September 16, 2013 Andrew Rodriguez
Playstation
My father bought me a Playstation for my 6th birthday and the logo has changed visually since then, both in the typeface and the logo. The colors changed from the colorful PS1 logo to the PS3’s black and white version. The concept behind this logo came from Manabu Sakamoto, a well-known Japanese graphic artist who also designed the VIAO logo for Sony.
The Playstation logo changed with each console release, adapting to a more modern, sleeker look. The Playstation 2 replaced the main logo’s colorful “P” and curved “S” behind it to a sleek, blue “PS2.” The PSP’s logo also took after this style, and looked almost identical. For the PS3, the logo changed once more by focusing more on the typeface and changing it’s color to white. The most recent change was after the PS3 Slim was released, changing the logo from “Playstation 3,” to “PS3.”
The typeface used for both the PS1 and PS2 was BTSE, while the typeface used for PS3 is similar to Mata, Bronzo, or Homoarakhan typefaces. After the PS3 Slim’s release, the all capital “PLAYSTATION 3” logo changed to “Playstation 3,” and “PS3,” trying to return to the PS2 and PSP logo style. The typeface is almost identical to the PSP and PS2’s, although its slightly curved.
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The logo for the first Playstation console featured the original colored “P” and “S,” leaving the type simple and black.
The PS2’s logo paved the way for Sony’s new style for the Playstation logos, leaving the colorful “P” and “S” and instead transitioning to type as the main image.
The PSP was almost identical to the PS2’s logo, and further demonstrated Sony’s new view on their logos, aiming at focusing only on the type rather than their old original “P” and “S” symbol designed by Manabu Sakamoto.
The Playstation 3’s logo first debuted with the entire word written out as its main image, and the typeface was often referred to as “Spider-man font.” After the release of the Playstation 3 Slim, a lighter, more compact version of the PS3, it changed it’s logo to from “PLAYSTATION 3,” to “PS3.” This decision allowed Playstation to go back to the style used for the PS2 and PSP logo’s.
