This week’s Retro 71 concept is based on the Magic Kingdom logo from the 80's.
This logo is my personal favorite ever used to brand the Happiest Place on Earth. The logo uses the classic font Bookman Swash, which we all know by now Disney loved in the early years. Designers have manipulated it to create a unique, one-of-a-kind logo.
When it comes to logo design, you can't just pick a simple font and typeset it—you really need to change the font and make it your own. The goal is to make it almost unrecognizable, especially to other designers. Case in point: the apparel company Juicy Couture recently filed a lawsuit against another apparel company for stealing their logo. However, the Juicy Couture logo isn’t even a one-of-a-kind logo—it's a simple text typeset in a standard variation of a classic, free font. Juicy Couture can't copyright a classic font. If they could, that would mean no one could ever use said typeface without suffering legal consequences. Juicy Couture should have either hired a professional typographer to design a font just for them, or paid a graphic designer to plus the existing font. With no modification to the font whatsoever, it really comes as no surprise that another company would design a similar logo. Disney would never stand for such complacency.
As for this week’s design, the color palette is a simple, one-color print in yellow placed on a red shirt. The shirt itself would probably be more of an eco heather red made by Alternative Apparel instead of a solid red. I felt the color combination was accurate to how Disney used the logo on their theme park brochures and signage. Again, texture and vintage distressing implies the retro theme that runs throughout the entire Retro 71 apparel line.
Well that does it for this week’s Retro 71 installment. See you on Friday for another thrilling journey into the wonderful world of park typography. See you then!
