Let’s start big with Nirvana. Kurt Cobain’s band released their album Nevermind in 1991, which quickly became very popular, leaving a mark on a whole generation. Unfortunately, the band’s story was short-lived as the singer died in 1994. Even today, it is not uncommon to see the Nirvana emblem on promotional items or clothing. Let’s take a closer look at the Nirvana logo.

To start, Nirvana’s first logo was a signature logo. According to some scholars, the font used was Poster Bodoni Compressed, a serif font that plays with the thickness of certain letters. The logo was in yellow most of the time. Then, in 1991, the smiling man was added to the logo, creating a combined logo. The smiling man was quickly associated with Nirvana, although no one knows exactly where it came from. There are several theories, some of which are even a bit wacky. Black was also used as the color for the band’s logo.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Now let’s move on to a popular band from the 90s that is still active today: The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Founded in California by vocalist Anthony Kiedis and guitarist Michael Balzary, they now have 11 albums to their name. Unlike several music groups, Red Hot Chili Peppers has only had one logo during their long career, and it is both simple and recognizable.

The main symbol is an eight-pointed red asterisk with the name of the group added around in black. White, black and red are colors that have great contrast. As well, each of the shades has a meaning for the group. The asterisk is nicknamed “the Star of Affinity” or “the Angel’s A-hole”. The font used for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ logo is the Franklin Gothic in uppercase with some small changes on some letters.  Anthony Kiedis, the band’s front man, says he came up with the idea for the logo.

Wu-Tang Clan

Considered by some to be the best hip-hop group of all time, Wu-Tang Clan is one of our picks for bands from the 90s. Formed in New York and inspired by some Asian films, this is a group that has made a mark with their music and strong, unique brand image. In fact, the Wu-Tang Clan logo has not undergone any major changes during the band’s career. But what exactly does it mean?

To start, the Wu-Tang Clan logo is a particularly well-made combined logo. It contains the name of the group, but also an emblem. Most of the time, the logo is displayed in yellow or black. The font used is reminiscent of the Asian inspiration of the group and the symbol represents both various elements. Some see it as a W, others as an eagle or even a CD.

Staying in the world of hip-hop, there was another group that stood out during the 90s: Fugees. Originally from New Jersey, this band was formed by Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel. They attracted attention with their album, The Score, and more particularly with the song Killing Me Softly. Like other bands of the 90s, the Fugees did not exist for a long time and the members separated in 1997.

Unfortunately, there is little known information about the Fugees logo. However, the predominant colors of the group are black, orange and white. Their logo is a signature logo, which means it is only the name of the group. According to some, the font that was used was inspired by Corleone; a font directly inspired by the movie The Godfather, with some modifications on the F and G.  

No Doubt

To end this article, we decided to go with a fairly eclectic band from the 90s: No Doubt. This is indeed one of the groups in our series of articles with the most different logo. No Doubt is originally from California and stands out with its original ska style and the voice of Gwen Stefani, their singer.

The first logo of No Doubt was put on the cover of their first album. It is technically a signature logo, although several shapes are used. Several colors are also present: yellow, blue, white and black. With the release of the Tragic Kingdom album, the logo was simplified, and many elements were removed, including shapes and colors. Then, a new logo was created for the album Return of Saturn and again for the release of Rock Steady. In short, almost every time the band released an album, they did a major redesign of their logo. However, it was done in the image of this extravagant group.

In short, that’s all we have for the logos of the bands of the 90s. Some bands have relied on a single logo during their career, while others like No Doubt have changed with each album release. Which group from the ’90s do you think should have been on our list? Find the best logos of the bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s on our blog!