To take two visual examples that seem so farfetched, distant and barely related such as an ancient bronze sculpture and a contemporary media conglomerate logo and compare them may seem absurd. However, despite the lack of a direct connection, the meanings and contexts derived from the historical example shed light on the deliberate as well as the unintended implications of the company logo.
Since the fateful airing of the Buggles’ saccharine “Video Killed the Radio Star,” in 1981, MTV (Music Television) has become an incontestable popular culture behemoth. The network, which has been attributed to having completely “transformed (and rejuvenated) the music industry” (Rapping), had launched a second channel, MTV2. In February of 2005, MTV2 began a full-fledged campaign for its revamped programming. Targeted at “young male viewers… [a very] sought-after – and elusive – demographic” (Hiatt), the new channel plays only hip-hop and rock music videos as well as feature programming.
The campaign consisted of mass exposure of MTV2’s new logo. The “suddenly ubiquitous logo” (Hiatt) is a silhouette of a two-headed pit bull. The two heads face in different directions and the dog’s body looks poised for action. Inside the silhouette is a bold sans serif font spelling the channel’s name with the enlarged 2 forming a triangle with the dog’s heads. The colour and colour relationship (i.e. analogous, complimentary, polarized etc.) of the logo and type vary in accordance to its use.
A complete opposite to the trite logo, the unique Etruscan bronze She-Wolf stands at 85cm high and has only one head. Modeled with “extraordinary realism” (Honour and Fleming 158), the freestanding sculpture shows a brawny female wolf with its head bowed to the left, muscles tense, teeth barred, ears and hackles raised.
According to noted art historians Hugh Honour and John Fleming, the piece’s realism epitomizes the “unidealized, down-to-earth quality of Etruscan art” (158). The fact that it was... [continues]
Since the fateful airing of the Buggles’ saccharine “Video Killed the Radio Star,” in 1981, MTV (Music Television) has become an incontestable popular culture behemoth. The network, which has been attributed to having completely “transformed (and rejuvenated) the music industry” (Rapping), had launched a second channel, MTV2. In February of 2005, MTV2 began a full-fledged campaign for its revamped programming. Targeted at “young male viewers… [a very] sought-after – and elusive – demographic” (Hiatt), the new channel plays only hip-hop and rock music videos as well as feature programming.
The campaign consisted of mass exposure of MTV2’s new logo. The “suddenly ubiquitous logo” (Hiatt) is a silhouette of a two-headed pit bull. The two heads face in different directions and the dog’s body looks poised for action. Inside the silhouette is a bold sans serif font spelling the channel’s name with the enlarged 2 forming a triangle with the dog’s heads. The colour and colour relationship (i.e. analogous, complimentary, polarized etc.) of the logo and type vary in accordance to its use.
A complete opposite to the trite logo, the unique Etruscan bronze She-Wolf stands at 85cm high and has only one head. Modeled with “extraordinary realism” (Honour and Fleming 158), the freestanding sculpture shows a brawny female wolf with its head bowed to the left, muscles tense, teeth barred, ears and hackles raised.
According to noted art historians Hugh Honour and John Fleming, the piece’s realism epitomizes the “unidealized, down-to-earth quality of Etruscan art” (158). The fact that it was... [continues]
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(2008, 04). Of Dogs and Men: the Etruscan She-Wolf in the Understanding of the Mtv2 Logo. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 04, 2008, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Dogs-Men-Etruscan-She-Wolf-Understanding-Mtv2-141995.html
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"Of Dogs and Men: the Etruscan She-Wolf in the Understanding of the Mtv2 Logo" StudyMode.com. 04 2008. 04 2008 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Dogs-Men-Etruscan-She-Wolf-Understanding-Mtv2-141995.html>.
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"Of Dogs and Men: the Etruscan She-Wolf in the Understanding of the Mtv2 Logo." StudyMode.com. 04, 2008. Accessed 04, 2008. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Dogs-Men-Etruscan-She-Wolf-Understanding-Mtv2-141995.html.
