Even viewed in isolation, with the movie title nowhere in sight, this classic insignia, with its cartoon ghost trapped behind but reaching through a bold red ‘no’ sign, is instantly recognisable. Before Ghostbusters had even opened in cinemas, the ‘no ghost’ had been established as the logo of the film itself. Ecto-1, sporting the ‘no ghost’ symbol, from fatmovieguy.com This fun but not excessively cute figure, with the strong graphic impact of the red circle and slash of the ‘no’ symbol, makes for a playful and thoroughly memorable design. As for what happens to the Ghostbusters logo in 2016, when the film returns with an all-female ghostbusting team, a recent graphic from Sony Pictures’ Twitter showed little sign of a new version as yet.
As some film commenters have suggested, the Ghostbusters logo is ‘diagetic’ ie of the fictional world of the film. The film also celebrated New York City at a time when its image had been severely damaged by years of financial problems and high crime rates. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. For more cinematic logo inspiration, see our pick of the best movie logos. Stuart Reeves, the designer behind it, posted about the design on social media. As a bonus, the end of the film sees a brief appearance of another, quite different Ghostbusters logo.
Ghostbusters Uses
- “The interesting thing is – and it’s hard for people to figure this out – but one of the versions I did had ‘Ghostbusters’ written in the diagonal sign,” he explains.
- This curiosity is lost in the choice of logo for the Ghostbusters II movie.
- Firstly, why is the busted ghost smiling?
- Other than that addition, the only changes were to adjust the logotype to better suite an animated series, with ‘Ghostbusters’ split over two lines and a spooky blue glow added around the serif font.
- Harvey Comics sued Columbia on the ground that the ghost in the logo looked similar to Fatso from Casper.
The Ghostbusters logo made its first appearance in the original 1984 film and immediately became iconic. Like the movies, the No-ghost sign is used all throughout the series. Michael Gross went to Brent Boates, one of the artists already working on concepts for the movie, to help with the design. The logo design is loosely based on the no signs of Europe.
Stranger Things Cast Recreate Ghostbusters Pose for New Season 5 Promo
It eventually dropped the case, and the Ghostbusters logo has survived. As a bonus, it could also serve as an 'O' in a Ghostbusters logotype. It's very graphic, clear and easy to interpret, it has a strong personality, and it was simple enough to work both on film posters and in smaller sizes such as on the Ghostbusters' uniforms.
Even for what we know as the definitive version of the logo, there are two slight variations of it, with subtle design differences. This form of the logo was mostly used in Europe, where the use of the ‘no’ sign is more familiar in daily life. This is because in the international ‘no’ symbol (officially called the general prohibition sign) the red bar runs instead from top left to bottom right. This is where the concept of a ghost inside a ‘no’ sign is thought to have first appeared.
A post shared by Stuart Reeves (@stuartreevesdesign) The logo was a fun way to make the message clear in teasers and trailers, but it doesn't make much sense on the side of the Ectomobile or as the sign on their fire house headquarters. The solution is as simple and literal as the original design.
Michel Gondry directs dazzling new Chanel film
The word ‘iconic’ is probably thrown around a little more freely than it should be. Chapters like “Anyone Can Be a Ghostbuster” would highlight how fans worldwide have adopted and remixed the logo for franchise patches, logos, and local fan groups. The social-first content platform has launched a creative agency, Rad Studio, which is offering luxury brands real-time insights into how Gen Z think, look and feel Adam Murray’s photography book, The Domestic Stage, explores the history of fashion images in the home environment and how they reflect our changing culture Michael C Gross, the originator of the Ghostbusters logo, died in November 2015. Which is probably just as well, as no-one wants a repeat of what emerged when the Ghostbusters came back for a second time in 1989.
Ghostbusters and the ‘no ghost’ logo
Firstly, why is the busted ghost smiling? However, I do have some issues with the Ghostbusters II logo. By using the same ghost, which is not at all Fatso from Casper, holding up two fingers, there could be no doubt as to what is being communicated.
- Since the original Ghostbusters logo proved to be so memorable, it made sense to use it again but to tweak it enough to make it clear that a sequel was on the way.
- In an interview from the bonus disk of the DVD collection, The Real Ghostbusters (Time Life), Gross says that in talks with director Ivan Reitman, he offered to art direct the film and look after the animation side, as it was clear that it was going to warrant a wide range of special effects and creature designs.
- The logo we know today was only developed after Columbia Pictures realised it wasn’t going to obtain the rights to the name Ghostbusters in time for early teasers.
- Prior to filming, the design of a symbol for the Ghostbusters fell to executive producer Michael C Gross.
- In fact, it made it into our list of the best logos of the 1980s.
- The word ‘iconic’ is probably thrown around a little more freely than it should be.
- As a bonus, it could also serve as an ‘O’ in a Ghostbusters logotype.
This simple graphic conjures up all things Ghostbusters – classic moments from the film, the catchiest of theme tunes, and some seriously evocative childhood memories for 1980s kids like me. From its use in the 1984 film itself to its huge popularity on t-shirts and countless other items of merchandise ever since, the No-Ghost logo has become firmly embedded in our popular cultural heritage. “The interesting thing is – and it’s hard for people to figure this out – but one of the versions I did had ‘Ghostbusters’ written in the diagonal sign,” he explains. And there are, in fact, two versions of the Ghostbusters logo, Gross reveals. This in itself is not unusual (there’s a logo for Omni Consumer Products in RoboCop, for example), though the extent to which the Ghostbusters’ logo is used and referred to – in and outside of the film – has only since been bettered by Jurassic Park.
Unrealized Ghostbusters Project Would Have Explored the Origin and Legacy of the No-Ghost Logo
(My personal preference is undoubtedly the Sedgewick Hotel version, which transports me to that thrilling first moment of seeing the Ecto-1 in action.) One, in which Mooglie’s hand is more smoothly curved, is clearly visible for the first time in the scene where the Ecto-1 stops outside of the Sedgewick Hotel in the original 1984 winorio casino registration Ghostbusters. The origins of the logo can be traced back to a script for an early manifestation of the Ghostbusters idea from its creator Dan Aykroyd, known as Ghost Smashers.
This makes the Door Transfer and Sticker Kits I have created for the Hero Collector Ecto-1 such a key mod for me. Nowhere does the logo make its presence felt more strongly than in the branding of the Ghostbusters’ all-important work vehicle, the Ectomobile. From its enduring connection with those of us who love Ghostbusters to its important role in the visual imagery in scenes of the movie, it has a remarkable legacy.
The logo was redesigned for the second film to giving it a different identity from the first film. If you’re building this model, I hope you enjoy the enhanced quality and realism this addition brings – a fitting tribute to the ‘No-Ghost’ sign, a cool and much-loved piece of movie iconography. Fans of obscure trivia might be interested to know that this makes the film’s logo a ‘diagetic’ element – meaning it forms part of the fictional story itself. Curiously, while the main logo used in the movie has its diagonal line running from top right to bottom left, there is another version in which the line runs the opposite way.
