D.R.I. logo love

I have always been attracted to the D.R.I. skanking guy logo. Not in a sexual way, I just always thought the logo mark freaking ruled.

The many times I spent in high school sketching band logos on my notebooks, the D.R.I. logo was always one of them, and I still think it's bad ass to this very day.

Apparently, I am not the only one who shares this belief.

When checking the stats for my blog traffic, at least five times a week someone finds my blog by searching for D.R.I.'s logo. Believe me that I get a lot of hits from folks looking for various thrash metal logos, but the search for the D.R.I. logo alone surpasses them all.

In fact, I can guarantee that many people will find this particular post via a "D.R.I. logo" Google search. Let me say, "Greetings, fellow D.R.I. logo lover! After you save the logo to your hard drive, please come back and roam the posts for some NWOTM love."

Although I have my own thoughts on what makes the D.R.I. logo so popular with those "in the know." The skanking stick figure encased within a circle is legendary in thrash lore. The logo is iconic, striking, easily recognizable. It has universal thrash appeal.

Think about it. If you went to a record store and hanging on the wall over a batch of vinyl or CDs was the D.R.I. logo, you would KNOW that pile of music is full of thrashy goodness.

If you passed a club while driving down the street and the only sign they had above their entrance door was the D.R.I. logo, you would KNOW what kind of music plays there (and then you would proceed to get an event calendar for upcoming shows).

The skanking guy symbol SAYS thrash. It inevitably catches the eye of all those who love the genre, even if you really don't like D.R.I. (for shame).

So, fellow skanking guy symbol fans: Why do you love it so much? Nostalgia? It's meaning? Looks good on a button? What does it mean to you?

More thrash metal logos!

Ever since I re-posted about thrash logos from my graphic design blog, I've received tons of hits from people clamoring for logos. Man, you guys are thrash metal logo crazy!

Well, I am a generous man, and I like to dish out what the people want. So I offer the following graphics: nwotm band logos.

Oh, yeah. Quick side note about gaining hits. I also received a crazy amount of hits when I posted my prediction on Metallica's secret project. I figure that the name "Metallica" alone will most likely garner a healthy amount of searches, so it's no surprise I am seeing an uptick in hits.

Metallica! Metallica!

Now, onto some cool thrash logos!

Design and thrash metal logos

The following is a re-post from my rarely updated graphic design blog. It was originally written with the graphic design student in mind, especially those who have no experience with thrash and death metal. Woo-hoo!

I love thrash metal logos.

Twisted, jangled, thorny, stretched, sketchy, bloody, and even amateurish.

To look at them, some may wince at the band logo's appearance. Check out any one at random and you'll usually find at least one of the following characteristics: hand drawn, spikes, inconsistent widths, and some unreadable. They also like the color red.

Yeah, I love 'em.

What these logos lack in beauty, they gain in recognition. A D.I.Y. aesthetic derived from thrash's punk roots. The album art could be anything, but with a thrash band's logo plastered across the top of the cover, fans instantly know what they're getting.

Sure, some thrash metal logos can be pretty slick, but a lot of the new retro thrash bands that have popped up, as well as any old-school death metal band, immortalize their names within logos that could care less about conservative design principles.

They are strictly for the fans...like me!

Here are a few examples.