Top 5 Logos Of Solo Artists

How can a logo allude to a popular music video? Can you trademark the “play” button? Discover the secrets behind the top logos of solo artists.

Here, we will not discuss the logos associated with music bands but rather the emblems that belong to solo artists.

Eminem

The logo introduced in 2013 appears to be the best one the artist has introduced so far. While it is hardly legible (which is not that good), it is also mesmerizing or even hypnotizing – you cannot help staring at the logo trying to figure out its meaning, to read it starting from the initial letter and from the final one, in this direction and in that direction. Your eye gets trapped and keeps going forward and backward. The reason is that the second “E” has been replaced by its mirror reflection. Two more unusual things about this logo are that both the “M’s” have one of their vertical bars covered by that of another letter (“N” and “E”). This also changes the direction of your eye movement and somehow affects the way you perceive the wordmark.

The earlier logo looked pretty generic in comparison with it, especially the original one (1996). It was only on the 2000 logo that the artist dared to change the direction of the second “E,” which has been his visual signature ever since. You can learn more about the history of the Eminem logo on the 1000logos website.

Sia

The logo featured on the cover of the album “This Is Acting” is the one that catches your eye with its uneven shape, nervous dynamism, and emotional turbulence. The moment you get a closer look, you notice the letters are not just letters – they represent a female figure. Her moving style looks very much like the dancer from the Chandelier music video, Maddie Ziegler. You can see the now-iconic wig, which has also become a sort of material logo for Sia herself.

Prince

While this might be not the most memorable or unique symbol, it is definitely among the most discussed and controversial ones.

It first appeared on the cover of the album the “New Power Generation.” According to Prince, the emblem was a combination of symbols for male and female, and it also represented alchemy’s soapstone symbol. He later copyrighted it under the name of “Love Symbol #2.”

The reason why the logo caused controversy was that in 1993 Prince officially adopted this unpronounceable symbol as his stage name and started printing it on his album covers instead of his name. This move was part of the rebellion against Warner Bros., which did not agree to release the artist’s music at a steady pace. Soon, everyone started calling him “Artist Formerly Known as Prince” or just the “Artist.”

Jennifer Lopez

Here, we are talking about the logo of the lifestyle brand J.Lo, which was founded by Jennifer Lopez in 2001.

The current version features the larger letters “J,” “L,” and “O” creating a sort of picture together. While the “J” looks perfectly normal, the “L” has an elongated horizontal bar, which seems to embrace the square “O.”

To make it easier to understand who the logo belongs to, the designers who worked on it placed the lettering “by Jennifer Lopez” below. There is also an intricate ornamental element under the wordmark.

AVICII

While AVICII is probably the least known artist in the list, his logo is impressive and stylish. AVICII, whose real name was Tim Bergling, used this emblem throughout his career until his death in the spring of 2018.

The way the artist’s name is given on the logo catches your eye. The letters “A” and “V” look like a mirror reflection of each other, and their diagonal angular shape leaves a dynamic and edgy impression. The two triangles below not only continue the motif started by the typography but also hint on the music theme.