The Magnetic State Blog Dept.

The blog at Brooklyn web design studio Magnetic State.

  • Our Work
  • Best of the Blog
    • This Major Athletics Brand Needs a Redesign
    • Why You Need a Responsive Website
    • Interpreting Banksy’s ‘Evil’ Painting
    • Are There Breasts in the McDonald’s Logo?
  • Featured Design
    • Responsive Feature Article for Men’s Health Magazine
    • Responsive Website for Coldfront Magazine
    • Logo Design: Men’s Health Next Top Trainer
    • EverPower Corporate Reports
  • Contact Us

Case of the Stolen Nineties Goth Logo

October 27, 2014 by Dan Redding 2 Comments

Top: Marilyn Manson’s new logo. Bottom: A Nine Inch Nails logo that the band used circa 1990.

Here’s a delectable morsel for those of you who are clamoring for branding news from the godforsaken realm of the Hot Topic t-shirt rack. That blathering old vampire Marilyn Manson has unveiled a new logo in association with his new album – and boy, does it look an awful lot like an old logo of his former mentor and cryptmate, Trent Reznor. The image above compares the new MM logo with a nineties-era NIN logo that was used on the ‘Sin’ single and other band merch. The two logos use extremely similar shapes to form jagged symmetrical compositions with vertical pillars in the center.

Nine Inch Nails’ debut, the brooding synth-goth masterpiece Pretty Hate Machine, is one of my favorite albums of all time. Reznor has since become known as an early embracer of the digital music industry and an Oscar-winning film score composer. Manson, on the other hand, still makes stuff I guess. Reznor once accused Manson of stabbing him in the back and being a “malicious guy [who] will step on anybody’s face to succeed.” Does this new logo prove that the old bat still has bite? I think the similarities in the designs speak for themselves.

Related Posts:

  • The Five Best Rock & Roll Logos of All Time
  • How Much Does a Logo Cost?How Much Does a Logo Cost?
  • Case Study: Branding a Breast Cancer NonprofitCase Study: Branding a Breast Cancer Nonprofit
  • An Experiment in Subliminal BrandingAn Experiment in Subliminal Branding

Filed Under: Branding, Graphic Design, Music Industry

Work with Dan

Do you need a website or logo design? Check out my portfolio and drop me a line to discuss!

Comments

  1. D Harvell says

    March 19, 2015 at 7:51 pm

    I’m so glad you wrote this. I saw that new MM logo and had an awful case of flashback. I kept telling myself, “No… that new MM logo isn’t a ripoff of an old NIN logo, it’s just coincidence. Right? Right??? I guess I’m not the only one who noticed that the logos are a near exact match. Thanks for showing me that I am not insane. At least, not in THIS particular manner, anyway.

  2. Jesse-Damon Bond says

    December 3, 2016 at 3:33 am

    Well, this is extremely bias. For starters, you obviously value NIN more and automatically discredit anything that Manson does, simply because it isn’t NIN. Secondly, how many variables on “NIN” and “MM” can you possibly come up with before they end up looking similar – because they do, but there are only so many design variations of those letters. I mean, “MM” and “NIN” look almost identical as is. The same with “MM” and “MIW”.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT

About

Magnetic State is a design studio powered by Dan Redding. We create websites, brand identity, and print design. Wanna work together? Send Dan an email.

Visit Culture Creature!

Culture Creature is a music blog and podcast founded by Dan Redding. Visit CultureCreature.com!

Free Design News

Sign up for the Magnetic State newsletter! Receive important updates and tips from Magnetic State a few times a year.

Search

Categories

HYPE

Loading Quotes…

© Copyright 2015 Magnetic State. Privacy Policy