By 'period' I mean the early 1980s and old school block style, not graffiti of the war torn future of Nu-earth, although of course they are the same thing. Its use in communicating "this is about computers" or "this is about the techno-future" lasted throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s, before digital technology caught up with traditional print in the mid 1990s, and 'technology' became largely normalised, and not something that required peculiar letterforms or needed its own typographic expression.ĭredd and Rogue logos are by no means clean mechanical reproductions, in fact their jagged punchy edges as much resemble graffiti from the period as anything else.
It was regularly seen on the early covers of 2000AD as a title font and for various other jobs around the comic, including the "Credit Card" acknowledgement for the Script and Art Droids, as the creators are known, so was clearly known by the designers of the comic. It's supposed to be loose, so don't worry if the shapes just look like angular blobs, that is all they are really.īoth Rogue and Dredd logos are, I believe, based loosely on Data 70 by Bob Newman, published by Letraset as rub-down transfer lettering - a response to the growing popularity of Westminster, designed by Leo Maggs and itself based on fleshing out MICR-13 - a magnetic character set intended to be used by machines to read numerical data back in the late 1960s, when computers didn't have amazing graphical processing capabilities that they do today. In the Rogue Trader T-shirt I've attempted to echo this with approximations of a las-rifle, bolt-pistol and jagged close combat attachment, in the U G and UE spaces. Both ideas clearly echo the army insignia of the Norts and Southers (which arrow up and arrow down, indicating their desired global movements), and reflecting the face in the J of the Dredd logo. The original Rogue Trooper logo contains, what I consider to be some very subtle and clever typography - the negative space of the R and the UE making an up arrow and a down arrow - iconic representations of the Nort and Souther, one invading the south, heading down, and the other invading the north, going up. Rogue is hand rendered, somewhat similar to the Judge Dredd logo (by recently passed) Jan Shepheard.
Rogue The design is heavily indebted, if not an outright homage, or perhaps parody, to Dave Gibbons logo for 2000AD strip Rogue Trooper, which first debuted in 1981. For those outside Europe it might be more costĮffective to order from the US store - styles vary slightly.īut for those who would like an explanation, one follows, of sorts. GI-Blue Rogue Trader T-shirts are available in both mens and ladies styles via inĪ limited edition of 66 each (3 of the mens have already seem to have gone before
After a brief trail of the graphic on Facebook garnered enough likes to make it wasn't just me. There are those who will know and get it, and those that won't. I expect that this doesn't need explaining and I suppose that's all part of the humour. Some new 80's British Sci-fi inspired retrowear for you comic book loving leadheads!