Steal Your Face

I chose to use the iconic logo of, The Grateful Dead.  Their logo Steal your Face is widely know and recognized as a major symbol for the hippie movement, jam music, and the psychedelic period.  It can been seen all over the world on any of their band merchandise, cd’s, stickers, and across countless car bumpers.  The original use was so the band could easily identify their musical equipment.  However, the logo later appeared on the cover of the album Steal your Face, and has been known as the Steal your face symbol ever since.

This design is fairly simplistic containing only 4 colors, red, blue, white, and black.  Yet the contrast between these are very bold and eye catching.  The image is entirely based off of a circle, created by a thin black line.  Inside it contains a smaller circle, suspended near the top of the larger circle.  The smaller one however, is created by two black lines with white space separating them, as opposed to the singular black line creating the larger circle.  The outer black line of the smaller circle continues underneath it from either side in a very curvature nature to the bottom of the larger circle.  In the extended area that these lines create, there is white space that contains curves, and various shapes created from black lines.  The space inside the larger circle to the left of the smaller shape is filled with a blue, while the space to the right is filled with a red.  In the middle of the smaller circle lies two conjoining black zig-zag lines, with white space in the middle that stretch vertically across the circle, leaving space on either side.  This space to the sides is also filled with red and blue, similar to the larger circle but, it is flipped, the left is red while the right is blue.

Since this image is so iconic and has been around since it was first designed in 1969 it is very effective as a logo.  The lightning bolt is a symbol for transformation, enlightenment, and the raw powers of nature, juxtaposed with a skull, and distinct colors.  All this imagery lend’s to the symbols’s “steal your face” concept.  Through the Grateful Dead’s music and the scene they inspired, many people were transformed.  In a way their everyday masks were cracked by the openness of their culture.  This is clearly depicted through the lightning bolt that slashes through the skull.  The contrasting colors also portray the distinction in the conversion their follows went through.  Yet, these colors work well together and create a very harmonious vibe relating to the positive atmosphere of The Grateful Dead and the harmony of their music. The skull with a smile is an excellent symbol for “Grateful Dead”.

Steal your Face

Andreas Kremer

Steal your Face

I chose to use an iconic logo of the band, The Grateful Dead.  Their logo Steal your Face is widely know, recognized and seen as a major symbol for the hippie movement, jam music, and the psychedelic period.  It can been seen any where on any of their band merchandise, cd’s, stickers, and on the bumpers of cars all over the world.  The original use was a way for the band to identify their musical equipment.  however, the logo later appeared on the cover of the album Steal your Face, and has been known as the Steal your face symbol ever since.

This design is fairly simplistic contains only 4 colors, red, blue, white, and black.  Yet the contrast between these is very bold and eye catching.  The image is entirely based off of a circle, created by a thin black outline.  Inside it contains a smaller circle that suspended near the top of the larger circle.  The smaller one however, is created by two black lines with white space in between, as opposed to the singular black line around the larger circle.  Between the space of the bottom of the smaller and bottom of the larger circle the outer black line from the smaller one continues in a very curvature nature to the bottom of the image.  In the extended area that this line creates is more white space that contains black lines, curves, and various shapes.  The space inside the larger circle to the left of the smaller shape is filled with a blue while the space to the right is filled with a red.  In the middle of the smaller circle lies black zig-zag line that stretch across the entire circle, leaving space on either side.  This space is also filled with red and but it is flipped to contrast with the larger circle.  The left is red while the right is blue.

Since this image is so iconic and has been around since it was first designed in 1969 I think it is very effective.  The lightning bolt is a symbol for transformation, enlightenment, and raw powers of nature, juxtaposed with a skull, and distinct colors that all lend to the symbols’s “steal your face” concept.  Through the Grateful Dead’s scene the music inspired, many people were transformed.  In a sense their everyday masks were cracked by the openness of their culture.  The lightning bolt is a perfect symbol to convey this idea, and the skull also provides a great way to symbolize the “Grateful Dead”.