With the general “vibe” of the tour considered, it was time to develop the logo so that it could accurately match both Mandy Madison’s branding and the individual tour’s branding all while simultaneously communicating that it was a music tour rather than an actual insurrectionist group.

​

All of the initial thumbnails took inspiration from American Traditional tattoos to reflect Madison’s brand. Madison’s brand features this art style because American Traditional became an ironic symbol of rebellion after its origins in the American military forces evolved into a visible rejection of social norms in the 1950s (Phoenix, 2024). The pipeline from American militarism and alternative aesthetics, rebellion, and outright rejection of social norms is not lost here – but further cements symbolically the purpose of MADMANZ and the disillusionment of American citizens over time, making the utilization of this style a key aesthetic of the MADMANZ brand (“The art of,” 2023). Many of the icon variations contained microphones throughout history, each used for different purposes to communicate music and its historical development, a reference to the metal genre’s historical impact (Fowler, 2017). Some were purely iconographic, others were solely textual due to the consideration that a custom typographic logo is statistically key to building an association with the brand, which if used could strengthen recognition of the brand and make for powerful marketing. (“The role of,” 2023). Others were a combination of the two. Many icons from the album’s aesthetics and the initial look-and-feel were considered, from eyes, nails, barbed wire, daggers, roses…the ideas were plentiful, and each different – almost too much.

​

Determining the best result would require not just preliminary concepts, but rapid A/B testing for each stage of development. This multivariate A/B testing would determine which designs were more effective amongst the viewers and why – what specifically worked and what represented the brand to those who knew it. A select number of audience members that were familiar with the brand and its history were chosen as the subjects of the survey alongside a few budding industry experts, as peers, to measure each design’s effectiveness at every stage of development and determine the best result. (Demers, 2020).

​

The initial survey, “Pass 1,” was rough due to the number of ideas presented. However, 6 concepts were selected to expand upon. These six were chosen due to being thematically closest to the band’s intended communication and by being the most visually interesting while maintaining simplicity.

​

“Pass 2,” while smoother, was more complex – those 6 concepts were expanded into 24 more potential logos, though this time each shared thematic aesthetics. The ones chosen by the survey group mostly featured microphones to show the connection to music, but the palm-and-dagger design was a compelling one for the survey group.

​

This led to “Pass 3,” which contained 4 icons and 3 text logo variations, leading to 12 total logos for the focus group to choose from. From here, the survey group favored logos under the “A” groups for their typographic strength.

​

For the final pass, “Pass 4,” 2 potential logos and their color variations were considered – The text elements were the same for both options but featured two vastly different icons. The microphone was a favorite for its connection to music, depiction of the American Traditional style Madison is known for, and its communication. The dagger, however, was favored for its symbol of rebellion and the visceral emotion the symbol output.

​

The final logo, the microphone and star, was chosen by the survey group due to the fact that the microphone was more likely to showcase that the brand was about a music tour, the lightning bolts contributing to that American Traditional and old media feeling and communicating noise, and the star being a classic American Traditional icon.

​

Later, the logo would be animated with a stop-motion style, which was chosen for its intrinsic feeling of “DIY” and intimacy as the medium itself explains how it was made – audiences generally interpret stop-motion assets as more personal, as the very creation of it is a story the audience implicitly understands – choosing this would further the connection to the audience and make the logo feel more intimate (Malone, n.d.). In addition, it would appear as if the words were being spray-painted on; with graffiti being a symbol of rebellion and community in and of itself, these aspects would be further communicated in the design if used (Novena, 2023). This would make the brand feel down-to-earth and help in building a connection with the audience, as Mandy Madison’s brand focuses heavily on community and audience interaction.