title conforms to the colour palette of stereotypical Rom-Com colours. The red could symbolise love, however it can also represent the devil, and danger; thus it connotes the film will be passion and danger. The Letters have a 3d effect to them, in which areas of each are highlighted with a white mark. This could suggest that light is shining onto it, and this would symbolise the hierarchy that is portrayed in the film. Like in Mama Mia, all of the letters are capitals. This makes it easier on the eye to read, as red is notoriously a hard colour for the eye to read. The caps lock also minimises the amount of soft edges on the letters, instead leaving hard point- which could suggest evil, but also the harsh reality of life. Furthermore it could suggest the peaks and troughs of life in the fashion industry. There are 4 sizes of writing in this title logo, which would suggest the importance of each word. The variation in size also aids the eye as it breaks up the chunk of text. The smallest size is used for the less significant joining words 'THE' and 'WEARS'. The next size up is used for the word 'PRADA'. The largest text size is used for 'DEVIL'- suggesting that it is the most important. The 'V' in the 'DEVIL' has an arrow/ devils logo coming off the right  side. This hints at a picture of a devil, but suggest that it is hidden, so the audience want to watch the film more to see who reveals them self as the devil.

Words - 13 going on 14 30

Lines -  4

Font - '13' and '14'- Arial

        - 'going on' - Times New Roman

        - '30' - hand written

The colour palette of this title logo is very in keeping with the film. The red is used widely in Rom-Com titles as it represents its main demography well. The blue/purple numbers in this title represents an element of boyishness with in one of the characters.  Similarly to 'THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA', the words in this title logo are sized according to their significance. For instance the 'on' is less significant than the 'going'. The main difference between this one and the last two that i looked at is the use of lower case lettering. I think that it is used well in this case as it allows the eye's attention to be drawn to the numbers- which are the key aspect. The Times New Roman style font would suggest a level of maturity- which is represented in half of the film; the other half however is about a 30 year old girl with the mind of a 13 year old still. This is represented by the scribble over the '14' and the hand written '30'. The human eye naturally reads left to right, top to bottom. This logo has used this theory in their title logo. the writing goes diagonally right and down, which attracts the eye as it is its natural reading path.

Words - Bridget Jones the edge of reason

Lines -  3

Font - Arial Narrow

This colour palette couldn't represent better its demography, as pink and purple are the two colours most associate with 15-24 year old females. The use of the bold, bright shade is used to attract the eyes attention. If it was a block colour then it would be less attractive, as the eye would see it as one thing and move on. The words are sized according to importance, but also to what fits in the 'box'. All logos whether they be word, picture or both,have a 'box' they must used this box as effectively as possible. Some (like THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, work diagonally across the box, suggesting elegance and length) however BRIDGET JONES uses the whole box. It is a bold statement, a bit like Bridget herself. The font is Arial Narrow, in bold. The bold writing represents her valiant and sometimes brash attitude towards life.

 

Words - Love actually

Lines -  2

Font - Arial (black:narrow)

This title is unique and even just the shape and colour is associated with the film. The word 'love' is in arial bold and in red. The red connotes love, passion and romance, and it also attracts attention as it is natures warning colour (possibly a warning that love, or the fight for love is a painful process. In contrast, the 'actually' is in black, arial narrow. This could suggest that the reality of love is a mystery until you are there, as the feeling of love is unexplainable, and unimaginable until you have experianced it. The red 'love' is also heavily associated with Christmas- a time in which many romances begin. The title logo is very basic, however I feel that it is one of the most effective.

Conclusion

From this research into exsisting title logos I have created a list of important aspects to consider when we design our title logo:

• The 'box rule' - every logo is created in a box. The box itself suggests the genre of film (for instance rom coms tend to be horizontal rectangles or squares). How the writing fills the box also connotes and represents the film. For instance a flowing plot film like 'the devil wears prada' goes diagonally right and down; where as a more drastic storyline like Bridget Jones fills the whole box.

• Colours - Colours are used to represent the main characters in the film. Generally pink for girls and blue for boys (using stereotypes), however other colours are used to suggest thier views or attitudes; (for instance in 13 going on 30- the numbers are in a more masculine colour- suggesting her tom boy attutude).

• Size - The words are sized according to their importance. However they are also sized to fit flowingly in the 'box'.

• Font -  Fonts are used to represnt the characteristics of the main characters. For instance a girly girl would have a serif font, or a child main character may have a hand written font.