Rock and Roll Brand

There’s a popular misconception that the Rolling Stones ‘hot lips’ logo is based on Mick Jagger, but it’s not true. At least not entirely.

When Jagger briefed Royal College of Art student John Pasche to come up with a symbol the band could use on everything from posters to record labels, he had some clear ideas about what he wanted. He asked for something simple like the Shell logo, and because Indian Culture was in fashion amongst hipsters at the time, he wondered if that could be reflected in the design too.

The symbol combines the simplicity of the Shell logo and the symbolism of Kali, Hindu goddess of death, time and doomsday.

The now familiar result was inspired by the Hindu Goddess Kali who was often depicted with her tongue out. That fact that sticking your tongue out is also one of the most basic forms of protest (ask any 5-year-old!) made it the perfect logo for the bad boys of Rock.

Now one of the most recognisable logos in the world, the original drawing was bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum at auction for £50,000. A sum 1000 times what Pasche originally received for the work. Talking about the piece, V&A Senior Curator Victoria Broackes said "It sums up the Rolling Stones. The anti-authoritarianism, the devil-may-care attitude and the sex appeal"

The now ubiquitous tongue and lips logo first appeared on the inner sleeve of the Rolling Stones 1971 album Sticky Fingers

An enduring strength of the design is the way it stands up to reinvention. Many different colour schemes and other modifications have been used over the six decades of the band's reign. The combination of being established and fresh at the same time is straight out of the modern branding playbook. With an ever increasing number of platforms for your brand to have a presence on, a flexible approach is vital. Where once ‘corporate identities’ were, largely, a logo and a set of rules, successful branding is now delivered via fluid toolkits allowing a variety of problems to be solved whilst retaining a strong brand essence.

What hasn't changed is the need for brands to be instantly recognisable and communicate the values and personality of the business wherever they appear.

The branding has been customised to promote various albums and tours. Often displaying an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek wit! 😉

The above excerpt was taken from the skills development workshop - I’m With The Brand run by Valhalla for musicians and businesses within the music industry. If you would like us to run a workshop for you or talk about how Valhalla can help your business get some brand satisfaction, get in touch…